Comparison of Brood Productions in the Cold-Treated Pairing vs. Not Cold-Treated Pairing in a Stenochronous Spider

Abstract

To understand whether experience of cold season in reproductive behaviors in the adults of Amaurobius ferox, the paired adults of a female and a male were exposed under 'cold-treated environment' and 'not cold-treated environment', respectively. I investigated effects of the cold treatment on the brood production of A. ferox. In not cold treatment in which male-female pairs were formed in October at a temperature of <TEX>$20^{\circ}C$</TEX> (<TEX>${\pm}2^{\circ}C$</TEX>) and continuously kept under not cold-treated environment, only 3 of 50 pairs successfully reproduced (reproduction was defined as the emergence of spiderlings). In cold treatment where individuals were kept in cold conditions for 3 months prior to pair formation, 57 out of 60 couples succeeded in reproducing. Females which did not experience the low temperature displayed strong aggressiveness toward males. This behavioral inhibition might the primary barrier to copulation of A. ferox that decrease following a period of low temperature. The reproductive inhibition might help the females to allocate the maximum amount of energy in a given environment to reaching the adult stage and to delay reproduction in unfavorable wintering conditions.