Differential response to vibration stimulus in Metabus gravidus (Araneidae) communities

This study is an investigation on the effect of distance between neighboring spiders on the reaction to an artificially generated vibration stimulus. The study was conducted using a tuning fork at 320 Hz in order to generate a vibration intended to stimulate the spider web. Metabus gravidus individuals that were closer to the source of vibration (mean 9.5 ± 2.75 cm) tended to react by fleeing, and those farther from the source (mean 16.5 ± 4.8 cm) typically reacted by approaching. The spider closest to the source of vibration reacted by fleeing and approaching, while the neighboring spider exhibited no response more often than expected by chance (X2 = 28.4). Thus individuals who maintain a greater distance to near neighbors benefit by minimizing interfering vibrations from neighboring webs. Este estudio es una investigación sobre el efecto de la distancia entre las arañas vecinas y la reacción ante una vibración artificial estimulada.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tropical_ecology/1013/thumbnail.jp