Meeting Abstract
We examined the effect of food deprivation on the rate of sexual cannibalism in the jumping spider Phidippus audax. We separated 138 adult virgin female P. audax into three feeding treatments. We fed control spiders (n = 36) daily. We deprived one group of experimental spiders (n = 42) of food for 14 days, and we deprived a second group of experimental spiders (n = 59) of food for 28 days. We recorded weight loss (14-day and 28-day treatments) and survival rates, and we conducted mating trials to measure the frequency of non-aggressive and aggressive mating behaviors, mating success, and cannibalism. Food deprivation does effect P. audax females. Spiders deprived of food for 14 days had lower weight loss and higher survival rates than spiders deprived of food for 28 days. Food deprived spiders exhibited lower frequencies of non-aggressive behaviors than control spiders, and spiders deprived of food for 14 days exhibited a higher frequency of aggressive behaviors than control spiders. Food deprived spiders in both treatments exhibited a lower percentage of mating success, and a higher frequency of cannibalism than control spiders.
