title: Diet-induced co-variation between architectural and physicochemical plasticity in an extended phenotype.
abstract: The adaptive benefits of extended phenotypic plasticity are imprecisely defined due to a paucity of experiments examining traits that are manipulable and measurable across environments. Spider webs are often used as models to explore the adaptive benefits of variations in extended phenotypes across environments. Nonetheless, our understanding of the adaptive nature of the plastic responses of spider webs is impeded when web architectures and silk physicochemical properties appear to co-vary. An opportunity to examine this co-variation is presented by modifying prey items while measuring web architectures and silk physiochemical properties. Here, we performed two experiments to assess the nature of the association between web architectures and gluey silk properties when the orb web spiderArgiope keyserlingiwas fed a diet that varied in either mass and energy or prey size and feeding frequency. We found web architectures and gluey silk physicochemical properties to co-vary across treatments in both experiments. Specifically, web capture area co-varied with gluey droplet morphometrics, thread stickiness and salt concentrations when prey mass and energy were manipulated, and spiral spacing co-varied with gluey silk salt concentrations when prey size and feeding frequency were manipulated. We explained our results asA. keyserlingiplastically shifting its foraging strategy as multiple prey parameters simultaneously varied. We confirmed and extended previous work by showing that spiders use a variety of prey cues to concurrently adjust web and silk traits across different feeding regimes.
authors.affiliation: Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences D26, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia s.blamires@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Sean J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5953-3723
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Blamires
authors.affiliation: Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences D26, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasemore
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Samuels Building F25, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Penny J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.affiliation: Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences D26, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kasumovic
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013112:Spiders / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D047011:Silk
keywords: Argiope keyserlingi; Extended phenotype; Gluey silk; Orb web architecture; Plasticity; Predatory trap; Silk properties; Stickiness