Summary
Optimal foraging theory is based on the assumption that at least some aspects of foraging behavior are genetically determined (Pyke et al. 1977; Kamil and Sargent 1980; Pyke 1984). Nonetheless, very few studies have examined the role of genetics in foraging behavior. Here, we report on geographical differences in the foraging behavior of a spider (Agelenopsis aperta) and investigate whether these differences are genetically determined. Field studies were conducted on two different populations of A. aperta: one residing in a desert riparian habitat, and the other in a desert grassland habitat. Data from the spiders' natural encounters with prey demonstrated that grassland spiders exhibited a higher frequency of attack than riparian spiders towards 13 of 15 prey types, including crickets and ants. Grassland spiders also had shorter latencies to attack 12 of 15 prey types, including crickets and ants, than riparian spiders. Subsequently, we reared grassland and riparian spiders under controlled conditions in the laboratory and observed their interactions with prey to determine whether the populational differences we found in the field could be genetic. Again, grassland spiders showed a shorter latency to attack prey (crickets, ants) than riparian spiders. These latencies were not significantly affected by the hunger state or age of the spiders. Finally, we reared a second generation (F2) of grassland and riparian spiders in the laboratory and observed their interactions with prey to determine whether the populational differences in the previous generation were due to genetic effects or maternal effects. As before, grassland spiders exhibited a shorter latency to attack prey (crickets) than riparian spiders. We conclude that the foraging differences we observed between these two populations of A. aperta are genetically determined. These differences probably have resulted from either natural selection acting directly on attack frequency and the latency to attack prey, or natural selection acting on traits which are genetically correlated with these aspects of foraging behavior.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Arnold SJ (1980) The microevolution of feeding behavior. In: Kamil AC, Sargent TD (eds) Foraging behavior: ecological, ethological, and psychological approaches. Garland Press, New York, pp 409–453
Arnold SJ (1981a) Behavioral variation in natural populations. I. Phenotypic, genetic and environmental correlations between chemoreceptive responses to prey in the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Evolution 25:489–509
Arnold SJ (1981b) Behavioral variation in natural populations. II. The inheritance of a feeding response in crosses between geographic races of the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Evolution 35:510–515
Bakker TCM (1986) Aggressiveness in sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus): a behaviour genetic study. Behaviour 98:1–144
Charnov EL (1976) Optimal foraging: attack strategy of a mantid. Am Nat 110:141–151
Davies NB (1977) Prey selection and the search strategy of the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata): a field study on optimal foraging. Anim Behav 25:1016–1033
Davidson DW (1978) Experimental tests of the optimal diet in two social insects. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 4:35–41
deBelle JS, Sokolowski MB (1987) Heredity of rover/sitter: alternative foraging strategies of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. Heredity 59:73–83
Dill LM, Fraser AHG (1984) Risk of predation and the feeding behavior of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 16:65–71
Drummond H, Burghardt GM (1983) Geographic variation in the foraging behavior of the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 12:43–48
Ehlinger TJ, Wilson DS (1988) Complex foraging polymorphism in bluegill sunfish. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:1878–1882
Freund RJ, Littell RC, Spector PC (1986) SAS system for linear models. SAS Institute Inc, Cary NC
Futuyma DJ (1983) Selective factors in the evolution of host choice by phytophagous insects. In: Ahmad S (ed) Herbivorous insects: host-seeking behavior and mechanisms. Academic Press, New York, pp 227–244
Goss-Custard JD (1977) Optimal foraging and the size selection of worms by redshank, Tringa totanus, in the field. Anim Behav 25:10–29
Gray L (1980) Genetic and experiential differences affecting foraging behavior. In: Kamil AC, Sargent TD (eds) Foraging behavior: ecological, ethological and psychological approaches. Garland Press, New York, pp 455–473
Hammerstein P, Riechert SE (1988) Payoffs and strategies in territorial contests: ESS analyses of two ecotypes of the spider Agelenopsis aperta. Evol Ecol 2:115–138
Hedrick AV (1988) Female choice and the heritability of attractive male traits: an empirical study. Am Nat 32:267–276
Hoffmann AA (1988) Heritable variation for territorial success in two Drosophila melanogaster populations. Anim Behav 36:1180–1189
Huntingford FA (1976) A comparison of the reaction of sticklebacks in different reproductive conditions towards conspecifics and predators. Anim Behav. 24:694–697
Kamil AC, Sargent TD (1980) Behavior genetic approaches. In: Kamil AC, Sargent TD (eds) Foraging behavior: ecological, ethological, and psychological approaches. Garland Press, New York, pp 407–408
Krebs JR, Erichsen JT, Webber MI, Charnov EL (1977) Optimal prey selection in the great tit (Parus major). Anim Behav 25:30–38
Krebs JR, Stephens DW, Sutherland WJ (1983) Perspectives in optimal foraging. In: Brush AH, Clark GA (eds) Perspectives in ornithology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 165–216
Li KT, Wetterer JK, Hairston NG (1985) Fish size, visual resolution, and prey selectivity. Ecology 66:1729–1735
Lima SL, Valone TJ (1986) Influence of predation risk on diet selection: a simple example in the grey squirrel. Anim Behav 34:536–544
Maynard Smith J, Riechert SE (1984) A conflicting-tendency model of spider agonistic behaviour: hybrid-pure population line comparisons. Anim Behav 36:564–578
Metcalfe NB, Huntingford FA, Thorpe JE (1987) Predation risk impairs diet selection in juvenile salmon. Anim Behav 35:931–933
Milinski M, Heller R (1978) Influence of a predator on the optimal foraging behaviour of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.). Nature 275:642–644
Mitter C, Futuyma DJ (1983) An evolutionary-genetic view of host-plant utilization by insects. In: Denno RF, McClure MS (eds) Variable plants and herbivores in natural and managed systems. Academic Press, New York, pp 427–459
Mousseau TA, Roff DA (1987) Natural selection and the heritability of fitness components. Heredity 59:181–197
O'Brien RG, Kaiser MK (1985) MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measured designs: an extensive primer. Psychol Bull 97:316–333
Pyke GH (1984) Optimal foraging theory: a critical review. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 15:523–575
Pyke GH, Pulliam HR, Charnov EL (1977) Optimal foraging: a selective review of theory and tests. Q Rev Biol 52:137–154
Pulliam HR (1974) On the theory of optimal diets. Am Nat 108:59–75
Riechert SE (1978) Energy-based territoriality in populations of the desert spider Agelenopsis aperta (Gertsch). Symp Zool Soc, London 42:211–222
Riechert SE (1979) Games spiders play. II. Resource assessment strategies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 6:121–128
Riechert SE (1982) Spider interaction strategies: communication versus coercion. In: Witt PN, Rovner J (eds) Spider communication: mechanisms and ecological significance. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 281–315
Riechert SE (1986) Between population variation in spider territorial behavior: hybrid-pure line comparisons. In: Huettel MD (ed) Evolutionary genetics of invertebrate behavior: progress and prospects. Plenum Press, New York, pp 33–42
Riechert SE, Maynard Smith J (1989) Genetic analyses of two behavioral traits linked to individual fitness in the desert spider, Agelenopsis aperta. Anim Behav 37:624–637
Riechert SE, Tracy CR (1975) Thermal balance and prey availability: bases for a model relating web-site characteristics to spider reproductive success. Ecology 56:265–284
Schemmel C (1980) Studies on the genetics of feeding behaviour in the cave fish Astyanax mexicanus f. anoptichthys. An example of apparent monofactorial inheritance by polygenes. Z Tierpsychol 53:9–22
Schoener TW (1971) Theory of feeding strategies. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 2:369–404
Schoener TW (1987) A brief history of optimal foraging theory. In: Kamil AC, Krebs J, Pulliam HR (eds) Foraging behavior. Plenum Press, New York, pp 5–67
Sih A (1980) Optimal behavior: can foragers balance two conflicting demands? Science 210:1041–1043
Tauber CA, Tauber MJ (1987) Food specificity in predacious insects: a comparative ecophysiological and genetic study. Evol Ecol 1:175–186
Tulley JJ, Huntingford FA (1988) Additional information on the relationship between intra-specific aggression and anti-predator behaviour in the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Ethology 78:219–222
Wallin A (1988) The genetics of foraging behaviour: artificial selection for food choice in larvae of the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. Anim Behav 36:106–114
Weisberg S (1980) Applied linear regression. Wiley and Sons, New York
Werner EE, Hall DJ (1974) Optimal foraging and the size selection of prey by the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). Ecology 55:1042–1052
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hedrick, A.V., Riechert, S.E. Genetically-based variation between two spider populations in foraging behavior. Oecologia 80, 533–539 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380078
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380078