Effects of Sequestered Iridoid Glycosides on Prey Choice of the Prairie Wolf Spider, Lycosa carolinensis

Abstract

Specialist insect herbivores that sequester allelochemicals from their host plants may be unpalatable to potential predators. However, the host-plant species used may determine the degree of palatability. Spiders, including members of the family Lycosidae, are important predators of invertebrate prey. We fed buckeye caterpillars, Junonia coenia (Nymphalidae), reared on Plantago lanceolata (containing high levels of iridoid glycosides) or P. major (containing low levels of iridoid glycosides) to prairie wolf spiders, Lycosa carolinensis (Lycosidae), to determine whether the spiders found insects that sequester iridoid glycosides unpalatable. In a field experiment, spiders ate caterpillars reared on P. major significantly more often than caterpillars reared on P. lanceolata, although they attacked equal numbers of both types of prey. Spiders that bit caterpillars behind their heads or along the middle of their backs prevented caterpillars from implementing deterrent defensive strategies such as regurgitating or defecating. In a laboratory experiment, we presented spiders with P. lanceolata-reared and P. major-reared caterpillars simultaneously for eight consecutive trials. Spiders consumed P. major-reared buckeyes significantly more often than P. lanceolata-reared caterpillars. We found no evidence that the spiders learned to avoid the unpalatable prey.