Does decoration building influence antipredator responses in an orb-web spider (Argiope keyserlingi) in its natural habitat?
Sean J. Blamires A B, Dieter F. Hochuli A, Michael B. Thompson A A Heydon-Laurence Building A08, Biological Sciences and Institute of Wildlife Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. B Corresponding author. Email: sbla3978@mail.usyd.edu.au Abstract Antipredator strategies adopted by animals need to compensate for temporal changes. Many orb-web spiders add silk decorations to their webs, which principally attract prey but may attract some predators. To identify their influence on antipredator behaviour in adult female St Andrew’s cross spiders (Argiope keyserlingi) we measured: spider body condition, web characteristics (area, spiral length and decoration building), environmental variables (air temperature, humidity, wind speed, relative prey abundance) and antipredator responses (remaining at the hub, dropping, shifting to the web periphery, or pumping the web) at three distinct periods (July–August, September–October and January–February) in the field. We develope
