PROJECTS
CHEMICAL & VIBRATORY COMMUNICATION: THE ROLE OF SPIDER SILK
This project investigates the role of silk-bond chemical and vibratory communication between the sexes at mating, to verify the presence of sex pheromones and shed light on the evolutionary diversification spider chemical and vibratory signals. STUDY SPECIES: the nuptial gift-giving spider Pisaura mirabilis; silk draglines are laid by both sexes during movements, males also cover their prey nuptial gifts in silk. TOOLS: Behavioural assays coupled with chemical analyses of silk and vibrometry. TEAM: Dr. Monika Eberhard & PhD student Morgan Oberwieser from Greifswald University (Germany); PhD student Michelle Beyer. FUNDING: DFG (German Research Foundation)
NUPTIAL GIFTS: ALTERNATIVE REPRODUCTIVE TACTICS
We explore the social and ecological factors driving flexible use of alternative mating tactics in male spiders. STUDY SPECIES: the nuptial gift-giving spider Pisaura mirabilis; males court females by offering silk-wrapped food gifts, but these are not always nutritious! Their tactics range from providing genuine gifts (prey), worthless gifts (prey leftovers, plant parts), no gifts. TOOLS: experimental laboratory manipulations, semi-field and field surveys (mark-recapture). TEAM: Prof. Trine Bilde (Aarhus University, Denmark) and former PhD student Paolo Giovanni Ghislandi.
REPRODUCTIVE TRAIT EVOLUTION
We are interested in understanding how interactions between pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection shape the evolutionary diversification of reproductive traits, and how contingent these episodes of selection are to environmental conditions. STUDY SPECIES: field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus; females are polyandrous, males sing, fight and sperm is easy to sample! TOOLS: experimental laboratory manipulations, quantitative genetics and experimental evolution. TEAM: PhD student Magdalena Matzke, and collaborators Prof. Niels Dingemanse (LMU Munich, Germany), Dr. Chang Han (Kyung Hee University, South Korea) and Dr. Francisco Garcia-Gonzales (Donana Station, Spain). FUNDING: DFG (German Research Foundation).
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON FERTILITY
We are interested in short term plasticity and long term (transgenerational) effects of temperature rise, in particular heatwaves, on gamete phenotype, fertility and behaviour. STUDY SPECIES: field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, common house spider spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum, hissing cockroach Gromphadorhina portentosa. TOOLS: experimental laboratory manipulations, sperm assays. TEAM: Prof. Clelia Gasparini and Phd student Sofia Gigliotti from University of Padova (Italy) and many more collaborators from the European Thermal Fertility Network!
ANIMAL PERSONALITIES AS DRIVERS FOR SPECIES INTERACTIONS
We are exploring the role that individual variation in behaviour of predatory spiders has on community structures of arthropod prey. STUDY SPECIES: the hunting spider Pisaura mirabilis. TOOLS: semi-field (mesocosm) manipulations. TEAM: Dr. Jan Klečka & PhD student Pavla Dudova from the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic). FUNDING:BTHA (Bavarian-Cech Academic Agency).
INBRED SPIDER SOCIETIES
We have been studying the evolution of cooperation in inbred spider societies and their subsocial sister species. STUDY SPECIES: African spiders of the genus Stegodyphus. TOOLS: field and laboratory experiments. TEAM: Prof. Trine Bilde from Aarhus University (Denmark), Prof. Yael Lubin and Dr Reut Berger-Tal from Ben Gurion University (Israel).