The pholcid spiders Modisimus bribri Huber, 1998 and M. guatuso Huber, 1998 construct three-dimensional webs, including sheet dome and irregular shapes, occasionally shared by males and females. We studied species spatial disaggregation and confirmed web-sharing and prey capture dominance in shared webs. We observed 22 M. bribri and 25 M. guatuso webs and recorded their height above the ground, dome dimensions, and web-sharing. In shared webs, we recorded which individual captured prey. Modisimus bribri builds webs at greater heights (∼6.5 times), with larger dimensions (∼2 times) than M. guatuso. In both species, neither the occupant sex nor the number of individuals on the web had a significant effect on web dimensions. We confirmed differential web location between species and did not find evidence of chivalrous dominance in prey-capture in shared webs. This study contributes to the general knowledge of three-dimensional web-building spiders, posing new questions for future research.
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1 March 2022
Niche partitioning and intraspecific shared webs in two species of Modisimus Simon, 1893 (Pholcidae: Araneae)
Jorge D. Carballo-Morales,
Camila Delgado-Montes,
Leydi V. Auccacusi-Choque,
Miriam Reyes-Ortiz,
Anita Aisenberg
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The Journal of Arachnology
Vol. 50 • No. 1
April 2022
Vol. 50 • No. 1
April 2022
Modisimus bribri
Modisimus guatuso
prey capture
web dimensions
