| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 生命科學系所 === 103 === Kleptoparasites are organisms which steal food from others. In spiders, the well-known kleptoparasites are members of genus Argyrodes (Theridiidae). Most previous studies showed that Argyrodes spiders tend to bring negative effects to their host. However, a recent study showed that Argyrodes fissifrons had conspicuous silver patches and such body color can attract prey to Cyrtophora host’s webs to increase their foraging success. Nevertheless, Nephila philipes ─ host of Argyrodes miniaceus , has conspicuous body color which functions to lure prey. In this study, I tested whether the conspicuously orange-red colored A. miniaceus can increase foraging success of hosts by visually attracting prey to webs of N. philipes. I conducted field experiments in Huoyen Mountain, Sanyi Township, Miaoli county , Taiwan, in July and August of 2012, 2013, and 2014 in which the presence or body color of A. miniaceus were manipulated. Interception rates of diurnal and nocturnal prey of N. philipes webs receiving different treatments on A. miniaceus were monitored by video cameras. The results showed that although presence of A. miniaceus had no effect on N. philipes‘s diurnal prey interception, they significantly increased host’s nocturnal prey interception. Moreover, nocturnal prey interception rate was significantly increased when A. miniaceus was unpainted. According to these results, since A. miniaceus with orange-red body coloration can potentially enhance foraging of N. philipes, the interactions between these two spiders indicate a color-mediated interspecific mutualism.
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