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16 September 2019 Self-derived chemical cues support home refuge recognition in the whip spider Phrynus marginemaculatus (Amblypygi: Phrynidae)
Patrick Casto, Jillian Gosser, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Eileen A. Hebets, Verner P. Bingman
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Abstract

Whip spiders (Class Arachnida: Order Amblypygi) are hypothesized to use multimodal sensory inputs to navigate back to their diurnal shelter after a night of activity, and chemical cues are thought to be involved. In two experiments, we investigated whether self-deposited chemical cues on a substrate could be used for shelter recognition by Phrynus marginemaculatus C.L. Koch, 1840. When given a choice, individual P. marginemaculatus spent more time in a shelter that contained filter paper it had previously contacted compared to a shelter with filter paper never contacted. In the second experiment, subjects showed no significant preference for a shelter that contained filter paper they had contacted compared to a shelter with filter paper that had been contacted by a conspecific. The data support the hypothesis that during the last stage of nightly navigation to their refuge, detection of self-deposited chemical cues, likely mediated by contact chemoreceptors, may facilitate home refuge recognition by P. marginemaculatus.

Patrick Casto, Jillian Gosser, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Eileen A. Hebets, and Verner P. Bingman "Self-derived chemical cues support home refuge recognition in the whip spider Phrynus marginemaculatus (Amblypygi: Phrynidae)," The Journal of Arachnology 47(2), 290-292, (16 September 2019). https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-18-067
Received: 30 July 2018; Published: 16 September 2019
KEYWORDS
arthropod navigation
homing
refuge recognition
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