Vitellogenin receptor (VgR) is crucial for vitellogenin (Vg) uptake by oocytes. VgR is less known in Arachnida, especially in spiders. Different from only one VgR in an arthropod species, two VgRs, VgR‐1 and VgR‐2, were found in the pond wolf spider, Pardosa pseudoannulata. Both VgRs had the typical domains of the low‐density lipoprotein receptor family except for the absence of the ligand‐binding domain 1 in VgR‐2. Spatiotemporal expression profiles showed that two VgR genes were consistently highly expressed in females and their ovaries, but VgR‐1 was 48‐fold that of VgR‐2 in ovaries. The transcriptional level of VgR‐1 was significantly downregulated by RNAi, but it did not work for VgR‐2 although several trials were performed. Vg‐1 and Vg‐2 might be the ligands of VgR‐1 because their expressions were also decreased in the dsVgR‐1‐treated females. Silencing VgR‐1 prolonged the pre‐oviposition period by 56 h. The expression of VgRs and Vgs were upregulated by juvenile hormones (JHs), which suggested that JHs were the essential factors to vitellogenesis in the spider. The present study revealed the importance of VgR‐1 in the spider oviposition, which will improve the understanding on VgR physiological functions in spiders.

Cannibalism is common in spiders. Wolf spider (Lycosidae) females, which exhibit extensive maternal care, have been reported to cannibalize less when they are carrying egg sacs and juveniles. In a laboratory experiment, we demonstrated that cannibalism of early‐instar spiderlings (EIS) by a wolf spider (Pardosa pseudoannulata) mother was almost completely inhibited when she was carrying spiderlings. Compared with virgin and mated‐females, mother spiders tolerated more and predated fewer spiderlings, including gregarious pulli and newly dispersed spiderlings (NDS). Cannibalism of EIS by females during their reproductive period exhibited a V‐shaped pattern, with a gradual decrease from the egg sac‐carrying to pulli‐carrying (PC) stage, and a recovery from the PC stage to post‐reproductive (PR) stage. Notably, there was 0 cannibalism at the PC stage. PC females exhibited no interest in pulli, while PR females were attracted to and predated pulli and NDS as they did their natural prey, Nilaparvata lugens. Interestingly, PC females captured and released NDS in a foraging assay, although attraction was observed from olfactometer measurements. PC mothers possessed a cuticular volatile profile that was closer to that of pulli and NDS than to that of PR females. Moreover, NDS cuticular extract provoked an electrophysiological response in legs of PC females. Therefore, cuticular compound‐mediated chemical communication may be involved in inhibiting cannibalism of EIS by spider mothers, and especially in eliminating cannibalism by PC mothers. Future studies will aim to characterize the specific cuticular compounds and chemoreception mechanism in females, which will facilitate our understanding of intraspecific recognition and cannibalism in spiders.