Dianne Rossetti's Research

Ontogenetic shifts in acquired antipredator response in the wolf spider Rabidosa rabida

UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The wolf spiders Pardosa milvina and Rabidosa rabida are common intraguild predators with each species feeding on smaller individuals of the other. Previous studies have shown that R. rabida spiderlings are capable of showing innate antipredator responses (reduced activity) to silk and excreta cues from P. milvina but that this response is enhanced with subsequent predator experience. Since adult R. rabida may be up to 20 times the mass of an adult P. milvina, at some point, P. milvina will become suitable prey of R. rabida and the predator-prey relationships of these two spiders become reversed. We sought to document the ontogeny of R. rabida spiderling responses to chemical and visual cues from P. milvina. We predict that R. rabida's antipredator response will diminish as its size increases relative to that of P. milvina. We examined R. rabida responses to either 1) silk and excreta cues from P. milvina, or 2) visual cues from P. milvina for 3 different developmental stages of R. rabidosa: 1) half the mass of an adult P. milvina, 2) equal mass of an adult P. milvina, and 3) twice the mass of an adult P. milvina. More later-collecting data now.



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