THE EFFECTS OF INTRAGUILD PREDATORS ON CHEMICALLY- MEDIATED FEEDING INTERFERENCE ON THE WOLF SPIDER PARDOSA MILVINA

The wolf spider, Pardosa milvina, is eaten by the larger wolf spiders Trochosa ruricola and Hogna lenta. Hogna and Trochosa females eat more than males and may represent a greater predation threat to Pardosa. Pardosa may benefit by chemically discriminating between these predators based on species identity and sex. Pardosa reduce activity in the presence of silk and excreta from larger wolf spiders, but this may also interfere with prey capture. We measured variation in Pardosa cricket predation when in the presence of silk and excreta cues from male or female Hogna, Trochosa, or various combinations of these as well as in the presence of single versus multiple predator cues. Pardosa delay cricket predation in the presence of any predator cue compared to controls and significantly reduced feeding in the presence of multiple compared to single predator cues, but predator sex and species made little difference in feeding response