Exploration behaviour and behavioural flexibility in orb-web spiders: A review

Abstract Orb-web spiders and their webs constitute an ideal model system in which to study behavioural flexibility and spatial cognition in invertebrates due to the easily quantifiable nature of the orb web. A large number of studies demonstrate how spiders are able to modify the geometry of their webs in response to a range of different conditions including the ability to adapt their webs to spatial constraints. However, the mechanisms behind this impressive web-building flexibility in these cognitively limited animals remain poorly explored. One possible mechanism though may be spatial learning during the spiders’ exploration of their immediate surroundings. This review discusses the importance of exploration behaviour, the reliance on simple behavioural rules, and the use of already laid threads as guidelines for web-building in orb-web spiders. The focus is on the spiders’ ability to detect and adapt their webs to space limitations and other spatial disruptions. I will also review the few published studies on how spatial information is gathered during the exploration phase and discuss the possibility of the use of ‘cognitive map’-like processes in spiders. Finally, the review provides suggestions for designing experimental studies to shed light on whether spiders gather metric information during the site exploration (cognitive map hypothesis) or rely on more simple binary information in combination with previously laid threads to build their webs (stigmergy hypothesis).

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Exploration behaviour and behavioural flexibility in orb-web spiders: A review.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.729528576.793547763 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lars Chittka ◽

Clint Perry

Keyword(s):

Behavioural Flexibility ◽

Orb Web ◽

Orb Web Spiders

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Dynamic environments do not appear to constrain spider web building behaviour

The Science of Nature ◽

10.1007/s00114-021-01725-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 108 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Tom Mulder ◽

Lucas Wilkins ◽

Beth Mortimer ◽

Fritz Vollrath

Keyword(s):

Wind Loading ◽

Spider Webs ◽

Spider Web ◽

Thread Tension ◽

In The Wild ◽

Orb Web ◽

Araneus Diadematus ◽

Orb Web Spiders ◽

Building Behaviour ◽

Web Building

AbstractMany laboratory experiments demonstrate how orb-web spiders change the architecture of their webs in response to prey, surroundings and wind loading. The overall shape of the web and a range of other web parameters are determined by frame and anchor threads. In the wild, unlike the lab, the anchor threads are attached to branches and leaves that are not stationary but move, which affects the thread tension field. Here we experimentally test the effect of a moving support structure on the construction behaviour and web-parameters of the garden cross spider Araneus diadematus. We found no significant differences in building behaviour between rigid and moving anchors in total time spent and total distance covered nor in the percentage of the total time spent and distance covered to build the three major web components: radials, auxiliary and capture spirals. Moreover, measured key parameters of web-geometry were equally unaffected. These results call for re-evaluation of common understanding of spider webs as thread tensions are often considered to be a major factor guiding the spider during construction and web-operation.

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Shifts in morphology, gene expression, and selection underlie web loss in Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiders

BMC Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1186/s12862-021-01779-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cory A. Berger ◽

Michael S. Brewer ◽

Nobuaki Kono ◽

Hiroyuki Nakamura ◽

Kazuharu Arakawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Basis ◽

Adaptive Traits ◽

Deep Time ◽

Selective Pressures ◽

Silk Production ◽

Silk Glands ◽

Genetic Mechanisms ◽

Orb Web ◽

Short Time ◽

Web Building

Abstract Background A striking aspect of evolution is that it often converges on similar trajectories. Evolutionary convergence can occur in deep time or over short time scales, and is associated with the imposition of similar selective pressures. Repeated convergent events provide a framework to infer the genetic basis of adaptive traits. The current study examines the genetic basis of secondary web loss within web-building spiders (Araneoidea). Specifically, we use a lineage of spiders in the genus Tetragnatha (Tetragnathidae) that has diverged into two clades associated with the relatively recent (5 mya) colonization of, and subsequent adaptive radiation within, the Hawaiian Islands. One clade has adopted a cursorial lifestyle, and the other has retained the ancestral behavior of capturing prey with sticky orb webs. We explore how these behavioral phenotypes are reflected in the morphology of the spinning apparatus and internal silk glands, and the expression of silk genes. Several sister families to the Tetragnathidae have undergone similar web loss, so we also ask whether convergent patterns of selection can be detected in these lineages. Results The cursorial clade has lost spigots associated with the sticky spiral of the orb web. This appears to have been accompanied by loss of silk glands themselves. We generated phylogenies of silk proteins (spidroins), which showed that the transcriptomes of cursorial Tetragnatha contain all major spidroins except for flagelliform. We also found an uncharacterized spidroin that has higher expression in cursorial species. We found evidence for convergent selection acting on this spidroin, as well as genes involved in protein metabolism, in the cursorial Tetragnatha and divergent cursorial lineages in the families Malkaridae and Mimetidae. Conclusions Our results provide strong evidence that independent web loss events and the associated adoption of a cursorial lifestyle are based on similar genetic mechanisms. Many genes we identified as having evolved convergently are associated with protein synthesis, degradation, and processing, which are processes that play important roles in silk production. This study demonstrates, in the case of independent evolution of web loss, that similar selective pressures act on many of the same genes to produce the same phenotypes and behaviors.

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Cognitive map formation through haptic and visual exploration of tactile city-like maps

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94778-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Loes Ottink ◽

Marit Hoogendonk ◽

Christian F. Doeller ◽

Thea M. Van der Geest ◽

Richard J. A. Van Wezel

Keyword(s):

Visual Information ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Cognitive Map ◽

Visual Exploration ◽

Distinct Advantage ◽

Small Scale ◽

Map Learning ◽

Scale Models ◽

Spatial Tasks ◽

Tactile Maps

AbstractIn this study, we compared cognitive map formation of small-scale models of city-like environments presented in visual or tactile/haptic modalities. Previous research often addresses only a limited amount of cognitive map aspects. We wanted to combine several of these aspects to elucidate a more complete view. Therefore, we assessed different types of spatial information, and consider egocentric as well as allocentric perspectives. Furthermore, we compared haptic map learning with visual map learning. In total 18 sighted participants (9 in a haptic condition, 9 visuo-haptic) learned three tactile maps of city-like environments. The maps differed in complexity, and had five marked locations associated with unique items. Participants estimated distances between item pairs, rebuilt the map, recalled locations, and navigated two routes, after learning each map. All participants overall performed well on the spatial tasks. Interestingly, only on the complex maps, participants performed worse in the haptic condition than the visuo-haptic, suggesting no distinct advantage of vision on the simple map. These results support ideas of modality-independent representations of space. Although it is less clear on the more complex maps, our findings indicate that participants using only haptic or a combination of haptic and visual information both form a quite accurate cognitive map of a simple tactile city-like map.

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Moral psychology of sex robots: An experimental study − how pathogen disgust is associated with interhuman sex but not interandroid sex

Paladyn Journal of Behavioral Robotics ◽

10.1515/pjbr-2020-0012 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 233-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mika Koverola ◽

Marianna Drosinou ◽

Jussi Palomäki ◽

Juho Halonen ◽

Anton Kunnari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Science Fiction ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Sex Worker ◽

Interest In Science ◽

Sex Robots ◽

Monogamous Relationship ◽

Attitudes Toward Sex ◽

First Time ◽

And Robotics ◽

Shed Light

AbstractThe idea of sex with robots seems to fascinate the general public, raising both enthusiasm and revulsion. We ran two experimental studies (Ns = 172 and 260) where we compared people’s reactions to variants of stories about a person visiting a bordello. Our results show that paying for the services of a sex robot is condemned less harshly than paying for the services of a human sex worker, especially if the payer is married. We have for the first time experimentally confirmed that people are somewhat unsure about whether using a sex robot while in a committed monogamous relationship should be considered as infidelity. We also shed light on the psychological factors influencing attitudes toward sex robots, including disgust sensitivity and interest in science fiction. Our results indicate that sex with a robot is indeed genuinely considered as sex, and a sex robot is genuinely seen as a robot; thus, we show that standard research methods on sexuality and robotics are also applicable in research on sex robotics.

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Web characteristics determine niche partitioning for orb-web spiders (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in Malaysia

Oriental Insects ◽

10.1080/00305316.2017.1282385 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 262-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dzulhelmi Muhammad Nasir ◽

Thary Gazi Goh ◽

Asraf Bakri ◽

Faszly Rahim ◽

Zulqarnain Mohamed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Niche Partitioning ◽

Orb Web ◽

Orb Web Spiders

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Human spatial representation: what we cannot learn from the studies of rodent navigation

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00781.2017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 120 (5) ◽

pp. 2453-2465 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mintao Zhao

Keyword(s):

Spatial Representation ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Storage System ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Cellular Mechanisms ◽

Human Navigation ◽

Behavioral Studies ◽

Closing The Loop ◽

Species Similarity ◽

Shed Light

Studies of human and rodent navigation often reveal a remarkable cross-species similarity between the cognitive and neural mechanisms of navigation. Such cross-species resemblance often overshadows some critical differences between how humans and nonhuman animals navigate. In this review, I propose that a navigation system requires both a storage system (i.e., representing spatial information) and a positioning system (i.e., sensing spatial information) to operate. I then argue that the way humans represent spatial information is different from that inferred from the cellular activity observed during rodent navigation. Such difference spans the whole hierarchy of spatial representation, from representing the structure of an environment to the representation of subregions of an environment, routes and paths, and the distance and direction relative to a goal location. These cross-species inconsistencies suggest that what we learn from rodent navigation does not always transfer to human navigation. Finally, I argue for closing the loop for the dominant, unidirectional animal-to-human approach in navigation research so that insights from behavioral studies of human navigation may also flow back to shed light on the cellular mechanisms of navigation for both humans and other mammals (i.e., a human-to-animal approach).

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A comparison of morphology and web geometry between hypogean and epigean species of Metellina orb spiders (family Tetragnathidae)

Subterranean Biology ◽

10.3897/subtbiol.32.36222 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas Hesselberg ◽

Daniel Simonsen

Keyword(s):

Life Style ◽

Foraging Behaviour ◽

Behavioural Flexibility ◽

Permanent Record ◽

Behavioural Adaptation ◽

Web Geometry ◽

Web Building

Studies on the behaviour of subterranean animals are rare, mainly due to the problems with collecting data in these inaccessible habitats. Web-building cave spiders, however, leave a semi-permanent record of their foraging behaviour, which can relatively easily be recorded. In this study, we compare size, leg lengths and web characteristics between hypogean populations of Metellina merianae with its close wood-inhabiting relative M. mengei. We confirm previous observations that M. merianae does not show any obvious morphological and behavioural adaptions to a subterranean life-style, although individuals of the cave species were significantly larger and had webs with relatively fewer radii and capture spiral turns than M. mengei. We were, however, not able to determine if these findings indicate a transition towards behavioural adaptation to caves or if they are a result of behavioural flexibility in response to the different humidity and temperature between caves and woodland. Finally, we did not find any effect of cave characteristics on either the number of radii or the area of the M. merianae web.

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