2021
DOI: 10.3390/biology10030189
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Body Size, Not Personality, Explains Both Male Mating Success and Sexual Cannibalism in a Widow Spider

Abstract: Theory suggests that consistent individual variation in behavior relates to fitness, but few studies have empirically examined the role of personalities in mate choice, male-male competition and reproductive success. We observed the Mediterranean black widow, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, in the individual and mating context, to test how body size measures and two functionally important aggressive behaviors, i.e., male aggression towards rivals and female voracity towards prey, affect mating behaviors, mating … Show more

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Cited by 8 publications
(7 citation statements)
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“…Second, although female-biased size dimorphism is a feature of all Latrodectus , the degree of dimorphism apparently varies across congeners (e.g., [ 35 ], although measurement of inter-specific differences using common-garden rearing are rare). Moreover, within species, the likelihood of sexual cannibalism increases as the size ratio of female to male increases (e.g., in Latrodectus tredecimguttatus , [ 33 ], consistent with the literature on spiders in general [ 46 ], and other web-building spiders that show female-biased size dimorphism in particular [ 32 ]. The proposed explanation is that females decide to exert physical control as a function of the degree of size dimorphism [ 33 ], consistent with the idea that there is a higher energetic and time cost of rebuffing relatively larger compared to relatively smaller males.…”
Section: Introductionsupporting
confidence: 70%
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“…Second, although female-biased size dimorphism is a feature of all Latrodectus , the degree of dimorphism apparently varies across congeners (e.g., [ 35 ], although measurement of inter-specific differences using common-garden rearing are rare). Moreover, within species, the likelihood of sexual cannibalism increases as the size ratio of female to male increases (e.g., in Latrodectus tredecimguttatus , [ 33 ], consistent with the literature on spiders in general [ 46 ], and other web-building spiders that show female-biased size dimorphism in particular [ 32 ]. The proposed explanation is that females decide to exert physical control as a function of the degree of size dimorphism [ 33 ], consistent with the idea that there is a higher energetic and time cost of rebuffing relatively larger compared to relatively smaller males.…”
Section: Introductionsupporting
confidence: 70%
“…Moreover, within species, the likelihood of sexual cannibalism increases as the size ratio of female to male increases (e.g., in Latrodectus tredecimguttatus , [ 33 ], consistent with the literature on spiders in general [ 46 ], and other web-building spiders that show female-biased size dimorphism in particular [ 32 ]. The proposed explanation is that females decide to exert physical control as a function of the degree of size dimorphism [ 33 ], consistent with the idea that there is a higher energetic and time cost of rebuffing relatively larger compared to relatively smaller males. For example, although body mass may differ by a factor of 100 for some Latrodectus , the degree of sexual size dimorphism in leg length is much smaller in some species (e.g., [ 34 , 35 , 43 ].…”
Section: Introductionsupporting
confidence: 70%
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“…Therefore, accumulating additional nutrient reserves (i.e., greater body mass) before maturity might provide them with an adaptive advantage. Furthermore, mating success is often associated with male size ( Sivalinghem et al 2010 ; Golobinek et al 2021 ), and for example, in another jumping spider Phidippus clarus , heavier males were more successful in intraspecific male–male competition ( Elias et al 2008 ). As sex-specific selection forces favor males with larger body size ( Fernández-Montraveta and Moya-Laraño 2007 ), to maximize their fitness outputs, accumulating nutrient reserves before maturity could be crucial for males.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They do, however, spend some time on their mother's webs, where they can eat her. Fit and strong [95] are guaranteed to live through this cycle. The optimal solution is the one that achieves the global optimum of the targeted function.…”
Section: ) Black Widow Spider Matting Processmentioning
confidence: 99%