Abstract
Female southern house spiders, Kukulcania hibernalis, readily consumed blister beetles, Lytta polita, regardless of cantharidin content when field-tested late in January and again three weeks later in February 1997. In contrast, free-ranging raccoons, Procyon lotor, initially ate many L. polita, particularly female beetles that contained only one third as much cantharidin as males, but when retested the raccoons ate only a few meloids. These results suggest that raccoons, unlike southern house spiders, quickly form an aversion to blister beetle prey, which is induced by cantharidin. Chemical analyses revealed that southern house spiders ingested 99% of the cantharidin contained within their prey.
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Carrel, J.E. Contrasting Responses of Southern House Spiders and Raccoons to Blister Beetle Prey. J Chem Ecol 25, 1295–1303 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020970624529
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020970624529