NDLI: The role of learning in risk-avoidance strategies during spider

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Hénaut, Yann Machkour M’Rabet, Salima Lachaud, Jean Paul
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	Cognitive abilities used by arthropods, particularly predators, when interacting in a natural context have been poorly studied. Two neotropical sympatric predators, the golden silk spider Nephila clavipes and the ectatommine ant Ectatomma tuberculatum, were observed in field conditions where their interactions occurred regularly due to the exploitation of the same patches of vegetation. Repeated presentations of E. tuberculatum workers ensnared in their web triggered a progressive decrease in the capture response of N. clavipes. All the spiders that stopped trying to catch the ant on the second and/or third trial were individuals that had been bitten during a previous trial. Behavioural tests in natural field conditions showed that after a single confrontation with ant biting, spiders were able to discriminate this kind of prey more quickly from a defenceless prey (fruit flies) and to selectively and completely suppress their catching response. This one-trial aversive learning was still effective after 24 h. Likewise, E. tuberculatum workers entangled once on a N. clavipes web and having succeeded in escaping, learned to escape more quickly, breaking through the web by preferentially cutting spiral threads (sticky traps) rather than radial threads (stronger structural unsticky components) or pursuing the cutting of radials but doing it more quickly. Both strategies, based on a one-trial learning capability, obviously minimize the number of physical encounters between the two powerful opponents and may enhance their fitness by diminishing the risk of potential injuries resulting from predatory interactions.
Starting Page	185
Ending Page	195
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	14359448
Journal	Animal Cognition
Volume Number	17
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	14359456
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2013-06-15
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Predation risk Predatory interaction Aversive learning One-trial learning Evasive strategy Prey avoidance Behavioural Sciences Zoology Human Physiology Evolutionary Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Experimental and Cognitive Psychology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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