Predator-prey interactions are among the interspecific relationships of greatest interest in ecology. Spiders are one of the most diverse and ubiquitous terrestrial predators on Earth. Spider feeding diversity is often linked to the development of specific predatory behaviors and morphological adaptations. However, studies on spider predation behavior have focused mainly on specialized species and have not considered the behavioral diversity seen in generalist species that can handle a wide variety of prey types. To identify the most common prey for three generalist wandering spider species, we searched the Internet for images of predation events. We then used the focal predator species in behavioral experiments. We analyzed the handling patterns of different prey types (spiders and crickets) using high-speed video. The results show that there are notable differences in handling patterns depending on the prey type. We found that spider prey often rotated on an axis, allowing the predator to bite the ventral side of the prey to avoid counterattacks. In contrast, crickets rotated arbitrarily. Our study may indicate that these three generalist spiders prefer to manipulate prey in different ways, and that their preference for spinning spiders allows them to exploit prey with different defense mechanisms.
González-Gómez, JC, Simone, Y., Pérez, LMF, Valenzuela-Rojas, JC, & Van der Meijden, A. (2024). Rapid prey manipulation and bite-site preferences in three wandering spider species. Behavioral Process105083.
