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
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