Li Daiqin
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore.
Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Sep 7;272(1574):1753-7. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3160.
Many orb-weaving spiders decorate their webs with extra, bright white, ultraviolet light reflecting silk. Previous studies suggest that these decorations increase a spider's foraging efficiency by improving web attractiveness, which is known as the prey-attraction hypothesis. One assumption of this hypothesis is that individuals which decorate their webs at a higher frequency are expected to have a higher growth rate. Using a decoration-building orb-weaving spider, Argiope versicolor, I show a strong positive relationship between the growth rate in terms of weight gain and the frequency of decoration-building, as well as the rate of insect interception. This is the first study to reveal a fitness consequence of decorating behaviour in spiders.
许多圆网蜘蛛会用额外的、明亮的白色、能反射紫外线的丝线来装饰它们的蛛网。先前的研究表明，这些装饰通过提高蛛网的吸引力来提高蜘蛛的觅食效率，这就是所谓的猎物吸引假说。该假说的一个假设是，那些更频繁装饰蛛网的个体预计会有更高的生长速度。通过研究一种会构建装饰的圆网蜘蛛——横纹金蛛，我发现体重增加方面的生长速度与构建装饰的频率以及捕获昆虫的速度之间存在很强的正相关关系。这是第一项揭示蜘蛛装饰行为对适应性影响的研究。
