10.5061/DRYAD.79CNP5HXK
Kemp, Darrell
0000-0002-5845-5513
Macquarie University
Raw data for: Captivating color: evidence for optimal stimulus design in a
polymorphic prey lure
Dryad
dataset
2022
FOS: Biological sciences
Australian Research Council
https://ror.org/05mmh0f86
FT170100417 & DP140104107
School of Natural Sciences*
2022-04-03T00:00:00Z
2022-04-03T00:00:00Z
en
BEHECO-2019-0059
https://doi.org/10.22541/au.160649117.73236330/v1
90353 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Many species – humans included – employ color as an instrument of
deception. One intriguing example of this resides in the conspicuous
abstract color patterns displayed on the bodies of female orb weaving
spiders. These displays increase prey interception rates and thereby
function at least as visual lures. Their chromatic properties however vary
extensively, both across and within species, with discrete forms often
co-existing in the manner of a stable polymorphism. Variation is
principally expressed in terms of signal hue (color per se), but it is
unclear how attractiveness scales with this property and if extant morphs
are maximally attractive relative to a graded range of potential
alternatives. We examined these questions by assessing catch rates among
color-manipulated females of the dimorphic jeweled spider Gasteracantha
fornicata in their natural webs. The manipulation altered dorsal
appearance in a manner akin to adding six new variants of their existing
white/yellow phenotypes. This magnified the natural variation in stimulus
hue independently of chroma (saturation) across a range spanning most of
the color spectrum. Catch rate varied across treatments in simple
accordance with how greatly stimulus hue deviated from either of the two
extant spider phenotypes. Predictions based upon fly-perceived chromatic
and achromatic background contrast were clearly unsupported despite
dipterans constituting ~60 % of identifiable prey. This study supports the
importance of signal coloration per se in G. fornicata and suggests that
extant lure phenotypes reside in a broadly optimal spectral range for
stimulating their aggregate prey community.