Role of fluorescence in courtship display of jumping spiders Synageles sp.
Matvey I. Nikelshparg1,2, Evelina I. Nikelshparg2, Sergei Zonstein3, Vasily V. Anikin1;
1Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia;
2Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel;
3Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel;
Abstract
Fluorescence in spiders and its connection to their mating behavior was discovered recently, first recorded in 2007 in a jumping spider from Southeast Asia. The mandibles of the female fluoresce under ultraviolet light to attract males, which is linked to mating behavior: the male locates the female by her fluorescence during the mating season. Typically, the courtship display of jumping spiders involves the male waving his fore legs in front of the female. However, we discovered a completely different courtship display while studying the behavior of the jumping spider Synageles sp., which we collected in Israel in 2024 in the Negev Desert. The male, on the contrary, extended his second pair of legs forward and pressed them down while raising his abdomen. To record fluorescence, we conducted a study using a fluorescent microscope with excitation filters 480/40 nm, 436/20 nm, 510/20 nm, and 560/40 nm. It turned out that the fluorescence of the Synageles differs from that of other genera of jumping spiders. We found that the Synageles female intensely fluoresce in the wavelength range of 480/40 nm and 436/20 nm in the abdomen area, rather than in the mandibles. Male Synageles also fluoresces in the abdomen area, while the legs and mandibles of this species do not fluoresce in this range. Our discovery suggests that jumping spiders may have evolved differently, and therefore, the fluorescence of certain morphological parts could be a taxonomic characteristic of spiders. Thus, we observed yet another evidence of the importance of light in nature.
Speaker
Matvey I. Nikelshparg
Saratov State University
Russia
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