Predatory behavior and predation frequency of three orb-web spiders (Metleucauge kompirensis, Tetragnatha praedonia, Leucauge magnifica) intruding into a web of Nephila clavata, made above a mountain stream

Abstract

Yoshida, Makoto (Department of Bioiogy and Geology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto 603, Japan) : Predatory behavior and predation frequency of three orb-web spiders (Metleucauge kompirensis, Tetragnatha praedonia, Leucauge magnifica) intruding into a web of Nephila clavata, made above a mountain stream. Acta arachnol., 35: 35–40 (1986). Three horizontal orb-web spiders (Metleucauge kompirensis, Tetragnatha praedonia, Leucauge magnifica) frequently intruded into a vertical orb-web of Nephila clavata, made above a mountain stream. They often made their webs in the barrier web of the host, and captured prey there. They also sometimes stole the prey of the host. The webs of intruders were often destroyed by various factors such as the interferences between intruders. The frequent intrusion of them may be due to the prey-robbing and/or the use of the host's web as scaffholds for web-making. © 1986, Arachnological Society of Japan. All rights reserved.