Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Feeding regime, adult age and sexual size dimorphism as determinants of pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism in virgin wolf spiders

  • Featured Student Research Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism (Pre-SC), where females attack and consume courting males, is considered an extreme case of sexual conflict. Different ultimate causes underlying this phenomenon have been proposed for more than a century and still remain unclear. The main objective of this research was to test the ‘adaptive foraging hypothesis’ in females of the non-burrowing wolf spider Lycosa fasciiventris. We exposed virgin adult females to either rich or poor diet treatments (differing in prey quality and availability) and offered them males at different adult female ages (a proxy of mate availability during adulthood). The analysis of correlative data served to evaluate other hypotheses/predictions. In order to test the ‘mate choice hypothesis’ and the ‘sexual size dimorphism hypothesis’, we tested how male absolute and relative (to the female) body size, respectively, affected the probability of Pre-SC. Finally, we asked if the female body size predicts the rate of Pre-SC as proposed by the ‘aggressive spillover hypothesis’. Females from the poor diet treatment and females that were offered a mate shortly after reaching maturity more likely engaged in Pre-SC than females from the rich diet treatment and females that were deprived of males for longer periods. While females more likely cannibalized courting males of relatively or absolutely smaller body size, female absolute body size did not predict Pre-SC. Thus, our results support the ‘adaptive foraging hypothesis’, the ‘mate choice hypothesis’ and the ‘sexual size dimorphism hypothesis’ and failed to find support for one of the predictions of the ‘aggressive spillover hypothesis’.

Significance statement

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, where females kill and devour courting males, may be costly for both sexes raising questions about its adaptive aspects and evolution. We used wolf spider Lycosa fasciiventris to test several existing hypotheses aiming to explain the phenomenon. Pre-copulatory cannibalism in virgin females was predicted by their food availability during adulthood, age at first male encounter and the relative body size of the courting male. Females more likely engaged in pre-copulatory cannibalism if they were poorly fed, young at first male encounter and relatively larger than their courting males. Thus, our data may simultaneously support the ‘adaptive foraging’, the ‘sexual size dimorphism’ and the ‘mate choice’ hypotheses as the explanations for pre-copulatory cannibalism occurrences in L. fasciiventris.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrade MCB (1998) Female hunger can explain variation in cannibalistic behavior despite male sacrifice in redback spiders. Behav Ecol 9:33–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armas C, Ordiales R, Pugnaire FI (2004) Measuring plant interactions: a new comparative index. Ecology 85:2682–2686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnqvist G, Henriksson S (1997) Sexual cannibalism in the fishing spider and a model for the evolution of sexual cannibalism based on genetic constraints. Evol Ecol 11:225–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrientos JA (2004) Lycosa ambigua sp. nov (Araneae, Lycosidae), una nueva “tarántula” para la fauna ibérica. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 9:23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry KL, Wilder SM (2013) Macronutrient intake affects reproduction of a predatory insect. Oikos 122:1058–1064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barry KL, Holwell GI, Herberstein ME (2008) Female praying mantids use sexual cannibalism as a foraging strategy to increase fecundity. Behav Ecol 19:710–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berning AW, Gadd RD, Sweeney K, MacDonald L, Eng RY, Hess ZL, Pruitt JN (2012) Sexual cannibalism is associated with female behavioural type, hunger state and increased hatching success. Anim Behav 84:715–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkhead TR, Lee KE, Young P (1988) Sexual cannibalism in the praying mantis Hierodula membranacea. Behav Ecol 106:112–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Breene RG, Sweet MH (1985) Evidence of insemination of multiple females by the male black widow spider, Latrodectus mactans (Araneae, Theridiidae). J Arachnol 13:331–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman T, Arnqvist G, Bangham J, Rowe L (2003) Sexual conflict. Trends Ecol Evol 18:41–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1871) The descent of man, 2 vols. London 81:130–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgar MA (1992) Sexual cannibalism in spiders and other invertebrates. In: Elgar MA, Crespi BJ (eds) Cannibalism: ecology and evolution among diverse taxa. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 129–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgar MA, Nash DR (1988) Sexual cannibalism in the garden spider Araneus diadematus. Anim Behav 36:1511–1517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elgar MA, Schneider JM (2004) The evolutionary significance of sexual cannibalism. Ad Stud Behav 34:135–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foellmer MW, Khadka KK (2013) Does personality explain variation in the probability of sexual cannibalism in the orb-web spider Argiope aurantia? Behaviour 150:1731–1746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox J (2003) Effect displays in R for generalised linear models. J Stat Softw 8:1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fromhage L, Uhl G, Schneider JM (2003) Fitness consequences of sexual cannibalism in female Argiope bruennichi. Behav Ecol Sociobiol:5560e64

  • Goul SJ (1984) Only his wings remained. Nat Hist 93:10–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagstrum DW (1971) Carapace width as a tool for evaluating rate of development of spiders in laboratory and field. Ann Entomol Soc Am 64:757–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herberstein ME, Schneider JM, Elgar MA (2002) Costs of courtship and mating in a sexually cannibalistic orb-web spider: female mating strategies and their consequences for males. Behav Ecol Soc 51:440–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Højsgaard S, Halekoh U, Yan J (2006) The R package geepack for generalized estimating equations. J Stat Soft 15:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RR (1980) Cannibalism as a factor in the mating strategy of the jumping spider Phidippus johnsoni (Araneae: Salticidae). Bull Br Arachnol Soc 5:129–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakob EM, Marshall SD, Uetz GW (1996) Estimating fitness: a comparison of body condition indices. Oikos 77:61–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JC (2001) Sexual cannibalism in fishing spiders (Dolomedes triton): an evaluation of two explanations for female aggression towards potential mates. Anim Behav 61:905–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JC (2004) Cohabitation of juvenile females with mature males promotes sexual cannibalism in fishing spiders. Behav Ecol 16:269–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JC (2005) The role of body size in mating interactions of the sexually cannibalistic fishing spider Dolomedes triton. Ethology 111:51–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JC, Sih A (2005) Precopulatory sexual cannibalism in fishing spiders (Dolomedes triton): a role for behavioral syndromes. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 58:390–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JC, Trubl P, Blackmore V, Miles L (2011) Male black widows court well-fed females more than starved females: silken cues indicate sexual cannibalism risk. Anim Behav 82:383–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kralj-Fišer S, Schneider JM, Justinek Z, Kalin S, Gregori M, Pekár S, Kuntner M (2012) Mate quality, not aggressive spillover, explains sexual cannibalism in a size-dimorphic spider. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66:145–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kralj-Fišer S, Schneider JM, Kuntner M (2013) Challenging the aggressive spillover hypothesis: is pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism a part of a Behavioural syndrome? Ethology 119:615–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kralj-Fišer S, Čandek K, Lokovšek T, Čelik T, Cheng RC, Elgar MA, Kuntner M (2016) Mate choice and sexual size dimorphism, not personality, explain female aggression and sexual cannibalism in raft spiders. Anim Behav 111:49–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovich JE, Gibbons JW (1992) A review of techniques for quantifying sexual size dimorphism. Growth Develop Aging 56:269–281

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayntz D, Toft S (2006) Nutritional value of cannibalism and the role of starvation and nutrient imbalance for cannibalistic tendencies in a generalist predator. J Anim Ecol 75:288–297

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moya-Laraño J (2002) Senescence and food limitation in a slowly ageing spider. Funct Ecol 16:734–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moya-Laraño J, Macías-Ordóñez R, Blanckenhorn WU, Fernández-Montraveta C (2008) Analysing body condition: mass, volume or density? J Anim Ecol 77:1099–1108

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moya-Laraño J, Orta-Ocaña JM, Barrientos JA, Bach C, Wise DH (2003a) Intriguing compensation by adult female spiders for food limitation experienced as juveniles. Oikos 101:539–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moya-Laraño J, Pascual J, Wise DH (2003b) Mating patterns in late-maturing female Mediterranean tarantulas may reflect the costs and benefits of sexual cannibalism. Anim Behav 66:469–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman JA, Elgar M (1991) Sexual cannibalism in orb-weaving spiders: an economic model. Am Nat 138:1372–1395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papke MD, Riechert SE, Schulz S (2001) An airborne female pheromone associated with male attraction and courtship in a desert spider. Anim Behav 61:877–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parellada X (1998) Identificació i dades biològiques de tres espècies de taràntules (Araneae: Lycosidae) al Garraf. II Trobada d’Estudiosos Del Garraf 26:15–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Persons MH, Uetz GW (2005) Sexual cannibalism and mate choice decisions in wolf spiders: influence of male size and secondary sexual characters. Anim Behav 69:83–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Planas E, Fernández-Montraveta C, Ribera C (2013) Molecular systematics of the wolf spider genus Lycosa (Araneae: Lycosidae) in the western Mediterranean Basin. Mol Phylogenet Evol 67:414–428

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Polis GA (1981) The evolution and dynamics of intraspecific predation. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 12:225–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prenter J, MacNeil C, Elwood RW (2006) Sexual cannibalism and mate choice. Anim Behav 71:481–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruitt JN, Berning AW, Cusack B, Shearer TA, McGuirk M, Coleman A, Eng RYY, Armagost F, Sweeney K, Singh N (2014) Precopulatory sexual cannibalism causes increase egg case production, hatching success, and female attractiveness to males. Ethology 120:453–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruitt JN, Keiser CN (2013) Debates: the aggressive spillover hypothesis: existing ailments and putative remedies. Ethology 119:807–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/. Accessed 15 February 2016

  • Rabaneda-Bueno R (2014) El canibalismo sexual en la tarántula ibérica (Lycosa hispánica): ecología y evolución de estrategias conductuales. Dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

  • Rabaneda-Bueno R, Aguado S, Fernández-Montraveta C, Moya-Laraño J (2014) Does female personality determine mate choice through sexual cannibalism? Ethology 120:238–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabaneda-Bueno R, Rodríguez-Gironés MA, Aguado de la Paz S, Fernández-Montraveta C, De Mas E, Wise DH, Moya-Laraño J (2008) Sexual cannibalism: high incidence in a natural population with benefits to females. PLoS One 3:e3484

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JA, Uetz GW (2005) Information content of female chemical signals in the wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata: male discrimination of reproductive state and receptivity. Anim Behav 70:217–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roggenbuck H, Pekar S, Schneider JM (2011) Sexual cannibalism in the European garden spider Araneus diadematus: the roles of female hunger and mate size dimorphism. Anim Behav 81:749–755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe L, Arnqvist G, Sih A, Krupa JJ (1994) Sexual conflict and the evolutionary ecology of mating patterns: water striders as a model system. Trends Ecol Evol 9:289–293

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider JM (2014) Sexual cannibalism as a manifestation of sexual conflict. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 6:a017731

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider JM, Elgar MA (2001) Sexual cannibalism and sperm competition in the golden orb-web spider Nephila plumipes (Araneoidea): female and male perspectives. Behav Ecol 12:547–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider JM, Lubin Y (1998) Intersexual conflict in spiders. Oikos:496–506

  • Uetz GW, Norton S (2007) Preference for male traits in female wolf spiders varies with the choice of available males, female age and reproductive state. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 61:631–641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verdeny-Vilalta O, Fox CW, Wise DH, Moya-Laraño J (2015) Foraging mode affects the evolution of egg size in generalist predators embedded in complex food webs. J Evolution Biol 28:1225–1233

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welke KW, Schneider JM (2012) Sexual cannibalism benefits offspring survival. Anim Behav 83:201–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilder SM, Rypstra AL (2008a) Sexual size dimorphism predicts the frequency of sexual cannibalism within and among species of spiders. Am Nat 172:431–440

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilder SM, Rypstra AL (2008b) Sexual size dimorphism mediates the occurrence of state-dependent sexual cannibalism in a wolf spider. Anim Behav 76:447–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilder SM, Rypstra AL (2010) Males make poor meals: a comparison of nutrient extraction during sexual cannibalism and predation. Oecologia 162:617–662

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilder SM, Rypstra AL, Elgar MA (2009) The importance of ecological and phylogenetic conditions for the occurrence and frequency of sexual cannibalism. Ann Rev Ecol Evol S 40:21–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu L, Zhang H, He T, Liu Z, Peng Y (2013) Factors influencing sexual cannibalism and its benefit to fecundity and offspring survival in the wolf spider Pardosa pseudoannulata (Araneae: Lycosidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67:205–212

  • Wilgers DJ, Hebets EA (2012) Age-related female mating decisions are condition dependent in wolf spiders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66:29–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank S. Pekár for his advice in the use of GEE and J. Fox for his advice in how to extract GEE estimates from the ‘effects’ package. This work was funded by grant RNM-1521 from the Junta de Andalucía to JML, partially subsidized by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas - CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120, Almería, Spain

    M. P. Gavín-Centol, E. De Mas, D. Ruiz-Lupión & J. Moya-Laraño

  2. Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, P. O. Box 306, SI-1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    S. Kralj-Fišer

Authors
  1. M. P. Gavín-Centol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Kralj-Fišer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. De Mas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Ruiz-Lupión
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. Moya-Laraño
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. P. Gavín-Centol.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All specimens were in sufficiently large containers and received water and food at libitum with the exception of the ‘low food’ individuals, which were nevertheless not starved beyond what it is often found in the wild (e.g. animals with even lower body conditions can be found).

Additional information

Communicated by J. Pruitt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gavín-Centol, M.P., Kralj-Fišer, S., De Mas, E. et al. Feeding regime, adult age and sexual size dimorphism as determinants of pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism in virgin wolf spiders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 71, 10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2228-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2228-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation