FemalePardosa milvinawolf spiders increase silk advertisements when in the presence of silk from courting males

Abstract

Abstract Female wolf spider silk is known to elicit searching and courtship behavior among adult males, however variation in the types of silk females deposit, the context in which it occurs, and the role of male silk in courtship displays and female responses has rarely been examined. We measured male Pardosa milvina (Hentz 1844) silk deposition while performing courtship displays. We then examined whether female silk deposition changes when encountering silk produced from a courting rather than a non-courting male and compared these conditions to female silk deposition in the absence of male silk. We measured the quantity of three different types of silk (draglines, cord silk, and attachment disks) deposited by females across substrates previously occupied by a courting male, a non-courting male, or no male. Females significantly increased attachment disk deposition in the presence of silk from a courting rather than a non-courting male. Females also showed elevated dragline deposition in the presence o...