What is behavioral ecology?

Behavioral ecology is the study of the adaptive value of behavior. Behavioral ecologists use a cost and benefit approach to assess the fitness consequences of various behaviors.

Spiders are among the most abundant terrestrial predators on the planet and are therefore extremely important ecologically and economically. Spiders may compose more than 50% of the predatory fauna in some ecosystems and are important biocontrol agents in agricultural systems. Spiders are easily cultured in the lab and studied in the field. They lend themselves well to questions about sexual selection, foraging strategies, predator-prey interactions, communication, parental investment, population biology, and trophic interactions. There are about 35,000 known species (out of a total estimate of 100,000 or more) yet they remain an understudied taxon. Why not venture where few biologists have tread?

Why WOLF spiders?

Wolf spiders make up the greatest biomass of all ground-dwelling predators in agricultural systems. They lie at the interface of both terrestrial and detrital food chains. They are generalist predators that serve to dampen and stabilize populations of many terrestrial arthropods (including other wolf spiders). One study documented that 28% of the energy from all terrestrial arthropods pass through wolf spiders! Females carry their eggs with them, which makes them especially easy to quantify the fitness consequences of their behaviors. They have complex communication systems that involve visual, seismic, auditory, tactile, and chemical sensory channels. A sample of some of the possible areas of research include:

• Predator-prey interactions

Antipredator behavior- innate and acquired

Predator-mediated space and resource use

Sensory modes used in predator identification

Indirect and direct trophic interactions

Reproductive and foraging costs of antipredator behavior

Predator and prey detection of spider silk, excreta and air-borne kairomones by spiders and insects

Information content of chemical, visual, and vibratory signals

Air-borne and substratum-borne pheromone production with age and mating status of females

Female mate choice

Male mate choice

Influence of age and reproductive status on mating success and cannibalism risk

Evolution of courtship signals and male ornaments

Influence of male limb and pedipalp loss on mating success

Size-based cannibalism decisions

Kin-recognition and maternal feeding inhibition

Proximate mechanisms and fitness consequences of sexual cannibalism

Influence of habitat heterogeneity, prey abundance, population density, and predation risk on cannicalism and intraguild predation

Intra-guild predation

Foraging patch decisions and prey searching behavior

Proximate mechanisms and functional significance of prey selection and preference

Proximal cues that induce maternal feeding inhibition

Eggsac recognition

Spiderling dispersal cues

Fitness costs of carrying offspring and eggsacs

Offspring benefits of post-emergent maternal care

Influence of rearing container size and heterogeneity on spider behavior (foraging, mating, antipredator behavior etc).

Biochemical characterization of kairomones and pheromones

Effect of experience on predator and prey recognition

Competitive interactions between web-building spiders on campus (funnel-weaving and bowl-and-doily spiders)

Current and Previous Student Research Projects (1999-2005)

Ahmed Alkhateeb (2005-2006) and Mark Prokopovits. Watching your friends get eaten: Bystander effects on predator recognition and subsequent survival in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina. Ahmed Alkhateeb, Mark Prokopovits

Mark Barnes (2000-2001). The effect of predator cue age on chemically-mediated antipredator behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Ryan Bell (2001-2003). The effect of predator hunger on chemically-mediated antipredator responses and survival in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Ryan Bell (2004-2005). A comparison of the effects of intraguild predation and interguild competition on trophic cascades in a soybean agroecosystem.

Ashley Boyer (2003-2004).Scared to death: long-term exposure to predator cues causes increased mortality in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Ashley Boyer (2004-2005).The effect of prior feeding experiences and reproductive state on filial cannibalism in wolf spiders.

Stacey Brautigam (2001-2002). The courtship and mating costs of limb loss in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Cattell, Joshua*^, and M.H. Persons. (2004-2005). I smell a femme fatale: can male wolf spiders chemically detect a cannibalistic prospective mate?

Dan Church (2002-2003). Preliminary identification of a putative lycosid kairomone

Mike Colancecco (2001-2002).Predation and foraging costs of maternal care in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Daisy Conduah (2003-2004). Scared to death: long-term exposure to predator cues causes increased mortality in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Theresa Culley (2000-2001). Proximate mechanisms governing egg sac discrimination and recognition in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina.

Ben Eiben (2000-2001). A comparison of visually and chemically-mediated acquired predator recognition among naive and experienced wolf spiderlings (Rabidosa rabida, Araneae: Lycosidae).

Jeff Garofalo (2004-2006). A comparison of the effects of intraguild predation and interguild competition on trophic cascades in a soybean agroecosystem.

Aishah Hargett (2003-2004). The effect of predator mating status on chemically-mediated antipredator responses in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Nicki Haverstick (2003-2004). Are egg-sac carrying female lycosids less dangerous predators to heterospecific lycosid spiderings? Interactions between reproductive state, foraging behavior, and chemically-mediated antipredator responses.

Katie Hess (2002-2003). A comparison of the effect of pulsed and continuous predation risk on egg production in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina.

Becky Kagan (1999-2000). Prey preference and associative learning of prey chemical cues in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Christine Kershner-Teichman (2004-2005). The influence of prior diet on mating behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Sarah Kiemle (2002). The effect of hedge rows and strip crop farming on microhabitat preference among sex and age classes of the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Laura Lancieri (2003-2004). Can male wolf spiders discriminate between cannibalistic and non-cannibalistic females based on chemical cues alone?

Leilani Lehmann (1999-2000). Anti-predator behavior of the wolf spider Pardosa milvina towards different sexes of the predator Hogna helluo.

Chris Latanich (2003-2004). Can wolf spiders recognize cannibalistic conspecifics through diet cues alone?

Erin Lynam (2000). The effect of pedipalp loss on courtship and mating behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae).

Erin Lynam (2000)Pardosa milvina(Araneae, Lycosidae) spiderling dispersal in the presence of conspecific and heterospecific lycosid silk and excreta.

Alexis Oetting (2003-2004). Morphological and behavioral predictors of mating success and cannibalism risk in the wolf spider Hogna helluo

J.C. Owens (2000-2001). A comparison of locomotor responses of the field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, and house cricket, Acheta domesticus, to silk and excreta of the wolf spider Hogna helluo

Dianne Rossetti (2001-2002). Ontogenetic shifts in acquired antipredator response in the wolf spider Rabidosa rabida

Amanda Sangillo (2005-2006). Habitat preference and movement of the wolf spider Pardosa milvina in a strip crop system.

Katie Sauder (2001-2002). Diel and predator hunger effects on chemically-mediated antipredator responses in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Ashley Shade (2002-2003). Fitness consequences of predation risk at different stages of the reproductive process in the wolf spiderPardosa milvina

Ken Schonewolf (2003-2004). Evidence of an airborne enemy-avodiance kairomone among two species of wolf spider: a field test

Abe Taylor (2002-2003). The influence of female body condition on male courtship and copulatory behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Abe Taylor (2002-2003). The effect of predation risk on copulatory courtship in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina

Tipton, Erin*^, and M.H. Persons. 2005. The effect of male-male competition and information availability on the courtship and copulatory behavior of the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae; Lycosidae).

Jennifer Wiley (2000-2001). Proximate mechanisms governing egg sac discrimination and recognition in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina.

Kirsten Wilbur (2002-2003). Fitness consequences of predation risk at different stages of the reproductive process in the wolf spiderPardosa milvina

Valerie Wolfgang (2002-2003). A comparison of the effect of pulsed and continuous predation risk on egg production in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina.

Amanda Zehner (2004-2005). The effect of mating duration on polyandry in the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata

Schonewolf, K.*, Bell, R., Rypstra, A.L. & Persons, M.H^.. In press. Field evidence of an airborne enemy-avoidance kairomone in wolf spiders.Journal of Chemical Ecology.

Lynam, E.C.*, Owens, J.C.*, & Persons, M.H.^. In press. The influence of pedipalp autotomy on the courtship and mating behavior of Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Insect Behavior.

Taylor, A.R.*, Persons, M.H.^, Rypstra, A.L. 2005. The effect of perceived predation risk on male courtship and copulatory behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae, Lycosidae).Journal of Arachnology.33:76-81.

Lehmann, L.*, S.E. Walker, & M.H. Persons^. 2004. The influence of predator sex on chemically-mediated antipredator response in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae). Ethology. 110:1-17.pdf (proof-version of article).

Persons, M.H., & E.C. Lynam. 2004.Pardosa milvina(Araneae, Lycosidae) spiderling dispersal in the presence of conspecific and heterospecific lycosid silk and excreta.Journal of Arachnology. 32:341-344.

Brautigam, S.E. & Persons, M.H. In press. The effect of limb loss on the courtship and mating behavior of the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Insect Behavior

Rypstra, A.L, Wieg, C., Walker, S.E. & M.H. Persons. 2003. Mutual mate assessment in wolf spiders: differences in the cues used by males and females. Ethology. 109:315-325.

Barnes, M.C., Persons, M.H. & A.L. Rypstra. 2002. The effect of predator chemical cue age on chemically-mediated antipredator behavior in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 15: 269-281.

Brueseke, M.A., A.L. Rypstra, S.E. Walker and M.H. Persons. 2001. Leg autotomy in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina: a common phenomenon with few apparent costs. American Midland Naturalists. 146: 153-160

Persons, M.H., Fleishman, L.J., Frye, M.A., & M.E. Stimphil. 1999. Sensory response patterns and the evolution of visual signal design in anoline lizards . Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 184: 585-607.

Searcy, L.E., Rypstra, A.L., & M.H. Persons. 1999. Airborne chemical communication in the wolf spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae, Lycosidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology. 25: 2527-2533.

Still not sure? Contact Matt Persons for more information (Persons@susqu.edu, 372-4526) or browse through the research interests section of my homepage.