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Vibratory communication in spiders: Adaptation and compromise at many levels

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Orientation and Communication in Arthropods

Part of the book series: EXS ((EXS,volume 84))

Summary

Spiders are an exquisite choice of experimental animals for anyone interested in the vibrational sense and vibratory communication. For the vast majority of spiders, vibrations represent signals of overwhelming behavioral significance. The vibratory world spiders live in can only be adequately appreciated if we consider it in a broad biological context. Only then both the richness in adaptations and the diversity of selective pressures which must have been at work during evolution become apparent.

Taking the courtship behavior of Cupiennius salei (Ctenidae) and some of its close relatives as a representative example, this chapter illustrates some of these aspects at different levels of organization. C. salei is a large Central American wandering spider living on monocotyle-donous plants. These plants (rather than a web) serve as transmission channels for its vibratory courtship signals. Roughly following a bottom-up approach, the vibration receptors, the vibratory signals, the neural responses to vibrations, species recognition and reproductive isolation, are related to each other. Apart from providing a sketch of the biological “design” of vibratory communication, the present chapter strives to emphasize the virtues of an organismic approach, blending reductionist experiments in the lab with observations in the field.

Dedicated to Professor Dr. Drs. h.c. H. Autrum on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biozentrum, Institut für Zoologie, Universität Wien, Althanstr. 14, A-1090, Wien, Austria

    F. G. Barth

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  1. F. G. Barth
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  1. Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Miriam Lehrer

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Barth, F.G. (1997). Vibratory communication in spiders: Adaptation and compromise at many levels. In: Lehrer, M. (eds) Orientation and Communication in Arthropods. EXS, vol 84. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8878-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8878-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9811-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8878-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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