Small size does not confer male agility advantages in a sexually-size dimorphic spider.

ABSTRACT: Selection pressures leading to extreme, female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in spiders continue to be debated. It has been proposed that males of sexually size dimorphic spiders could be small because gravity constrains adult agility (locomotor abilities). Accordingly, small males should achieve higher vertical climbing speeds and should be more prone to bridge. The curvilinear model of the gravity hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between vertical climbing speed and male body size only over a threshold of 7.6 mm, 42.5 mg. Because males of most species with extreme SSD fall well below this threshold, the relationship between male size and agility at this scale remains vague. Here, we tested three hypotheses on how male size, mass and age (after maturation) relate to vertic

SUBMITTER: Quinones-Lebron SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6519806 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature