Nonlinear changes in selection on a mating display across a continuous thermal gradient.

Understanding how animal communication varies across time and space is critical to understanding how animal signals have evolved and how they function. Changes in temperature, which occur across both time and space, can alter both the courtship and mate choice behaviour of ectothermic animals. In this study, we examine the effect of daily thermal variation on courtship and mate choice in the wolf spider Schizocosa floridana, which produces a complex song with vibrations from three distinct body parts.