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Science 14 December 1984:
Vol. 226. no. 4680, pp. 1330 - 1332
DOI: 10.1126/science.226.4680.1330
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Articles

Pollen Feeding in an Orb-Weaving Spider

RISA B. SMITH 1 and THOMAS P. MOMMSEN 2

1 Department of Plant Science and Institute of Animal Resource Ecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1W5 Canada
2 Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J1 Canada

Juvenile orb-weaving spiders appear in spring, when insect prey are scarce but when aerial plankton, such as pollen and fungus spores, is abundant. Microscopic organic matter may be the main food of orb-weaving spiderlings, with insects providing only a dietary supplement. Pollen, which is caught on the sticky spirals of Araneus diadematus orb webs, doubles the life expectancy of spiderlings and alters their web-spinning behavior, so that they spin more frequently than do fasting controls. Fungus spores do not have the same nutritional value as pollen and may be deleterious to the spiderlings.

Submitted on December 5, 1983
Accepted on June 1, 1984


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