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Behavior of Colonial Orb‐weaving Spiders during a Solar Eclipse
Author(s) -
Uetz George W.,
Hieber Craig S.,
Jakob Elizabeth M.,
Wilcox R. Stimson,
Kroeger David,
McCrate Andrea,
Mostrom Alison M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1994.tb00878.x
Subject(s) - orb (optics) , weaving , ecology , eclipse , spider , range (aeronautics) , biology , geography , zoology , engineering , computer science , physics , artificial intelligence , astronomy , image (mathematics) , aerospace engineering
The behavior of colonial orb‐weaving spiders ( Metepeira incrassata ) in tropical Veracruz, Mexico was studied during the total solar eclipse on July 11, 1991. Spiders behaved in a manner typical of daily activity until totality, when many began taking down webs. After solar reappearance, most spiders that had begun taking down webs rebuilt them. There was no significant difference in the overall activity patterns of spiders during totality across a range of colony sizes. Experimental illumination of part of a colony during totality altered web takedown behavior. While spiders in the darkness of totality began to take down webs, those spiders which were artificially illuminated did not. These observations suggest that the primary environmental cue responsible for the daily rhythm of web building behavior in this species is light level.