Honors Program
University Honors
Date of Award
5-2011
Thesis Professor(s)
Thomas C. Jones
Thesis Professor Department
Biological Sciences
Thesis Reader(s)
Darrell J. Moore, Michael A. Cody
Abstract
Circadian rhythm is a type of endogenous clock that controls daily behavioral patterns in most organisms. Spiders have been shown to exhibit both circadian and non-circadian rhythms in their behaviors. This rhythmicity may allow spiders to cope with diel changes in environmental conditions. Both diurnal and nocturnal behavior have different sets of costs and benefits to a species’ survival. Achaearanea tepidariorum is one species in which potential circadian rhythmicity has never been studied. Due to its foraging behavior, it was predicted that its daily activity would be arrhythmic. We recorded the positions within the web of forty individuals throughout the day, and then observed their daily activity via use of an actogram apparatus. Analysis of the resulting actograms and web position data revealed a significant nocturnal periodicity in the spiders’ activity, as well as possible anticipation of the daily cycle. This nocturnal periodicity, coupled with specific web-building behavior, may be the result of this species balancing the costs and benefits of predation and foraging. More studies are needed to provide more information about the circadian behavioral patterns of A. tepidariorum.
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Wolf, Elise, "Diel Periodicity in Activity and Location in the Web of the Common House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum)." (2011). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 13. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/13
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.