Publication Type
Journal Article
Journal Name
Behavioural Processes
Publication Date
5-1-2009
Abstract
Evarcha culicivora is an unusual salticid spider because each sex actively courts the other and both sexes make distinctive mate-choice decisions. Here we use olfactometer experiments for investigating the ability of each sex to identify potential mates on the basis of odour alone. Test spiders spent more time in the vicinity of opposite-sex conspecific source spiders, regardless of whether or not these source spiders had previously mated, when the alternatives were conspecific individuals of the same sex, juveniles or a control (no odour source). This trend held regardless of the test spider's and source spider's age after reaching maturity and, for male test spiders, it held regardless of the test spider's mating status. However, after females had mated they no longer expressed a preference for male odour. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Mate identification, Mating systems, Olfaction, Pheromones, Salticidae
PubMed ID
19429199
Recommended Citation
Cross, F., & Jackson, R. (2009). Mate-odour identification by both sexes of Evarcha culicivora, an East African jumping spider. Behavioural Processes, 81 (1), 74-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2009.02.002