Search results for "Stegodyphus"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Mitochondrial DNA distributions indicate colony propagation by single matri-lineages in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola (Eresidae)
2002
Colony-dwelling social spiders of the genus Stegodyphus are characterized by high colony turnover, within-colony mating, inbreeding and skewed sex ratios. These phenomena may purge genetic variation from the entire species gene pool. Social Stegodyphus have previously been discussed as ecologically unstable and evolutionary dead ends. We investigated the distribution and age (sequence divergence) of mitochondrial DNA variation for inferences of colony propagation, colony discreteness and maintenance of genetic variation in the social spider S. dumicola. In contrast to our expectations, we found abundant mtDNA variation, consisting of 15 haplotypes belonging to four haplotype lineages. Linea…
Reproductive state and care giving in Stegodyphus (Araneae: Eresidae) and the implications for the evolution of sociality
2002
Abstract Cooperative brood care is a rare phenomenon in spiders and is restricted to a few social species, including three in the genus Stegodyphus. Brood care in Stegodyphus begins with regurgitation feeding followed by matriphagy: the young consume the body fluids of their mother causing her to die quickly. Whether such an extreme form of maternal care can become a communal task should depend on physiological or historical preconditions. I investigated whether femaleStegodyphus lineatus feed young or allow matriphagy according to their own reproductive state. Broods of young of two age classes (2 or 10 days after hatching) were isolated or fostered out to adult females that were unmated, …
Population history in social spiders repeated: colony structure and lineage evolution inStegodyphus mimosarum(Eresidae)
2009
Social cooperative spiders from diverse taxonomic families share life-history and demographic traits, including highly inbred colony structure. The combination of traits suggests constrained pathways for social evolution in spiders. The genus Stegodyphus has three independently evolved social species, which can be used as replicate samples to analyse population constraints in evolutionary time. We tested colony structure and population history of the social S. mimosarum from South and East Africa using mitochondrial DNA variation, and we compared the results to published data for the independently evolved social congener S. dumicola. S. mimosarum had many and diverse haplotypes (5-7% sequen…
The age and evolution of sociality in Stegodyphus spiders: a molecular phylogenetic perspective
2006
Social, cooperative breeding behaviour is rare in spiders and generally characterized by inbreeding, skewed sex ratios and high rates of colony turnover, processes that when combined may reduce genetic variation and lower individual fitness quickly. On these grounds, social spider species have been suggested to be unstable in evolutionary time, and hence sociality a rare phenomenon in spiders. Based on a partial molecular phylogeny of the genus Stegodyphus , we address the hypothesis that social spiders in this genus are evolutionary transient. We estimate the age of the three social species, test whether they represent an ancestral or derived state and assess diversification relative to s…
Group founding and breeding structure in the subsocial spider stegodyphus lineatus (Eresidae)
1999
Co-operative behaviour may evolve by enhancing the genetic similarity of group members. Increased group similarity is thought to be the basis for the 'subsocial route' of social evolution in the spider family Eresidae. Two processes may promote the similarity of individuals within populations or breeding groups, namely philopatry in stable environments and founder events in a stochastic environment. We show that both processes led to genetic differentiation within and among populations of the subsocial spider Stegodyphus lineatus. Within populations we distinguished between the genetic structure caused by random mating and philopatry in old breeding groups and that caused by newly founded g…
DISPERSAL OF STEGODYPHUS DUMICOLA (ARANEAE, ERESIDAE): THEY DO BALLOON AFTER ALL!
2001
Abstract There has been some controversy about whether adult females of social Stegodyphus disperse by ballooning. Here we show that adult Stegodyphus dumicola (Eresidae) Pocock 1898 are able to gain up-lift by releasing a very large number of threads. The threads fan out widely from the spider's body and form a triangular sheet. This previously unknown ballooning mechanism, enables even large spiders to disperse over large distances.
EVIDENCE FOR KIN-STRUCTURED GROUP FOUNDING AND LIMITED JUVENILE DISPERSAL IN THE SUB-SOCIAL SPIDER STEGODYPHUS LINEATUS (ARANEAE, ERESIDAE)
2001
Abstract In sub-social spiders, restricted dispersal of young (i.e., natal philopatry) and the potential for inbreeding could contribute to within-population subdivision, thus resulting in a population structure similar to that found in social congeners. In this context, we analyzed the origin and mode of individual distribution patterns and their contribution to within-population structure in juveniles of the sub-social spider Stegodyphus lineatus. We investigated the distribution of juveniles for four months after leaving the maternal nest using allozyme genetic markers. We found that isolated groups of juveniles consisted predominantly of siblings, whereas larger aggregations of individu…
Dispersal history of a spider (Stegodyphus lineatus) across contiguous deserts: vicariance and range expansion
2005
Israel marks a crossroads between three continents encompassing several phytogeographical and zoogeographical zones. In this complex area, the flow of species from different biogeographical regions creates opportunities to study how geographical division and colonization routes affect current distribution and structure of resident populations of organisms associated with desert and arid environments, habitats that may have persisted throughout Pleistocene glacial periods. The present paper analyses the population history of the spider Stegodyphus lineatus in the contiguous Negev and Judean deserts in Israel using allozyme and mtDNA variation. The distinct patterns of variation indicate that…