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Labyrinth spiderlings refrain from assailing alive brethren, but will promptly dine on their remains.(Image credit: Vicky Duckworth via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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Young carnivorous spiders emit communal signals that prevent siblings from devouring one another whilst living, a fresh investigation reveals. Yet, the carcasses of deceased family members are acceptable sustenance.
Labyrinth spiders (Agelena labyrinthica) populate areas across Europe and allocate the majority of their existence in isolation, consuming petite insects and, given the chance, other labyrinth spiders. Even with their inclination for cannibalism, labyrinth spiderlings willingly partake in web-sharing with their kin during their formative phase.
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“Spiders, despite being famished, can display high tolerance toward their existing siblings, conveyed through potent signals that inhibit cannibalism,” expounded study authors Antoine Lempereur, a doctoral candidate, and Raphaël Jeanson, a seasoned researcher, both affiliated with the University of Toulouse in France and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in correspondence with Live Science via email.
However, these signals appear functional exclusively while the spiders are living, seeing as the spiderlings readily consumed their deceased kin, according to the investigation.
Labyrinth spiders inhabit webs featuring intricate tunnel networks, or labyrinths. Females deposit and incubate their eggs — approximately 130 in total — within the central enclosure of these webs during the summer period. The resultant offspring remain within the web alongside their maternal figure throughout the winter season, ahead of venturing forth in the spring, as stated by the Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve in England, a habitat for labyrinth spiders.
The spiderlings initially subsist on egg yolk derived from their birth eggs, stored within their abdomens, and are prone to consuming their mother should she expire. Nevertheless, they possess the capability to capture flies within mere days post-hatching, showcasing their aptitude for hunting from an early juncture.
To gain further comprehension of the rationale behind sibling harmony, Lempereur and Jeanson procured labyrinth spider egg sacs in southwestern France and facilitated their hatching in a laboratory setting. A portion of the spiders were accommodated in clusters of four, whereas others were kept in solitude. The spiders were subjected to a 20-day fasting period. Subsequently, the researchers commenced introducing pairs of hungry spiders into diminutive plastic “arenas” to observe their interactions, as indicated in the study.
Spiderlings reared in groups exhibited considerably reduced aggression towards one another when contrasted with spiders cultivated in isolation, an occurrence previously underscored by Jeanson in preceding studies. The researchers posited that social detachment diminishes responsiveness to communal cues.
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“To summarize, a spider existing in isolation possesses no inclination to acknowledge cues emitted by other spiders, given its limited prospect of encountering them subsequently, barring during reproduction when supplementary signals, such as sexual pheromones, come into play,” articulated Lempereur and Jeanson.
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Even though the group-reared spiders commonly displayed non-aggression toward each other, they partook in consuming their departed siblings at a pace commensurate with the socially secluded spiders, a finding deemed startling by the researchers for a dual set of rationales.
“Firstly, spiders typically exhibit predatory behavior towards live quarry as opposed to deceased quarry,” Lempereur and Jeanson conveyed. “Secondly, and more critically, as evidenced in our prior endeavors, spiders exhibit tolerance towards live siblings for prolonged durations, yet will ingest deceased siblings within a single hour post-demise.”
Lempereur and Jeanson posited within the study that extant siblings could be transmitting a “life signal” amongst themselves via chemical agents, one mode through which spiders effectuate communication. The researchers now intend to dissect the constitution of this signal.
Patrick PesterSocial Links NavigationTrending News Writer
Patrick Pester holds the position of trending news writer at Live Science. His creations have manifested on various scientific platforms, notably BBC Science Focus and Scientific American. Patrick transitioned into journalism subsequent to devoting his initial career stages to functions within zoological gardens and safeguarding wildlife. He garnered the Master’s Excellence Scholarship enabling studies at Cardiff University culminating in a master’s degree in international journalism. Moreover, he possesses an additional master’s degree focused on biodiversity, evolution, and conservation in action procured from Middlesex University London. Outside his news writing pursuits, Patrick investigates the trade in human remains.
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Minuscule spiders constructing colossal ‘puppet’ distractions fashioned from separate prey uncovered in Peru and the Philippines