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Optimal foraging, not biogenetic law, predicts spider orb web allometry

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Abstract

The biogenetic law posits that the ontogeny of an organism recapitulates the pattern of evolutionary changes. Morphological evidence has offered some support for, but also considerable evidence against, the hypothesis. However, biogenetic law in behavior remains underexplored. As physical manifestation of behavior, spider webs offer an interesting model for the study of ontogenetic behavioral changes. In orb-weaving spiders, web symmetry often gets distorted through ontogeny, and these changes have been interpreted to reflect the biogenetic law. Here, we test the biogenetic law hypothesis against the alternative, the optimal foraging hypothesis, by studying the allometry in Leucauge venusta orb webs. These webs range in inclination from vertical through tilted to horizontal; biogenetic law predicts that allometry relates to ontogenetic stage, whereas optimal foraging predicts that allometry relates to gravity. Specifically, pronounced asymmetry should only be seen in vertical webs under optimal foraging theory. We show that, through ontogeny, vertical webs in L. venusta become more asymmetrical in contrast to tilted and horizontal webs. Biogenetic law thus cannot explain L. venusta web allometry, but our results instead support optimization of foraging area in response to spider size.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Laura May-Collado, Arian Avalos, and Mayte Avalos for logistic help, and Simona Kralj-Fišer for help in statistical analysis. This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (grants P1-0236, J1-2063 to MK), the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund (grant 11010-50/2010 to MG), and National Science Foundation (DEB-1050187-1050253 to IA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Matjaž Gregorič & Matjaž Kuntner

  2. Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Heine C. Kiesbüy & Ingi Agnarsson

  3. Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA

    Shakira G. Quiñones Lebrón

  4. Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Alenka Rozman

  5. Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

    Ingi Agnarsson & Matjaž Kuntner

  6. College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Matjaž Kuntner

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  1. Matjaž Gregorič
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  2. Heine C. Kiesbüy
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  3. Shakira G. Quiñones Lebrón
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  4. Alenka Rozman
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  5. Ingi Agnarsson
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  6. Matjaž Kuntner
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Correspondence to Matjaž Gregorič.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Gregorič, M., Kiesbüy, H.C., Quiñones Lebrón, S.G. et al. Optimal foraging, not biogenetic law, predicts spider orb web allometry. Naturwissenschaften 100, 263–268 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1015-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1015-8

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