Local trophic specialisation in a cosmopolitan spider (Araneae)

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Authors	LÍZNAROVÁ Eva SENTENSKÁ Lenka GARCIA Fernando Luis PEKÁR Stanislav VIERA Carmen
Year of publication	2013
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Zoology
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2012.06.002
Field	Zoology
Keywords	Oecobius navus; Stenophagy; Myrmecophagy; Feeding strategy
Description	Here, we present our research about local trophic specialization in a cosmopolitan spider species Oecobius navus. This species was considered a myrmecophagous specialist but we found out that two distinct populations of this species feed on different prey types. We analysed the actual prey of populations from Portugal and Uruguay and found that the Portuguese population feeds mainly on dipterans, while the Uruguayan population feeds mainly on ants. Dipterans in Portugal and ants in Uruguay were the most abundant potential prey. We found predatory behavioural adaptations that increase capture efficacy of the locally abundant prey. We conclude that O. navus is an euryphagous predator locally specialised on a profitable prey possessing versatile behavioural adaptations. This is an entirely new view to trophic niche of this species.