Social spiders

Agelena consociata S Social spider silk attractive to conspecifics Krafft, 1970, 1971... 

Diaea socialis 108 Salticidae E Social spider volatile silk bound pheromone attracts conspeciflcs Evans and Main, 1993... 

The social spider Mallos gregalis is arrested by ether-soluble components of silk of conspecifics (Jackson, 1982). However, courtship behavior is not released by female silk (Jackson, 1978), in contrast to the behavior seen with silk of female Mallos trivittata (as trivittatus) silk. Male silk is inactive (Jackson, 1978). Coelotes terrestris males recognized female silk or a substratum on which females had been running (Roland, 1984) and males also exhibited courtship on empty female webs (Krafft, 1978). Courtship behavior, mainly vibratory signals in empty female webs, has also been observed in Amaurobius similis and Amaurobius fenestralis. This behavior is only performed on conspecific webs. A third species, Amaurobius ferox, exhibited no responses to silk cues (Krafft, 1978). 

Bagneres, A. G Trabalon, M., Blomquist, G. J. and Schulz, S. (1997). Waxes of the social spider Anelosimus eximus abundance of novel -propyl esters of long-chain methyl-branched fatty acids. Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology 36 295-314. 

Pasquet, A., Trabalon, M., Bagneres, A. G. and Leborgne, R. (1997). Does group closure exist in the social spider Anelosimus eximusl Behavioural and chemical approach. Insectes Sociaux 44 159-169. 

Tietjen, W. J., Ayyagari, L.R. and Uetz, G. W. (1987). Symbiosis between social spiders and yeast the role in prey attraction. Psyche 94 151-158. 

Krafft, B., Horel, A. and Julita, J.M. (1986). Influence of food supply on the duration of the gregarious phase of a maternal-social spider, Coelotes terrestris (Araneae, Agelenidae)../. Arachnol., 14, 219-226. 

In the social species Agelena consociata, silk galleries and cocoons are attractive to conspecifics. Trail following on silk was also observed (Krafft, 1970, 1971). Furthermore, conspecifics washed with ethanol and diethyl ether were attacked as prey, whereas intact spiders or vibrating lures covered with extracts were not (Krafft, 1974). 

Evans, T. A. and Main, B. Y. (1993). Attraction between social crab spiders silk pheromones in Diaea socialis. Behavioral Ecology 4 99-105. 

Jackson, R. R. (1978). Male mating strategies of dictynid spiders with differing types of social organization. Symposia of the Zoological Society, London 42 79-88. 

Kullmann, E. J. (1972). Evolution of social behavior in spiders (Araneae Eresidae and Theridiidae). American Zoologist 12 419—426. 

Seibt, U. and Wickler, W. (1988). Interspecific tolerance in social Stegodyphus spiders (Eresidae, Araneae). Journal of Arachnology 16 35-39. 

Trivers R. L. (1985) Social Evolution. Benjamin Cummings, Menlo Park, CA. von Nickisch-Rosenegk E. and Wink M. (1993) Sequestration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in several arctiid moths (Lepidoptera Arctiidae). J. Chem. Ecol. 19, 1889-1903. Vasconcellos-Neto J. and Lewinsohn T. M. (1984) Discrimination and release of unpalatable butterflies by Nephila clavipes, a neotropical orb-weaving spider. Ecol. Entomol. 9, 337-344. 

One of the best documented examples of aggressive non-social arthropod mimicry is that of bolas spiders that use the female sex pheromones of their lepidopteran hosts, mostly noctuids, to attract moth males. In their study on the moth Tetanolita mynesalis, i.e., the... 

Contact recognition pheromones and social behavior in spiders... 

Gundermann, J.L., Horel, A. and Krafft, B. (1993). Experimental manipulation of social tendencies in subsocial spider Coelotes terrestris. Insectes Soc., 40, 219-229. 

Consider a race of spider-beings named Mygalomorphs who spend their days spinning webs upon circular frames. Status in their society is based on the beauty of their webs. To create the web patterns, the spiders string a straight piece of web from one point on the circle to another. Usually the patterns are dull and uninspiring, and therefore most spiders are relegated to lower social classes. 

Like Superman and Captain America before him, Spider-Man be=came a cultural icon for his era. Somehow the figure of an angst-ridden, quasi-nuclear costumed hero answered a variety of social needs. In one tale, the hero has to borrow bus fare to track down the villain. By the mid-1970s, Spider-Man sales had topped even those of Superman. In 1965, Esquire magazine noted that Spider-Man s image was as popular in radical campus circles as that of revolutionary leader Che Guevara. 

A relationship similar to that between tyrosine and dopamine exists between the amino-acid tryptophan and the brain substance serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (Figure 8.9). Tryptamine is known in the venom of scorpions, while serotonin is found widely in the venom of honeybees, centipedes, and at least two spiders. Serotonin is not found in the venom of ants or solitary wasps but social wasps have it in quantity, as much as 1 pg per insect. It is present in the barbs of the larvae of the Tiger moth Arctia caja (Plate 11) and a satumid butterfly larva. Their origins in insect venoms are presumably from phenylalanine but this has not been proven. The same substance is in the hairs of the common stinging nettle Urtica dioica. 

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