© 1984 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Alternative Reproductive Tactics in Spiders1
Department of Psychology, Tulane University New Orleans, Louisiana 70118
The comparative study of reproduction at the level of population and individual is a relatively recent development in spider research. Such study is necessary to describe and examine alternative reproductive tactics. Female spider tactics are related to adaptations for a carnivorous mode of feeding. Being the larger of the sexes, the female has the alternative of mating with or preying upon attending males. In web building spiders, which are generally solitary, other female alternatives are related to characteristics of a web used in prey capture. These alternatives include different responses when defending the web, and individually building the web so that it does or does not contact another. Tactics may vary in communal species which build a sheet-like structure, as females may remain in the colony or emigrate and establish a small web. Male spiders usually search for females, and mating occurs on or near a female retreat or web. A male may show different alternatives in mate searching, demonstrate various courtship and copulatory tactics, copulate or feed on the female's prey while she feeds, and guard the female after mating or depart and search for another female. Certain characteristics of females are related to these male alternatives, these characteristics being: larger size and longer life expectancy as compared with the male, carnivorous feeding, and sexual receptivity. Male web spiders may also use alternatives while defending position on the female web. These alternatives are related to the design and placement of the web, and occasional web abandonment by the female. Relevant literature is reviewed and research suggested.