10.5061/DRYAD.N6D4CP2
Wright, Colin M.
Pennsylvania State University
Lichtenstein, James L.L.
University of California, Santa Barbara
Luscuskie, Lauren P.
University of California, Santa Barbara
Montgomery, Graham A.
University of California, Santa Barbara
Pinter-Wollman, Noa
University of California Los Angeles
Pruitt, Jonathan N.
McMaster University
Data from: Better safe than sorry: spider societies mitigate risk by
prioritizing caution
Dryad
dataset
2019
Anoplolepis custodiens
Stegodyphus dumicola
information
Holocene
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
1352705, 1455895, 1456010, 1708455
2019-04-15T14:47:25Z
2019-04-15T14:47:25Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz069
27609 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Group members often vary in the information that they have about their
environment. In this study, we evaluated the relative contribution of
information held by the population majority vs. new immigrants to groups
in determining group function. To do so we created experimental groups of
the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola that were either iteratively
exposed to a dangerous predator, the ant Anoplopepis custodiens, or kept
in safety. We then seeded these groups (i.e., the population majority)
with an “immigrant” individual that either had or did not have prior
experience with the predator and was either shy or bold. Bold group
members are argued to be particularly influential for group function in S.
dumicola. We then evaluated colonies’ response towards predators over
multiple trials to determine the effect of the immigrant’s and the
majority’s prior experience with the predator and the immigrant’s
boldness. We found that groups adopt a “better safe than sorry” strategy,
where groups avoided predators when either the group or the immigrant had
been previously exposed to risk, regardless of immigrant boldness. These
findings suggest that past experience with predators, even if only
experienced by a single individual in the group, can alter how groups
respond to risk in a potentially advantageous manner.
Better safe than sorry dataAll data used in the analyses.Data.xlsx
South Africa