Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30564
Title: | Large orb-webs adapted to maximise total biomass not rare, large prey | Contributor(s): | Harmer, Aaron M T (author); Clausen, Philip D (author); Wroe, Stephen (author) ; Madin, Joshua S (author) | Publication Date: | 2015-09-16 | Open Access: | Yes | DOI: | 10.1038/srep14121 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30564 | Abstract: | Spider orb-webs are the ultimate anti-ballistic devices, capable of dissipating the relatively massive kinetic energy of flying prey. Increased web size and prey stopping capacity have co-evolved in a number orb-web taxa, but the selective forces driving web size and performance increases are under debate. The rare, large prey hypothesis maintains that the energetic benefits of rare, very large prey are so much greater than the gains from smaller, more common prey that smaller prey are irrelevant for reproduction. Here, we integrate biophysical and ecological data and models to test a major prediction of the rare, large prey hypothesis, that selection should favour webs with increased stopping capacity and that large prey should comprise a significant proportion of prey stopped by a web. We find that larger webs indeed have a greater capacity to stop large prey. However, based on prey ecology, we also find that these large prey make up a tiny fraction of the total biomass (=energy) potentially captured. We conclude that large webs are adapted to stop more total biomass and that the capacity to stop rare, but very large, prey is an incidental consequence of the longer radial silks that scale with web size. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Scientific Reports, v.5, p. 1-8 | Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group | Place of Publication: | United Kingdom | ISSN: | 2045-2322 | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 060303 Biological Adaptation 040308 Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 370506 Palaeontology (incl. palynology) 310403 Biological adaptation 310999 Zoology not elsewhere classified |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 970104 Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences 890299 Computer Software and Services not elsewhere classified |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 280107 Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences | Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Environmental and Rural Science |
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File | Description | Size | Format | |
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openpublished/LargeOrbWebsWroe2015JournalArticle.pdf | Published version | 1.32 MB | Adobe PDF Download Adobe | View/Open |
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