Phylogeny accurately predicts behaviour in Indian Ocean Clitaetra spiders (Araneae : Nephilidae)
Matjaž Kuntner A B E and Ingi Agnarsson A B C DA Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, PO Box 306, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
B Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, NHB-105, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.
C Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-3908, USA.
D Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 23360, San Juan, PR 00931-3360, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: kuntner@gmail.com
Invertebrate Systematics 23(3) 193-204 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS09002
Submitted: 15 January 2009 Accepted: 27 April 2009 Published: 21 July 2009
Abstract
Phylogenies are underutilised, powerful predictors of traits in unstudied species. We tested phylogenetic predictions of web-related behaviour in Clitaetra Simon, 1889, an Afro-Indian spider genus of the family Nephilidae. Clitaetra is phylogenetically sister to all other nephilids and thus important for understanding ancestral traits. Behavioural information on Clitaetra has been limited to only C. irenae Kuntner, 2006 from South Africa which constructs ladder webs. A resolved species-level phylogeny unambiguously optimised Clitaetra behavioural biology and predicted web traits in five unstudied species and a uniform intrageneric nephilid web biology. We tested these predictions by studying the ecology and web biology of C. perroti Simon, 1894 on Madagascar and C. episinoides Simon, 1889 on Mayotte. We confirm predicted arboricolous web architecture in these species. The expected ontogenetic allometric transition from orbs in juveniles to elongate ladder webs in adults was statistically significant in C. perroti, whereas marginally not significant in C. episinoides. We demonstrate the persistence of the temporary spiral in finished Clitaetra webs. A morphological and behavioural phylogenetic analysis resulted in unchanged topology and persisting unambiguous behavioural synapomorphies. Our results support the homology of Clitaetra hub reinforcement with the nephilid hub-cup. In Clitaetra, behaviour was highly predictable and remained consistent with new observations. Our results confirm that nephilid web biology is evolutionarily conserved within genera.
Additional keywords: homology, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, orb web, phylogenetic prediction, web architecture, web allometry.
Acknowledgements
This is contribution number two resulting from the 2008 Indian Ocean expedition, funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (Grant Z1-9799-0618-07 to I. Agnarsson) and the National Science Foundation (Grant DEB-0516038 to T. Blackledge). We also acknowledge the funding by the European Commission (6th FP, Marie Curie, MIRG-CT-2005 036536 to M. Kuntner). We thank M. Gregorič, S. Kralj-Fišer, T. Čelik, G. Aljančič and the ANGAP and MICET staff in Antananarivo for their help, Jonathan Coddington for critical comments, and three anonymous referees for their suggestions.
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