A High Protein Diet has No Effect on Pholcus phalangioides Web Mass

Alt Text: Poster representing research on how Pholcus phalangioides diet affects web mass with introduction, methods, results (3 graphs & 1 table), and discussion sections.

Researchers

Kailee Conradi

Public Health Major
Pre-Health Studies Co-Major
Medical Humanities Minor

Sally Jones

Biology Major
Spanish Minor

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Ann Rypstra, Biology Department

Graduate Student Mentors

Alexander Salazar, Biology Department

Hailey Shannon, Biology Department

Introduction

Spider webs allow for optimal foraging1
Protein increases the quality of silk2
Pholcus phalangioides relies on web for food3
Predator performance of spiders improves with high-protein diet4

Hypothesis: Pholcus phalangioides that consumed a high protein diet will have the greatest web mass.

Methods

Spider Preparation: Spiders fed for 2 weeks
Protein Measurement: Crude protein assay of spider protein content
Data Collection: Glass slide cover swiped through container and then weighed
Statistical Analysis: One-way ANOVA & generalized linear model (GLM)

S-Shaped Swipe

Results

Bar graph showing that protein content does not change by diet types (control, casein, sucrose).

Table showing that there were no significant web mass differences based sex, diet, leg Size, or body mass.

Bar graph showing there is no difference in web mass between diets.

Bar graph showing there is no difference in web mass between sexes.

Discussion

Diet did not affect protein content or web mass
- - Previous research found differences in protein content4
No differences between sexes
- - Females typically larger than males5
Future directions for experiment:
- - Provide spiders more time to build webs (48 hrs)
  - Keep spiders on diets longer (3 - 4 weeks)

Photo by: Cutter McMinn

References

1Rypstra, A. (1982). Building a Better Insect Trap; An Experimental Investigation of Prey Capture in a Variety of Spider Webs. Oecologia (Berl). 52:31 36. 2Blamires, S., Tseng, YH., Wu, CL. et al. (2016). Spider web and silk performance landscapes across nutrient space. Sci Rep 6, 26383 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26383 3Berry D. B., Rypstra, A. L. (2021). Detection of web builder size via chemical cues present on silk by web-invading cellar spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae). Animal Behaviour 172, 17e2318 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.11.016 4Wiggins, W. & Wilder S. (2022) Carbohydrates complement high-protein diets to maximize the growth of an actively hunting predator, Ecology and Evolution, 12, 9150. 5Cordellier, M., Schneider, M. J., Uhl, G., Posnien, N. (2020). Sex differences in spiders: from phenotype to genomics. Dev Genes Evol 230, 155–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-020-00657-6

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