Prey preference and associative learning of prey chemical cues in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).
Wolf spiders make foraging decisions, in part, by detecting chemical cues left by prey. Whether previous prey experience has any influence on such decisions is still uncertain. This experiment tests for active diet preference in Pardosa milvina spiders using prey and their associated chemical cues. Sixty spiders were maintained on a diet of either Acheta domesticus or Drosophila melanogaster. After two weeks, the spiders were exposed to substrates containing chemical cues from either Acheta or Drosophila. The spiders’ locomotory behavior and their initial substrate preference were recorded. During a second experiment, each spider was presented with a freshly killed Acheta and Drosophila. Initial prey preference and time to attack were recorded for each. Afterwards, the spiders were switched to the alternate prey type and the experiments were repeated two weeks later. Spiders showed no statistically significant evidence of learned association of chemical cues with prey. Spiders showed a non-significant tendency to spend longer periods of time on substrates associated with previous prey.