DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Chemical mediation of prey preferences by spider-hunting wasps within an evolutionary framework

在进化框架中，蜘蛛捕食黄蜂对猎物偏好的化学调节蜘蛛是捕食者，但它们自己也被泥斑马蜂捕食。不同的泥质蜘蛛会优先捕捉特定种类的蜘蛛，但这些偏好的基础还没有被很好地理解。蜘蛛网结构被认为是一种防御黄蜂捕食的行为，三维的蜘蛛网被认为比二维的蜘蛛网提供更有效的物理屏障。令人惊讶的是，我们实验的初步结果表明，泥涂黄蜂（Sceliphron caementarium）的觅食决定并不基于网的特征。相反，它利用蜘蛛和/或蜘蛛网上的化学线索来识别猎物。提出的研究将在进化框架内解决黄蜂对猎物偏好的化学调解。这项工作的结果将有助于了解其他泥斑马蜂是否使用化学线索来识别蜘蛛猎物，以及是否所有被Sceliphron捕获的蜘蛛类群都具有相似的化学特征。这项研究还将帮助我们了解蜘蛛家族化学特征的变化是否可能使蜘蛛通过逃离黄蜂的捕食而多样化。研究表明，捕食蜘蛛的黄蜂对猎物的偏好是由蜘蛛的化学物质介导的，这对我们理解捕食者-猎物的相互作用有重要的贡献。本研究将透过发展泥鳅巢生态概念的教案，为中小学生和大学生提供教育和研究的机会，从而产生更广泛的影响。

PI: Martha WeissProposal number: IOS-0808434Chemical mediation of prey preferences by spider-hunting wasps within an evolutionary frameworkWhile spiders are predators, they are themselves heavily preyed upon by mud-dauber wasps. Different mud-dauber species preferentially capture particular groups of spiders, but the bases for these preferences are not well understood. Spider web architecture has been considered to be a defensive behavior against wasp predation, with three- dimensional webs thought to provide more effective physical barriers than their two-dimensional counterparts. Surprisingly, initial results from our experiments indicate that the mud-dauber wasp, Sceliphron caementarium, does not base its foraging decisions on web characteristics. Rather, it uses chemical cues present on spiders and /or their webs to recognize its prey. The proposed study will address chemical mediation of prey preferences by wasps within an evolutionary framework. The results of this work will provide insights into whether other mud-dauber wasps use chemical cues to recognize spider prey, and whether all spider taxa taken by Sceliphron will share similar chemical profiles. This research will also help us to understand whether changes in chemical profiles of spider families may have allowed spider diversification via escape from wasp predation. The demonstration that prey preferences of spider-hunting wasps are mediated by spider chemicals is a significant contribution to our understanding of predator-prey interactions. This study will have broader impacts by providing educational and research opportunities to elementary school and undergraduate students through development of lesson plans designed to teach ecological concepts using mud-dauber nests.