title: Cave spiders choose optimal environmental factors with respect to the generated entropy when laying their cocoon.
abstract: The choice of a suitable area to spiders where to lay eggs is promoted in terms of Darwinian fitness. Despite its importance, the underlying factors behind this key decision are generally poorly understood. Here, we designed a multidisciplinary study based both on in-field data and laboratory experiments focusing on the European cave spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) and aiming at understanding the selective forces driving the female in the choice of the depositional area. Our in-field data analysis demonstrated a major role of air velocity and distance from the cave entrance within a particular cave in driving the female choice. This has been interpreted using a model based on the Entropy Generation Minimization - EGM - method, without invoking best fit parameters and thanks to independent lab experiments, thus demonstrating that the female chooses the depositional area according to minimal level of thermo-fluid-dynamic irreversibility. This methodology may pave the way to a novel approach in understanding evolutionary strategies for other living organisms.
authors.affiliation: Multi-Scale Modeling Lab (SMaLL), Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Eliodoro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chiavazzo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Isaia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mammola
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bio-inspired &Graphene Nanomechanics, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lepore
authors.affiliation: Multi-Scale Modeling Lab (SMaLL), Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ventola
authors.affiliation: Multi-Scale Modeling Lab (SMaLL), Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asinari
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Bio-inspired &Graphene Nanomechanics, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy [2] Centre of Materials and Microsystems, Bruno Kessler Foundation, Via Santa Croce 77, 38122 Trento, Italy [3] School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Nicola Maria
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Pugno
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000818:Animals; D059552:Caves; D019277:Entropy; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness / Q000235:genetics; D016014:Linear Models; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D013112:Spiders / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature