Influence of web traits, height, and daily periods of exposition on prey captured by orb-weaver spiders.

Orb-webs show diversity in several traits, including silk types, architecture, physical properties, locale, and period of exposition. The investigation of how they determine the identity of intercepted prey is important to functional ecology and to the evaluation of trophic niche partitioning within communities. However, the influence of several of these variables on the composition of intercepted insects remains to be determined.

Araneophagy as an alternative foraging tactic to kleptoparasitism in two Argyrodinae (Araneae: Theridiidae) species.

Kleptoparasitism is assumed to be the main foraging strategy in some animal groups, such as the spiders of the subfamily Argyrodinae (Theridiidae). However, some species may also feed on silk threads, egg sacs, or even their hosts. The conditions determining these alternative foraging tactics remain unknown for most species.