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- Title
Life-history data for the funnel weavers Eratigena agrestis and Eratigena atrica (Araneae: Agelenidae) in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
- Authors
Vibert, Samantha; Salomon, Maxence; Scott, Catherine; Blackburn, Gwylim S.; Gries, Gerhard
- Abstract
The life history of the funnel weaver Eratigena agrestis (Walckenaer) (Araneae: Agelenidae) is not well studied despite its widespread occurrence in Europe and its establishment and spread in the Pacific Northwest of North America since its introduction in the early 20th century. We report phenology and life-history data for E. agrestis and another co-occurring funnel weaver, Eratigena atrica (Koch), in two study sites in British Columbia, Canada. The most notable difference in phenology between the two Eratigena species was the timing of emergence: E. atrica spiderlings emerge in the fall whereas E. agrestis spiderlings emerge in the spring. Surprisingly, the contrasting densities of E. atrica in the two study sites and the presence of the western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin and Ivie (Araneae: Theridiidae), in one study site had little effect on the life history of E. agrestis. This unexpected finding may be explained by (i) low overall competition pressure in the study habitats, (ii) conspecifics and heterospecifics exerting equivalent competition or predation pressures; and/or (iii) aggregations of heterospecifics providing benefits that offset costs associated with any competition.
- Subjects
PACIFIC Northwest; AGELENIDAE; SPIDERS; LIFE history theory; INSECT phenology
- Publication
Canadian Entomologist, 2017, Vol 149, Issue 3, p345
- ISSN
0008-347X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4039/tce.2016.73