| | |
Summary: 181
2002. The Journal of Arachnology 30:181188
SHARING A WEB--ON THE RELATION OF SOCIALITY AND
KLEPTOPARASITISM IN THERIDIID SPIDERS
(THERIDIIDAE, ARANEAE)
Ingi Agnarsson: Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University,
2023 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA & Smithsonian Institution,
National Museum of Natural History, Department of Entomology, 10th
Street and
Constitution Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20560-0105, USA.
ABSTRACT. Sociality and kleptoparasitism occur commonly in theridiid spiders. In both behaviors a
number of conspecifics occupy a single web; gregariousness entails tolerance. Sociality has evolved several
times in theridiids, but kleptoparasitism seems to have arisen only once. All four or more instances of
sociality in theridiids are concentrated within a clade of relatively distal theridiids. This distribution of
sociality suggests common cause, i.e. the presence of some characteristics that may facilitate the evolution
of social behavior. The monophyletic genus Argyrodes, many of which are kleptoparasitic, is sister to the
clade containing all social theridiids. Sociality and kleptoparasitism may thus be phylogenetically related
in theridiid spiders; behaviors that facilitated the evolution of sociality could also have facilitated klep-
toparasitism. Both may have their roots in maternal care.
Keywords: Argyrodes, kleptoparasitism, maternal care, social behavior
|
