Eight-Legged Encounters: Using Organismal Biology to Bring Science Education to Families & Communities

Path of the Predators: A Journey Through the Living Arachnids. Illustrations by Pawl Tisdale WHAT IS AN ARTHROPOD? CREATE A CHELICERATE ASSEMBLE AN ARACHNID TISSUE PAPER FLOWER MICROSCOPE MADNESS Eight-Legged Encounters Impact Change in interest in learning about scientific discoveries among adult respondents (n = 63). Youth’s interest in science activities (n = 42). Respondents were 50% female, 50% male and ranged in age from 4 – 14 with a mean of 7.7

Eight Legged Encounters

This program was funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant (DRL–1241482 to EAH). Material was developed in collaboration with Marie- Claire Chelini, Jessie Rose Storz, Cody Storz, and Malcolm Rosenthal. Steven Schwartz, Jason Stafstrom, Kathy French, Priscilla Grew, and Judy Diamond were all extremely helpful in grant writing, facilitating the first live event, and/or discussions. Pawl Tisdale (artist) was phenomenal to work with on all aspects of the project! TABLE OF CONTENTS CLASSIFICATION & TAXONOMY STATIONS I. WHAT IS AN ARTHROPOD? page 4 a. The goal of this station is to introduce the audience to some basic information about “arthropods”. Who are they? How and why are they grouped together? Answers to these questions are achieved through a sorting game with plastic animals. II. CREATE A CHELICERATE page 14 a. This station introduces the audience to the basic characteristics of chelicerates (a group which they have learned about from Station I) by allowing them to build their own chelicerate out of clay. III. ASSEMBLE AN ARACHNID page 16 a. Arachnids are surprisingly diverse, with 11 different living orders! This station introduces the audience to the diversity of body types found within the 11 living arachnid orders through a coloring activity. SPIDER-SPECIFIC STATIONS (ORDER ARANEAE) IV. BUILD A BURROW page 20 a. The first spiders didn’t build orb webs to catch prey out of the air, but instead, built silk-lined burrows with trapdoors. This station explores the early function of spider silk. V. CRIBELLATE VS. ECRIBELLATE SILK page 22 a. Spiders have evolved two different ways to improve the efficiency of prey capture with their webs. This station explores those two evolutionary solutions. VI. WEAVE A WEB page 24 a. Orb webs (the classical web most non-biologists envision when asked to think of a spider web) are quite complex structures. How do spiders build orb webs? Do they use the same type of silk for the entire web? Answers to these questions can be obtained as participants are guided through their own web-weaving exercise. VII. CATCH A MOTH page 27 a. This station highlights the unique foraging strategy of the ‘bolas spider’ through a game in which participants try to catch a moth out of the air using a lasso. VIII. TISSUE PAPER FLOWER page 29 a. This station lets the audience create their own tissue paper flower upon which their chosen crab spider (made of paper) can forage. It introduces the fact that some spiders can change color and highlights the adaptive value of camouflage. RESEARCH-RELATED STATIONS IX. MICROSCOPE MADNESS page 33 a. This station provides the audience an opportunity to take an up-close look at spiders - to examine body parts they cannot normally see and to get them thinking about how these details might relate to an animals’ lifestyle or evolutionary history. X. COMMUNITY EXPERIMENT page 38 a. This station engages participants in a hand’s on spider feeding experiment that examines the influence of seismic (vibratory) cues on foraging success. Participants are encouraged to imagine how their results may relate to the evolution of courtship displays that incorporate specific sensory modalities. MISCELANEOUS STATIONSXI. SILKEN SPINNERS page 44 a. This station provides some “down time” for participants, where they can sit and watch the amazing footage and associated information put together by the BBC in David Attenborough’s “Silken Spinners” episode from Life in the Undergrowth.XII. SOUND STATION page 45 a. Most people do not realize that some spiders can “sing” in the form of stereotyped vibrations that are sent through a substrate, or surface upon which they are standing (e.g. a leaf, a twig, a blade of grass, etc.). Here, participants can listen to the sounds of spiders and are asked to imagine if they might find these songs attractive. XIII. SPIDER DANCE DISCO page 46 a. Not only can spiders sing, but they can also dance! Participants can observe some of the amazing dances that spiders do and can learn some of their own spider dance moves by watching the “Spider Dance Disco” XIV. READ ALOUD page 47 a. This station enables participants to play with some arachnid stuffed animals, puzzles, and to look through arachnid-related children’s books. Several books are listed as suggestions for read alouds. PATH OF PREDATORS XV. LIVING ARACHNID ORDERS page 48 a. Araneae, Amblypygi, Thelyphonida, Schizomida, Scorpiones, Solifugae, Palpigradi, Ricinulei, Pseudoscorpiones, Acari, Opilione

Eight-Legged Encounters: Using Organismal Biology to Bring Science Education to Families & Communities

Path of the Predators: A Journey Through the Living Arachnids. Illustrations by Pawl Tisdale WHAT IS AN ARTHROPOD? CREATE A CHELICERATE ASSEMBLE AN ARACHNID TISSUE PAPER FLOWER MICROSCOPE MADNESS Eight-Legged Encounters Impact Change in interest in learning about scientific discoveries among adult respondents (n = 63). Youth’s interest in science activities (n = 42). Respondents were 50% female, 50% male and ranged in age from 4 – 14 with a mean of 7.7

Nocturnal foraging enhanced by enlarged secondary eyes in a net-casting spider

Animals that possess extreme sensory structures are predicted to have a related extreme behavioral function. This study focuses on one such extreme sensory structure—the posterior median eyes of the net-casting spider Deinopis spinosa. Although past research has implicated the importance of vision in the nocturnal foraging habits of Deinopis, no direct link between vision in the enlarged eyes and nocturnal foraging has yet been made. To directly test the hypothesis that the enlarged posterior median eyes facilitate visually based nocturnal prey capture, we conducted repeated-measures, visual occlusion trials in both natural and laboratory settings. Our results indicate that D. spinosa relies heavily on visual cues detected by the posterior median eyes to capture cursorial prey items. We suggest that the enlarged posterior median eyes benefit D. spinosa not only through increased diet breadth, but also by allowing spiders to remain active solely at night, thus evading predation by diurnal animals

Nocturnal foraging enhanced by enlarged secondary eyes in a net-casting spider

Animals that possess extreme sensory structures are predicted to have a related extreme behavioral function. This study focuses on one such extreme sensory structure—the posterior median eyes of the net-casting spider Deinopis spinosa. Although past research has implicated the importance of vision in the nocturnal foraging habits of Deinopis, no direct link between vision in the enlarged eyes and nocturnal foraging has yet been made. To directly test the hypothesis that the enlarged posterior median eyes facilitate visually based nocturnal prey capture, we conducted repeated-measures, visual occlusion trials in both natural and laboratory settings. Our results indicate that D. spinosa relies heavily on visual cues detected by the posterior median eyes to capture cursorial prey items. We suggest that the enlarged posterior median eyes benefit D. spinosa not only through increased diet breadth, but also by allowing spiders to remain active solely at night, thus evading predation by diurnal animals

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF GIANT NEURONS IN THE ANTENNIFORM LEG OF THE AMBLYPYGID \u3ci\u3ePHRYNUS MARGINEMACULATUS\u3c/i\u3e

Amblypygids have modified front legs that are not used for locomotion, but rather to probe the environment in the manner of antennae. These elongate, motile sense organs are referred to as antenniform legs. We have found remarkable replication in structure and function of giant neurons in the antenniform leg of the amblypygid Phrynus marginemaculatus C. L. Koch 1841 when compared with other amblypygids. These neurons have such large diameter axons (several μm) that their action potentials can be recorded outside the cuticle. Their cell bodies are found in the periphery, in the distal-most segments of the antenniform leg, centimeters away from the central nervous system. Primary afferents from sense organs on the antenniform leg synapse onto some of the giant fibers in these distal segments of the leg. Standard histological techniques and a novel whole mount preparation were used to identify the location of giant cell bodies within the antenniform leg. We found several new cell bodies in segments 10–20, three of which were predicted by previous electrophysiological studies of another amblypygid, Heterophrynus elaphus Pocock 1903. Electrophysiology was used to show that the structure and function of four of the giant neurons, GN1, 2, 6, and 7, is very similar in P. marginemaculatus and H. elaphus. Heterophrynus elaphus inhabits humid tropical forests in South America while P. marginemaculatus individuals were collected from a pine rock hammock in the Florida Keys, USA. The similarity of findings in species with such distinct habitats suggests that the giant neurons are required for basic neuromechanical operation of these extended limbs, and are not subject to intense selection via ecological factors

Testing the Hypothesized Antipredator Defence Function of Stridulation in the Spiny Orb-Weaving Spider, \u3ci\u3eMicrathena gracilis\u3c/i\u3e

The observable diversity of antipredator defenses across organisms demonstrates predation’s impact on trait evolution. The functions of many traits that are presumed to have an antipredator function have never been directly tested. The spiny orb-weaving spider, Micrathena gracilis, for example, stridulates when grasped. While stridulation was first hypothesized to be an antipredator defense nearly 50 years ago, no data exist to support this hypothesis. To explore the form and function of M. gracilis stridulation, we first quantified the behavioral and acoustical properties of sound production. Next, using laboratory assays, we directly tested the effect of stridulation on survival with an avian predator—blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata. Finally, we conducted a large mark-recapture field study in which we compared the natural survival of experimentally manipulated adult female M. gracilis that could not stridulate (silenced) versus could stridulate (control). Stridulatory pulses produced broadband frequency spectra, consistent with acoustic antipredator defenses in other taxa. We also observed stridulation by male M. gracilis for the first time. In staged laboratory interactions with captive blue jays, we found no differences in survival between silenced and control M. gracilis. Similarly, in our mark-recapture field study, we found no differences in survival estimates between silenced and control groups, nor an effect of stridulation rate. While M. gracilis stridulation closely resembles antipredator stridulation in other arthropods, our behavioral data do not yet provide solid support for an antipredator function in M. gracilis

Tactical adjustment of signaling leads to increased mating success and survival

Most sexually reproducing animals overcome the challenge of searching for and attracting mates by utilizing signals that are broadcast through a spatially and temporally varying environment. A diverse suite of behavioral solutions exist for overcoming such environmental variability, including the adjustment of signaling behavior based upon receiver feedback. Few studies have directly examined the relationship between such tactical signaling adjustments and proxies of male fitness; the few that have, failed to find a relationship. Using the wolf spider, Schizocosa rovneri, we set out to first quantify among-male variation in the form and degree of responsiveness to female feedback. Following exposure to female receptivity cues, some males increased their signaling on an effective signaling substrate (filter paper) while others decreased signaling on the effective substrate. These groups of males were then run through mating trials, conducted in a heterogeneous environment, to examine the relationship between male signaling adjustments and subsequent mating success. Males that adaptively adjusted their signaling (i.e. increased signaling on a more effective substrate) were (1) more likely to copulate, (2) achieved a copulation more quickly and (3) were less likely to be attacked; thus establishing a positive relationship between tactical adjustments of courtship signaling and male fitness

Absence of Mate Choice and Postcopulatory Benefits in a Species with Extreme Sexual Size Dimorphism

Most hypotheses related to the evolution of female-biased extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD) attribute the differences in the size of each sex to selection for reproduction, either through selection for increased female fecundity or selection for male increased mobility and faster development. Very few studies, however, have tested for direct fitness benefits associated with the latter – small male size. Mecaphesa celer is a crab spider with extreme SSD, whose males are less than half the size of females and often weigh 10 times less. Here, we test the hypotheses that larger size in females and smaller size in males are sexually selected through differential pre- and postcopulatory reproductive benefits. To do so, we tested the following predictions: matings between small males and large females are more likely to occur due to mate choice; females mated to small males are less likely to accept second copulation attempts; and matings between small males and large females will result in larger clutches of longer-lived offspring. Following staged mating trials in the laboratory, we found no support for any of our predictions, suggesting that SSD in M. celer may not be driven by pre- or post-reproductive fitness benefits to small males

Temporal patterns of nutrition dependence in secondary sexual traits and their varying impacts on male mating success

Variation in the quantity of nutrients ingested over an individual’s lifetime is likely to differentially affect distinct male secondary sexual traits and courtship signals, potentially providing females with information about a male’s past and present foraging history. We hypothesize that female choice is thus influenced by a male’s lifetime foraging history. To test this, we manipulated the quantity of nutrients (i.e. prey items) available to male wolf spiders, Schizocosa stridulans, using a fully crossed 2 × 2 design with low versus high prey quantity across juvenile and adult life stages, and assessed the impact of these diet treatments on male foreleg pigmentation, courtship rate and mating success. We found foreleg pigmentation to be dependent upon both juvenile and adult diet, with increased nutrition dependence of pigmented versus unpigmented leg segments. Despite this, the degree of foreleg pigmentation did not predict mating success. In contrast, courtship rate was not nutrient dependent, yet strongly predicted mating success. Finally, we found a significant interaction between juvenile diet, adult diet and courtship rate on mating success. Males that experienced a diet switch (low juvenile to high adult, LH; high juvenile to low adult, HL) exhibited no relationship between courtship rate and mating success, while those that experienced a consistent diet (LL; HH) showed increased mating success with increased courtship rates. Our results suggest that nutrition dependence of secondary sexual traits is not necessarily a predictor of their role in mating success and that female mate choice is the result of complex interactions between multiple male traits