Female feeding regime and polyandry in the nuptially feeding nursery web spider, Pisaura mirabilis |
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Authors: | Pavol Prokop Michael R Maxwell |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, University of Trnava, Priemyselná 4, P.O. Box 9, 91843 Trnava, Slovakia;(2) Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia;(3) Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, National University, 11255 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA |
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Abstract: | We examined the influence of female feeding regime on polyandry in the nuptially feeding nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis). In this species, the nuptial gift, a dead prey item wrapped in the male’s silk, is physically separate from the ejaculate.
We manipulated female feeding regime (starved or fed) and the presence or absence of a gift with three successive males to
test direct-benefits hypotheses (nuptial gift or sperm supply) for the expression of polyandry. The presence of a gift was
necessary for copulation, as no male without a gift successfully copulated. Female mating behavior most strongly supports
polyandry due to the accumulation of gifted food items (“nuptial gift” direct-benefits hypothesis). Starved females that were
presented with a gift accepted significantly more gifts and inseminations than fed females. Most starved females (74%) copulated
two or more times, as opposed to only 3% of the fed females. Nearly all of the females that accepted a gift subsequently copulated.
The nuptial gift item seems to function as male mating effort and females appear to receive multiple matings as part of a
feeding strategy. |
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Keywords: | Polyandry Nuptial feeding Nursery web spider Pisaura mirabilis Mating effort |
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