Vol. 76 (1) 2024

ARTICLES

No Evidence for the Sensory Trap Hypothesis during Courtship in the Gift-Giving Spider Pisaura mirabilis (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Pisauridae)

Pavol Prokop1,2,* & Zuzana Ježová1

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*1Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia; pavol.prokop@savba.sk
2Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

https://doi.org/10.71424/azb76.1.002713

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Abstract
Males of a gift-giving spider Pisaura mirablis silk-wrap prey and offer it a nuptial gift to the female during courtship. The sensory trap hypothesis proposes that males exploit the maternal care instinct of females by a close resemblance to a wrapped gift with an egg sac. We predict that if the sensory trap hypothesis works, then females should not feed on egg sacs and should adopt and carry them after copulation finishes. There were no differences in mating behaviour in terms of latency to copulation, copulation duration, wrapping prey/egg sacs with silk or with the likelihood of holding gifts/egg sacs by females after copulation. Females consumed approximately 23% of the egg sacs during copulation (mean = 0.016 g, 95% CI [0.01–0.02]). None of the females who received an egg sac during mating continued to care for it. We conclude that the production of gifts by males correlates with female foraging needs, and the silk wrapping of prey during courtship in P. mirabilis did not evolve as a sensory trap.

Key words
nuptial feeding, spider mating behaviour

How to Cite
Prokop P., & Ježová Z. 2024. No Evidence for the Sensory Trap Hypothesis during Courtship in the Gift-Giving Spider Pisaura mirabilis
(Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Pisauridae). Acta zoologica bulgarica 76 (1) 71-75.

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