Premium
The role of prey size and abundance in the geographical distribution of spider sociality
Author(s) -
POWERS KIMBERLY S.,
AVILÉS LETICIA
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01267.x
Subject(s) - biology , sociality , ecology , biological dispersal , spider , habitat , biomass (ecology) , abundance (ecology) , predation , insect , theridiidae , rainforest , population , demography , sociology
Summary1 Social species in the spider genus Anelosimus predominate in lowland tropical rainforests, while congeneric subsocial species occur at higher elevations or higher latitudes. 2 We conducted a comparative study to determine whether differences in total biomass, insect size or both have been responsible for this pattern. 3 We found that larger average insect size, rather than greater overall biomass per se , is a key characteristic of lowland tropical habitats correlating with greater sociality. 4 Social species occupied environments with insects several times larger than the spiders, while subsocial species nearing dispersal occupied environments with smaller insects in either high or low overall biomass. 5 Similarly, in subsocial spider colonies, individuals lived communally at a time when they were younger and therefore smaller than the average insect landing on their webs. 6 We thus suggest that the availability of large insects may be a critical factor restricting social species to their lowland tropical habitats.