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Collective aggressiveness limits colony persistence in high but not low elevation sites in Amazonian social spiders

James L. L. Lichtenstein, David N. Fisher, Brendan L. McEwen, Daniel T. Nondorf, Esteban Calvache, Clara Schmitz, Jana Elässer, Jonathan N. Pruitt
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/610436
James L. L. Lichtenstein
1Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA USA 93106
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David N. Fisher
2Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1
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Brendan L. McEwen
2Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1
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Daniel T. Nondorf
3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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Esteban Calvache
4Department of Biology, Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador 1076
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Clara Schmitz
5Amazon Regional University Ikiam, Tena, Ecaudor 150150
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Jana Elässer
5Amazon Regional University Ikiam, Tena, Ecaudor 150150
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Jonathan N. Pruitt
1Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA USA 93106
2Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1
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  • For correspondence: agelenopsis@gmail.com
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Abstract

Identifying the traits that foster group survival in contrasting environments is important for understanding local adaptation in social systems. Here we evaluate the relationship between the aggressiveness of social spider colonies and their persistence along an elevation gradient using the Amazonian spider, Anelosimus eximius. We found that colonies of A. eximius exhibit repeatable differences in their collective aggressiveness, and that colony aggressiveness is linked with persistence in a site-specific manner. Less aggressive colonies are better able to persist at high-elevation sites, which lack colony-sustaining large-bodied prey, whereas colony aggression was not related to chance of persistence at low-elevation sites. This suggests resistance to resource limitation through docility promotes colony survival at high elevations. These data reveal that the collective phenotypes that relate to colony persistence vary by site, and thus, the path of social evolution in these environments is likely to be affected.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 16, 2019.
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Collective aggressiveness limits colony persistence in high but not low elevation sites in Amazonian social spiders
James L. L. Lichtenstein, David N. Fisher, Brendan L. McEwen, Daniel T. Nondorf, Esteban Calvache, Clara Schmitz, Jana Elässer, Jonathan N. Pruitt
bioRxiv 610436; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/610436
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Collective aggressiveness limits colony persistence in high but not low elevation sites in Amazonian social spiders
James L. L. Lichtenstein, David N. Fisher, Brendan L. McEwen, Daniel T. Nondorf, Esteban Calvache, Clara Schmitz, Jana Elässer, Jonathan N. Pruitt
bioRxiv 610436; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/610436

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