Summary
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1.
The prey capture efficiency of each individual in a Cyrtophora citricola colony is dependent on time (Fig. 1), total colony size (Fig. 1), and the spider's position within the colony (Fig. 2).
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2.
Aggressive approaches by orbless individuals within the colony appear to concentrate on the positions within the matrix of webs that have the highest capture efficiency (compare Figs. 2 and 5).
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3.
The incidence of avian attempts at predation and/or cleptoparasitism increases directly with colony size (Fig. 4), which indicates that the conspicuousness of the colonies is a disadvantage to the spiders.
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4.
Resource division is evident in the one mixed-species aggregation observed. Sticky-orb spiders (Leucauge spp.) take the same size prey as C. citricola (Fig. 3), but forage during the day when C. citricola is least active. Tangle-web spiders (Argyrodes spp.) capture prey in significantly smaller size classes than C. citricola capture (Fig. 3).
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Rypstra, A.L. Foraging flocks of spiders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5, 291–300 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00293677
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00293677