Version 1
: Received: 20 May 2024 / Approved: 20 May 2024 / Online: 20 May 2024 (12:24:18 CEST)
How to cite:
Ahmad, B.; Abida, B.; Adeel, K.; Shakir, A.; Isha, I.; Chang, Y.-C. Investigating the Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Behavioral Changes of an Orb Web Spider (Neoscona vigilans). Preprints2024, 2024051275. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1275.v1
Ahmad, B.; Abida, B.; Adeel, K.; Shakir, A.; Isha, I.; Chang, Y.-C. Investigating the Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Behavioral Changes of an Orb Web Spider (Neoscona vigilans). Preprints 2024, 2024051275. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1275.v1
Ahmad, B.; Abida, B.; Adeel, K.; Shakir, A.; Isha, I.; Chang, Y.-C. Investigating the Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Behavioral Changes of an Orb Web Spider (Neoscona vigilans). Preprints2024, 2024051275. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1275.v1
APA Style
Ahmad, B., Abida, B., Adeel, K., Shakir, A., Isha, I., & Chang, Y. C. (2024). Investigating the Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Behavioral Changes of an Orb Web Spider (<em>Neoscona vigilans</em>). Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1275.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Ahmad, B., Isha Isha and Young-Cheol Chang. 2024 "Investigating the Influence of Anthropogenic Activities on Behavioral Changes of an Orb Web Spider (<em>Neoscona vigilans</em>)" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.1275.v1
Abstract
Orb web spiders are common and highly diversified animals found in almost all habitats. They have remarkable plasticity against biotic and abiotic factors, making them excellent indicators of environmental health. The web-creation behavior of spiders is influenced by disturbances in the environment. The aim of the research was to observe the alteration in the web-building behavior of Neoscona vigilans caused by human activities, specifically traffic disturbance. Spider webs were located and photographed at nighttime along the roadside, and their web characteristics were calculated. Spiders were captured from webs for their body measurements. Spider 4th leg length, carapace width, and body length had a significant association with web size and diameter, CTL, capture area, and mesh size. The quantity of trapped prey, the height of the plant, and the foliage radius increased with the distance from the road. Conversely, anchor points and web elevation from the ground dropped. The highest and lowest proportion of anomalies (modifications/defects) were recorded as holes (52.7%) in 105 webs (100%) and supernumerary (0.7%) in 55 webs (52.4%), respectively. Road disturbance had a negative influence on the spider’s behavior as the webs formed in close proximity to the road had a higher frequency of anomalies with a gradual decrease distantly. We can gain further insight into how different environmental changes, disruptions, and pollutants lead to this imperfection in the otherwise flawless perfect structure of spider webs.
Keywords
anthropogenic; Neoscona vigilans; orb web spider; road disturbance; web anomalies
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
