Effect of web-substrate on male courtship vibration transmission and female reception in web-building spiders

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Effect of web-substrate on male courtship vibration transmission and female reception in web-building spiders Senthurran Sivalinghem1* and Andrew Mason1 1 University of Toronto Scarborough, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Canada In many communication systems, the signaling environment has been shown to impose significant influence on signal characteristics, signaling behaviour, and sensory physiology. Recently, substrate-propagated vibratory communication has received increased attention, and spiders have emerged as ideal model organisms to study this mode of communication. In spiders, vibrations have been shown to play an important role during mate attraction, mate choice, mate/prey localization, and predator avoidance. Despite the purported importance of signaling substrate on vibration transmission, studies looking at the effect of substrate on the efficacy of vibration transmission have primarily focused on solid-surfaces such as small rocks, leaf and pine litter, sand, and red clay, which are generally substrates of ‘land-dwelling’ spiders. To date, however, similar studies are lacking in web-building spiders, which, unlike land-dwellers, only communicate through one substrate-type – the web – and may have signals and receptors that are adapted to the filtering and attenuation characteristics of their respective webs. Understanding these influences has important implications for understanding the function and evolution of solid substrate-borne vibratory communication. In this study, we used the Australian redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti, and the western black widow spider, L. hesperus, to examine if web-substrates influence signal characteristics and transmission properties, and receptor sensitivity. The specific goals of this study were to: 1) quantify vibration transmission properties of web-threads; 2) characterize male courtship vibrations; and 3) determine sensory physiology of vibration reception in female receivers. Vibrations (frequency sweeps from 1 to 2000 Hz) were generated with a piezoelectric actuator, and individual strands were stimulated at increasing distances. The propagated vibrations were measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer – vibrations were measured 1 cm from the female – and transfer functions were then calculated for each distance (dB gain relative to input). We then conducted mating trials and recorded and analyzed male courtship vibrations (1 cm from the female). Lastly, we conducted neurophysiological experiments. Adult females were mounted ventral side up onto a Plexiglas holder, and the front legs were mechanically vibrated at varying frequencies at varying intensities. Tungsten electrodes were inserted into the leg nerve, and extracellular nerve responses to vibrations were recorded. We determined threshold sensitivity at each frequency, and the number of action potentials as a function of stimulus intensity to obtain frequency-response and intensity-response curves, respectively. Our results contribute novel information on the influence of web-substrate on male courtship signals, and female vibration reception. These results elucidate possible functions and evolution of vibratory signals and reception in web-building spiders. Keywords: Sensory Physiology, Signal Transmission, Substrate-borne vibration Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster (but consider for student poster award) Topic: Communication Citation: Sivalinghem S and Mason A (2012). Effect of web-substrate on male courtship vibration transmission and female reception in web-building spiders. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00366 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 01 May 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Mr. Senthurran Sivalinghem, University of Toronto Scarborough, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada, s_sen24@hotmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. 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