Sexual Selection in the Intertidal Jumping Spider
Date
2022-09-09
Authors
Joly, Marco
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Abstract
We investigated the effects of sexual dimorphism on sexual selection in Terralonus californicus. Male forelimbs are longer proportionally to their body size than females. We hypothesized that male size, displayed through the proxy of forelimb length, would have effects on intersexual(functioning as ornaments) and intrasexual(functioning as armaments) interactions. Spiders were collected from the rocky intertidal zone, then put into female-female, male-male, and female-male trials. We then measured the forelimb and hindlimb length of the males, and cephalothorax width of the males and females. We found that male-male trials were significantly shorter than female-female trials, suggesting that the forelimbs function as armament. Male forelimb length had no significant effect on duration of male-female trials.
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Keywords
Biology, Behavior, Jumping spiders, Sexual Selection, Sexual Dimorphism