Optical cues used in prey identification by a juvenile jumping spider, Yllenus arenarius (Araneae, Salticidae)
2013
Bartos, Maciej | University of Łódź, Department of Teacher Training and Biodiversity Studies | Maciej Bartos (PhD) graduated from the University of Łódź (Poland) with MSc in environmental biology in 1996. His Master’s thesis concerned reproduction and sexual selection of a pholcid spider. During the studies he spent one year at the University of Wolverhampton, where he participated in TEMPUS Exchange Programme. He received ‘Diploma of Higher Education’ there. Between the years 1996-2000 he was a PhD student at the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, the University of Łódź. At the end of this period he defended his PhD dissertation on the life cycle and predatory strategy of a jumping spider and was awarded PhD in biological sciences (zoology & behavioural ecology). Since then he has been an assistant professor at the Department of Teacher Training and Biodiversity Studies, the University of Łódź. Maciej Bartos is an author of 20 scientific publications, (nine in JCR list). He has presented over 50 talks and posters during international and local scientific conferences. He was awarded first and second prizes for the best talks and posters during international arachnological and neuroethological congresses in Poland, South Africa, Denmark, UK (Edinburgh and Oxford). As a principal investigator he has successfully applied for three grants from the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research. The grants were devoted to various aspects of salticid biology, particularly behavioural flexibility, innate predatory strategies and prey identification. Selected data that were collected in his last project are presented in this book. Maciej Bartos is a member of the International Society for Arachnology and the European Society of Arachnology. He was elected a member of the General Council of the European Society of Arachnology. Between 2003-2012 he was an editorial assistant of Folia Biologica et Oecologica, a scientific journal edited in English. Since 2012 he has been a secretary of the Zoological Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The model of spider. Prey vs non-prey. Prey-type recognition. Innate predatory versatility. Prey identification mechanism. Virtual prey method.
Show more [+] Less [-]Jumping spiders (Salticidae) are known for their unique eyes with exceptionally high spatial acuities, unparalleled among any terrestrial invertebrates. These unusual eyes enable salticids to recognize their prey based purely on vision. The cues used by the spiders to discriminate between their diverse prey are, however, almost completely unknown. It is a mystery, how they cope with the overwhelming diversity of information they can potentially receive. We know very little about the cues a salticid uses to decide whether an object that has entered its visual field is a prey, a mate, an enemy or an inedible object. It is unknown how the salticids that use different predatory techniques against different prey groups classify and target the prey. The purpose of this study is to check if prey cues, such as: body length, motion type, the position of head spot, legs, wings and antennae and the number of these details are used by inexperienced salticids to identify their prey. To accomplish this purpose a euryphagous salticid, Yllenus arenarius, was confronted with selected types of its natural prey as well as with computer-generated animations based on the natural prey, called virtual prey. The findings from the study reveal some general rules used by the spiders to classify their prey in their early predatory interactions. They bring us closer to understanding how neurally constrained animals use information from their environment and how they respond to it.
Show more [+] Less [-]Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00. This research was assisted by grants from the University of Łódź and the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research (grant no. SCSR 2P04F02830).
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