Abstract
A reduced predation risk is considered to be a major adaptive advantage of sociality. While most studies are concerned with non-predatory prey species, group-living predators are likely to face similar threats from higher-order predators. We studied the relationship between group size and predation risk in the subsocial crab spider Diaea ergandros by testing predictions from theoretical models including attack abatement as well as the formation of protective retreats. In a field survey, we found predatory clubionid spiders in 35 % of the D. ergandros nests and as predicted, nest size did not correlate with predator presence. In a subsequent laboratory experiment, we observed survival probability, nest construction activity and feeding behaviour including weight development between groups of different sizes as well as in the absence or presence of a predator. Large groups had an advantage in terms of survival and growth compared to smaller groups or single individuals. They also built significantly larger nests than smaller groups, supporting the idea of protective retreat formation being an adaptive benefit to group living. Even though clubionids did attack D. ergandros, they did not significantly affect overall mortality of D. ergandros. The feeding experiment showed that spiders fed on a larger proportion of flies in the presence of a predator. However, these groups gained significantly less weight compared to the control groups, indicating that the potential predators not only act as predators but also as food competitors, constituting a twofold cost for D. ergandros.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Theo Evans for fruitful discussions prior and during the project. Moreover, we thank Raelene Giffney for help with weighing the spiderlings, Andrew P Allen and Stano Pekár for the statistical advice and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript. BU would like to express her special thanks to Michael Zorawski for his support during the entire project. BU was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through a PROMOS scholarship. JR was funded by an International Scholarship of Macquarie University.
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Communicated by J. C. Choe
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Unglaub, B., Ruch, J., Herberstein, M.E. et al. Hunted hunters? Effect of group size on predation risk and growth in the Australian subsocial crab spider Diaea ergandros . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67, 785–794 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1502-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1502-0