Animal Diversity Spider Paper

Question 1

Which spider species does this study look at and what is special about it?

Answer 1

Bagheera kiplingi, a Neotropical jumping spider (Salticidae) that is predominantly herbivorous (of the ant-plant)

Question 2

The main diet of this host-specific spider comprises specialised … … from Vachellia spp. ant-acacias, structures traded for protection in the plant’s coevolved mutualism with Pseudomyrmex spp. … that inhabit its hollow thorns

Answer 2

leaf tips, ants

Question 3

Departures from carnivory in salticids — or in any of the … described spiders — are rare: several cursorial spiders imbibe … as an occasional supplement to animal prey, and some juvenile orb-weavers incidentally ingest … when recycling their webs

Answer 3

40,000, nectar, pollen

Question 4

Spiders occasionally supplemented Beltian bodies with extrafloral …, another resource central to the ant–acacia mutualism. They also preyed on acacia-ant …, small nectar-feeding …, and (rarely) smaller ….

Answer 4

nectar, larvae, flies, conspecifics

Question 5

They breed …-… and generally build their nests at the … … of older leaves that have low rates of … patrol

Answer 5

year-round, distal tips, ant

Question 6

The tissues of herbivores tend to have lower 15N:14N ratios relative to carnivores, whereas consumers tend to match 13C:12C ratios of their food. Mexican B. kiplingi specimens had d15N profiles averaging 4.8% lower than those of other jumping spiders from surrounding vegetation, but only 2.1% and 2.9% higher than ant workers and Beltian bodies, respectively. B. kiplingi spiders and ant workers at this site had d13C signatures virtually identical to those of Beltian bodies, whereas other spiders exhibited d13C values that did not match those of Beltian bodies. - just read and understand

Answer 6

Yes

Question 7

Using dietary mixing models, the study estimated that B. kiplingi in Mexico (N = 50) derive >95% of assimilated C and N from …-…, including 89 ± 13.2% (mean ± SE) directly from … tissue and 8 ± 7.9% indirectly from …-… ….

Answer 7

ant-acacias, plant, acacia-ant larvae

Question 8

The spider’s known geographic range coincides with that of ant–acacia systems throughout …

Answer 8

Mesoamerica

Question 9

During a seven-year inventory of all salticids at the Costa Rican site (N = 1174 individuals from 48 species), they observed only … B. kiplingi individuals on plants other than Vachellia spp.

Answer 9

two

Question 10

Consumption of Beltian bodies by B. kiplingi may derive from foraging on other … food sources, such as acacia-ant larvae or eggs of other insects.

Answer 10

static

Question 11

The … physiology of B. kiplingi may be specialized to process such a …, nitrogen-poor material

Answer 11

digestive, fibrous

Question 12

…-… availability of ant-plant food, combined with indirect … benefits possibly conferred by the acacia-ants, may also help explain how the spider’s carnivorous ancestor transitioned to herbivory.

Answer 12

Year-round, defensive

Question 13

This spider’s unprecedented trophic shift was contingent upon the seemingly unrelated … between an ant and a plant.

Answer 13

coevolution

Question 14

What was used to analyse the spider’s diet?

Answer 14

Behavioral field observations and stable-isotope analyses