Colour change ability and its effect on prey capture success in female Misumenoides formosipes crab spiders

Abstract

1. Changing between white and yellow body colour in certain crab spider species has been interpreted as an adaptation for matching the background colour where they hunt and thereby remaining cryptic to prey and/or their own predators. The potential costs and benefits of colour change in female Misumenoides formosipes Walckenaer were investigated via assessment of prey opportunities and capture success, in conjunction with the tendency for and rate of colour change on different backgrounds.2. It was tested whether being matched or mismatched to their background affected foraging by moving females between white and yellow inflorescences. Female colour was quantified in digital photos using the Lab colour space component of Adobe photoshop, providing the first empirical assessment of the rate of colour change for a crab spider species.3. Insect visits (potential prey) on inflorescences with and without spiders and prey capture success with females matched and mismatched to their background were quantified.4. Yellow females abandoned white inflorescences, whereas white females remained on and underwent colour change on yellow inflorescences. This difference supported the notion that the costs of colour change differ depending on the starting colour. Female departures from white flowers were apparently not due to a lack of insect visitation, as white inflorescences had higher visitation rates than did yellow inflorescences, even in the presence of spiders.5. An increase in the prey capture success of females who transitioned from white to yellow body colour on a yellow background supported the hypothesis that colour matching functions to deceive prey.