L'importance des interactions dans une population de l'araignée Lepthyphantes flavipes (Blackwall) (Araneida: Linyphiidae)
The significance of interactions between spiders was evaluated in a population of Lepthyphantes flavipes (Blackwall) that occurs on a deciduous forest litter. Three hypotheses are presented: (i) H0, interactions, mainly interference competition for web sites, are not important in structuring the population; (ii) H1, spiders tend to use silk from deserted webs; (iii) H2, dominant spiders tend to displace resident subordinate spiders from their web sites. Because spinning a new web is costly in Lepthyphantes, substantial gain may be obtained when moving to a new web site under hypotheses H1, and H2. These hypotheses were tested in a field experiment by means of plastic rings introduced on litter as web sites. Results confirm hypothesis H0. Hypothesis H1 is not rejected for small-sized spiders and needs to be explored through more field experiments. Hypothesis H2 is rejected.