Fatty acids mediate aggressive behavior in the spider Tegenaria atrica

Pourié, Grégory; Ibarra, Fernando; Francke, Wittko; Trabalon, Marie

doi:10.1007/s00049-005-0308-6

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…These hydrocarbons belonged to 3 different classes: linear alkanes and mono-and di-methyl-branched (Figure 1). Unlike studies of the cuticular chemical profile of solitary T. atrica (Trabalon et al 1996;Pourie et al 2005), we did not find any fatty acids on the cuticle of S. lineatus young.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Spiders communicate with chemicals during many different activities in life, such as identification of prey, brood (Pourie et al 2005), and sexual partners (Schulz and Toft 1993), and possibly chemical cues play a role in behavioral transitions like the one from gregarious to solitary living (Pourie and Trabalon 2001). Our study shows that the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of S. lineatus changes significantly during the first 50 days of development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…The original purpose of these hydrocarbons was to protect the animal from desiccation, but a subset of these compounds have evolved to act as recognition cues in inter-and intraspecific communication in different arthropods (Gibbs et al 1991;Lahav et al 1999;Akino et al 2004;Dani et al 2005;d'Ettorre and Moore 2008). Because cuticular hydrocarbons have been shown to play a role in communication in both social and non-social insects, such as fruit flies (Ferveur 2005), as well as in some spiders (Pourie et al 2005), the communication function of these chemicals may be quite old. Nest mates recognition in social insects based on cuticular hydrocarbons often relies on branched alkanes and alkenes as recognition cues, whereas linear alkanes have little influence on nest mate recognition (Dani et al 2001(Dani et al , 2005van Zweden and Dreier 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kullmann (1972) found that chemosensory perception alone allows social Stegodyphus species to discriminate between prey and conspecifics and suggested that tolerance is based on chemical cues. Similarly, cuticular chemicals are thought to act as cues in regulating agonistic versus tolerant behavior in Tegenaria atrica (Trabalon et al 1996(Trabalon et al , 1998Pourie and Trabalon 1999;Pourie et al 2005). Young T. atrica stay for a while in the maternal nest and are tolerated by their mother until they disperse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Young T. atrica stay for a while in the maternal nest and are tolerated by their mother until they disperse. The composition of cuticular compounds in these spiders changes during development (Trabalon et al 1996), and cuticular extracts from postdispersal solitary young induce higher levels of aggression in adult females compared with cuticular extracts from predispersal gregarious young (Pourie et al 2005). Hence, evolutionary changes shaping the cuticular compound composition according to age could be important steps in the evolution of spider sociality, prolonging nonaggressive life stages by allowing recognition of individuals that belong to the maternal nest (Pourie and Trabalon 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cuticular hydrocarbons as potential kin recognition cues in a subsocial spider

2011

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In animal societies, recognition of group members and relatives is an important trait for the evolution and maintenance of social behavior. In eusocial insects, nest mate recognition is based on cuticular hydrocarbons and allows colony members to reject competitors and parasites. The study of recognition cues in subsocial species can provide insights into evolutionary pathways leading to permanent sociality and kin-selected benefits of cooperation. In subsocial spiders, empirical evidence suggests the existence of both kin recognition and benefits of cooperating with kin, whereas the cues for kin recognition have yet to be identified. However, cuticular hydrocarbons have been proposed to be involved in regulation of tolerance and interattraction in spider sociality. Here, we show that subsocial Stegodyphus lineatus spiderlings have cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that are siblinggroup specific, making cuticular hydrocarbons candidates for kin recognition cues. Our behavioral assays indicate that spiderlings can discriminate between cuticular cues from kin and nonkin: In a choice setup , spiderlings more often chose to reside near cuticular chemical extracts of siblings compared with nonsiblings. Furthermore, we show that cuticular chemical composition changes during development, especially around the stage of dispersal, supporting the hypothesis that cuticular cues are involved in regulating conspecific tolerance levels. Lastly, our results indicate that the potential kin recognition cues might be branched alkanes that are influenced very little by rearing conditions and may be genetically determined. This indicates that a specific group of cuticular chemicals, namely branched alkanes, could have evolved to act as social recognition cues in both insects and spiders.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cuticular hydrocarbons as potential kin recognition cues in a subsocial spider

2011

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Chemical Communication and Contact Cuticular Compounds in Spiders

Trabalon

2012

Spider Ecophysiology

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International audienceWe review here spider social contact pheromones. Spider contact pheromones are typically associated with the silk, draglines or substrate, and body cuticle. The chemical composition of the cuticle, especially the lipid layer, can be used for information transfer. These substances act as releaser pheromones and are identified by the spider after contact with another animal. Behavioural observations demonstrate that chemical contact compounds are able to inhibit aggressive behaviour between conspecifics (prevent cannibalism). Different studies have shown that qualitative and/or quantitative changes in cuticular lipids could play a role in intra- and interspecific relationships in spiders. Knowledge of the function and mode of action of cuticular compounds is only fragmentary in arachnid groups. The endocrine regulation of contact pheromone synthesis is not known

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Cannibalism in spiderlings is not only about starvation

Lesne

Trabalon

Jeanson

2016

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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International audienceMany species show a transient group life, and dispersal often coincides with the onset of agonistic behaviors. Changes in the nature of interactions among conspecifics can rely on a variation in the production of communication cues and/or on a switch in the processing of social information. The relative contribution of each process on the initiation of aggression still remains to be investigated. Spiders constitute relevant models to address this issue since all solitary species undergo a transient gregarious phase prior dispersal. In this study, we developed a combination of behavioral and physiological assays to examine the mechanisms accompanying the onset of agonistic interactions in spiderlings of the solitary species Agelena labyrinthica. Juveniles of different developmental stages were supplied with diets differing in prey availability. We showed that unfed spiderlings never molted, retained their cuticular lipid signature, and did not behave aggressively. This contrasted with fed individuals that molted, changed their cuticular profiles, and displayed agonistic interactions and cannibalism. We demonstrated that depletion in lipid stores was not sufficient to elicit aggression or cannibalism. Our analysis also revealed that major shifts in cuticular profiles only occurred after the first molt outside the cocoon. The lack of agonistic interactions in unfed spiderlings suggests an absence of behavioral plasticity in response to food shortage at the earliest developmental stages. We propose that the initiation of aggression relies more on a shift in the production of cuticular cues accompanying molting rather than on changes in information processing depending on the physiological state of individuals

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Fatty acids mediate aggressive behavior in the spider Tegenaria atrica

Cited by 13 publications

References 31 publications

Cuticular hydrocarbons as potential kin recognition cues in a subsocial spider

Cuticular hydrocarbons as potential kin recognition cues in a subsocial spider

Chemical Communication and Contact Cuticular Compounds in Spiders

Cannibalism in spiderlings is not only about starvation

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