The effect of substrate on prey capture does not match natural substrate use in a wolf spider

Abstract

Because habitats present different costs and benefits in contexts ranging from foraging to mating to predator avoidance, decisions about habitat use likely involve significant trade-offs across behavioural contexts. We examine this possibility in Schizocosa floridana , a cursorial wolf spider whose habitat consists of multiple substrates, including oak and pine litter, and sand. However, S. floridana restricts its use of habitat to oak litter. Substrate environments vary significantly in the degree to which they transmit visual and vibratory information. Previous work found that oak litter best transmits the substrate-borne vibrations that are critical to mating communication. However, oak litter may reduce the availability of visual information, which is known to be important for prey capture in other wolf spider species. Here, we test the relationship between substrate and prey capture efficiency in S. floridana . We examine substrate use in a foraging context via two laboratory-based experiments to (1) assess differences in prey capture efficiency among the three most common substrates in the field and to (2) determine which sensory modalities are involved in prey capture. We found that prey capture rates were highest on sand despite the fact that sand is the least used substrate by S. floridana in the wild. We also found no conclusive evidence that either the visual or the vibratory sensory modalities are critical for prey capture. Our results thus suggest that strict habitat specialization such as that exhibited by S. floridana is beneficial in some ecological contexts but costly in others. • Schizocosa floridana wolf spiders restrict their habitat use to oak litter. • Spiders catch prey more efficiently on sand than on oak litter. • Sand transmits substrate-borne vibrations poorly. • Loss of vibratory or visual sensory information does not impede prey capture.