Temperature Mediates Shifts in Individual Aggressiveness, Activity Level, and Social Behavior in a Spider

Abstract

Although in recent years behavioral syndromes have received a wealth of attention, how traits within syndromes respond to changing environments is not well resolved. Here, we test the effects of temperature on a suite of behavioral traits in the spider Anelosimus studiosus to determine (1) whether there are shifts in individuals’ social tendency, activity level, and foraging behavior in response to temperature, (2) if these traits shift are in the direction predicted by within‐population axes of trait covariance, and (3) whether the effects of temperature differ among individuals. In previous work, we documented a behavioral syndrome in A. studiosus where increased tolerance of conspecifics is correlated with decreased activity level and aggressiveness toward prey. Furthermore, there are distinct among‐population differences in behavior, where individuals from warm sites tend to be more aggressive and active than individuals from cold sites. Our data here reveal that at warmer temperatures A. studiosus exhibit diminished tolerance of conspecifics, increased activity levels, shorter latencies of attack, and increased tendencies to attack multiple prey items. Furthermore, we found that individual differences in behavior were consistent across temperature regimes for the majority of behavioral traits considered here: social tendency, activity level, and latency of attack. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that these behaviors are linked together by shared genetic underpinnings (e.g., metabolic differences) and shift non‐independently in response to contemporary abiotic environment (i.e., temperature). Furthermore, our data suggest that temperature itself could be responsible for the among‐population variation in social structure in A. studiosus.

Integrating thermal physiology within a syndrome: Locomotion, personality and habitat selection in an ectotherm

“…Thermal physiology may influence animal personality via its direct effects on biological processes associated with behaviour, including locomotion, growth, endocrine function and energy budgets (Brodie & Russell, ; Goulet, Thompson, & Chapple, ; Goulet, Thompson, Michelangeli, et al., ). For example when operating at higher body temperatures imposed by increases in environmental temperatures, individuals have been shown to become more aggressive (Biro et al., ), active and explorative (Cerqueira et al., ), risk‐averse (Herrel, James, & Van Damme, ) and asocial (Pruitt, Demes, & Dittrich‐Reed, ). These behavioural patterns likely exist because increases in body temperature are associated with increases in energy metabolism.…”

The Relationships between Behavioural Categories and Social Influences in the Gregarious Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

“…; Pruitt et al. ) or, alternatively, on the general interaction patterns among all group members (Moretz et al. ; Pike et al.…”

“…; Pruitt et al. ); (2) How do behaviours exhibited in solitary treatments compare with those exhibited in the presence of a conspecific? While other studies have examined behavioural syndromes and group dynamics, little is known about the relationships between behaviours exhibited in solitary and social contexts (Bergmuller & Taborsky ).…”

Heritable variation underlies behavioural types in the mating context in male bluefin killifish

“…Carere et al 2005; Arnold et al 2007; Chapman et al 2010) as well as by contemporary environmental conditions (e.g. Bolhuis et al 2006; Biro et al 2010; Pruitt et al 2011). Similarly, there is accumulating evidence that behavioural types can be influenced by social experiences during development and in the recent past (e.g.…”