Natal Dispersal Patterns of a Subsocial Spider <i>Anelosimus</i> cf. <i>jucundus</i> (Theridiidae)

Powers, Kimberly S.; Avilés, Leticia

doi:10.1046/j.1439-0310.2003.00918.x

Cited by 44 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(122 reference statements)

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“…In the lowlands, on the other hand, we were forced to suspend the mesh removal process after it became clear that the spiders would not remain at their prescribed location. We were nonetheless able to obtain partial data for the rain exclosure experiment from the 35 nests that were recollected, without the mesh tubes having been removed, approximately 15 days after the start of the experiment, and from some of the 15 nests for which the mesh removal process was completed (nine nests for number of spiders remaining and one for amount of webbing built; see §3 and appendix (Avilés & Gelsey 1998;Powers & Avilés 2003). Therefore, we feel confident in our ability to detect the presence or absence of dispersal.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gradients of precipitation and ant abundance may contribute to the altitudinal range limit of subsocial spiders: insights from a transplant experiment

Purcell

Avilés

2008

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Species range boundaries often form along environmental gradients that dictate the success of the phenotypes present in each habitat. Sociality may allow colonization of environments where related species with a solitary lifestyle cannot persist. Social spiders in the genus Anelosimus appear restricted to low-and mid-elevation moist environments in the tropics, while subsocial spiders, common at higher elevations and latitudes, appear to be absent from the lowland tropical rainforest. Here, we seek factors that may simultaneously prevent subsocial Anelosimus species from colonizing the lowland rainforest while favouring species with large social groups in this habitat. To this end, we transplanted small groups of a subsocial species, which contain the offspring of a single female, from cloud forest habitat in the centre of its natural range to lower montane rainforest on the range margin and to lowland rainforest outside of the species range. Groups transplanted at the range margin and below their range limit were less likely to disperse and experienced increased mortality. This was correlated with greater rainfall intensity and ant abundance. We show that protection from rainfall enhances the performance of small groups of spiders in the lowland rainforest, and suggest that predation or disturbance by ants may influence the geographical range limits of this species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gradients of precipitation and ant abundance may contribute to the altitudinal range limit of subsocial spiders: insights from a transplant experiment

Purcell

Avilés

2008

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…The inbred naked mole rats, for example, inhabit an environment where dispersal costs are high (Jarvis et al 1994). Dispersal costs appear high for subsocial spiders (Aviles and Gelsey 1998;Johannesen and Lubin 2001;Jones and Parker 2002;Powers and Aviles 2003) and are likely to be even higher in environments where social species occur (Aviles and Gelsey 1998).…”

Section: Phylogenetics and The Multiple Origins Of Spider Socialitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociality in Theridiid Spiders: Repeated Origins of an Evolutionary Dead End

Agnarsson¹,

Avilés²,

Coddington³

et al. 2006

Evol

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Abstract.•Evolutionary ' 'dead ends" result from traits that are selectively advantageous in the short term but ultimately result in lowered diversification rates of lineages. In spiders, 23 species scattered across eight families share a social system in which individuals live in colonies and cooperate in nest maintenance, prey capture, and brood care. Most of these species are inbred and have highly female-biased sex ratios. Here we show that in Theridiidae this social system originated eight to nine times independently among 11 to 12 species for a remarkable 18 to 19 origins across spiders. In Theridiidae, the origins cluster significantly in one clade marked by a possible preadaptation: extended maternal care. In most derivations, sociality is limited to isolated species: social species are sister to social species only thrice. To examine whether sociality in spiders represents an evolutionary dead end, we develop a test that compares the observed phylogenetic isolation of social species to the simulated evolution of social and non-social clades under equal diversification rates, and find that sociality in Theridiidae is significantly isolated. Because social clades are not in general smaller than their nonsocial sister clades, the "spindly" phylogenetic pattern•many tiny replicate social clades•may be explained by extinction rapid enough that a nonsocial sister group does not have time to diversify while the social lineage remains extant. In this case, this repeated origin and extinction of sociality suggests a conflict between the short-term benefits and long-term costs of inbred sociality. Although benefits of group living may initially outweigh costs of inbreeding (hence the replicate origins), in the long run the subdivision of the populations in relatively small and highly inbred colony lineages may result in higher extinction, thus an evolutionary dead end.

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“…Generally we assume subsocial spiders to have an outbred mating system, based on the presence of premating dispersal of one or both sexes (Schneider 1997;Avilés and Gelsey 1998;Powers and Avilés 2003), and adult sex ratios close to 1:1 (Lubin 1991). Yet, there are limited genetic data to substantiate this assumption.…”

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The Transition to Social Inbred Mating Systems in Spiders: Role of Inbreeding Tolerance in a Subsocial Predecessor

Bilde

Lubin

Smith³

et al. 2005

Evolution

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Abstract. The social spiders are unusual among cooperatively breeding animals in being highly inbred. In contrast, most other social organisms are outbred owing to inbreeding avoidance mechanisms. The social spiders appear to originate from solitary subsocial ancestors, implying a transition from outbreeding to inbreeding mating systems. Such a transition may be constrained by inbreeding avoidance tactics or fitness loss due to inbreeding depression. We examined whether the mating system of a subsocial spider, in a genus with three social congeners, is likely to facilitate or hinder the transition to inbreeding social systems. Populations of subsocial Stegodyphus lineatus are substructured and spiders occur in patches, which may consist of kin groups. We investigated whether male mating dispersal prevents matings within kin groups in natural populations. Approximately half of the marked males that were recovered made short moves (Ͻ 5m) and mated within their natal patch. This potential for inbreeding was counterbalanced by a relatively high proportion of immigrant males. In mating experiments, we tested whether inbreeding actually results in lower offspring fitness. Two levels of inbreeding were tested: full sibling versus non-sib matings and matings of individuals within and between naturally occurring patches of spiders. Neither full siblings nor patch mates were discriminated against as mates. Sibling matings had no effect on direct fitness traits such as fecundity, hatching success, time to hatching and survival of the offspring, but negatively affected offspring growth rates and adult body size of both males and females. Neither direct nor indirect fitness measures differed significantly between within patch and between-patch pairs. We tested the relatedness between patch mates and nonpatch mates using DNA fingerprinting (TE-AFLP). Kinship explained 30% of the genetic variation among patches, confirming that patches are often composed of kin. Overall, we found limited male dispersal, lack of kin discrimination, and tolerance to low levels of inbreeding. These results suggest a history of inbreeding which may reduce the frequency of deleterious recessive alleles in the population and promote the evolution of inbreeding tolerance. It is likely that the lack of inbreeding avoidance in subsocial predecessors has facilitated the transition to regular inbreeding social systems.

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Natal Dispersal Patterns of a Subsocial Spider Anelosimus cf. jucundus (Theridiidae)

Cited by 44 publications

References 64 publications

Gradients of precipitation and ant abundance may contribute to the altitudinal range limit of subsocial spiders: insights from a transplant experiment

Gradients of precipitation and ant abundance may contribute to the altitudinal range limit of subsocial spiders: insights from a transplant experiment

Sociality in Theridiid Spiders: Repeated Origins of an Evolutionary Dead End

The Transition to Social Inbred Mating Systems in Spiders: Role of Inbreeding Tolerance in a Subsocial Predecessor

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