TY - JOUR
T1 - A natural history of web decorations in the St Andrew's Cross spider (Argiope keyserlingi)
AU - Rao, Dinesh
AU - Cheng, Ken
AU - Herberstein, Marie E.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - A long-running debate in the spider literature concerns the function of the extra silk decorations in some spider webs. These decorations are appended to the web and constitute a highly visible signal, which is inconsistent with the trend towards web invisibility. Despite the sustained attention of researchers, the exact function of these decorations is yet to be understood. While most studies have focussed on testing particular hypotheses, there has been a dearth of natural history data regarding web decorations in field conditions. In this study we present baseline data regarding the influence of seasonality, microhabitat characteristics and ecology on the presence of web decorations in an Australian orb web spider, Argiope keyserlingi. In particular, we show that there is preference among spiders to build their webs between bushes and to face the south-east, but this preference does not influence decoration building.
AB - A long-running debate in the spider literature concerns the function of the extra silk decorations in some spider webs. These decorations are appended to the web and constitute a highly visible signal, which is inconsistent with the trend towards web invisibility. Despite the sustained attention of researchers, the exact function of these decorations is yet to be understood. While most studies have focussed on testing particular hypotheses, there has been a dearth of natural history data regarding web decorations in field conditions. In this study we present baseline data regarding the influence of seasonality, microhabitat characteristics and ecology on the presence of web decorations in an Australian orb web spider, Argiope keyserlingi. In particular, we show that there is preference among spiders to build their webs between bushes and to face the south-east, but this preference does not influence decoration building.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33947597436&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/ZO06010
DO - 10.1071/ZO06010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33947597436
VL - 55
SP - 9
EP - 14
JO - Australian Journal of Zoology
JF - Australian Journal of Zoology
SN - 0004-959X
IS - 1
ER -