DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r9s
title: Data from: Maternal care thwarts parasitoids in the invasive brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus)

description: Maternal care can maximize offspring survival and may contribute to the
 establishment success of invasive species. The brown widow spider,
 Latrodectus geometricus, is a successful invader worldwide. Here, we
 investigated the role of maternal care in enhancing its success. We
 compared the defence mechanisms of the invasive L. geometricus with those
 of another widow spider native to the Negev desert, L. pallidus, against
 an egg sac parasitoid wasp. Both spider species exhibited guarding
 behaviours following exposure to wasps; however, only L. geometricus
 efficiently evaded and successfully killed the parasitoid. Accordingly,
 its egg sacs were parasitized less frequently than those of L. pallidus.
 Next, we evaluated the defensive role of the silk spike-like structures on
 L. geometricus egg sacs. When spikes were removed from half of the egg sac
 surface, the wasps laid more eggs on the spike-free side. In an additional
 experiment, L. geometricus females increased spike density on subsequent
 egg sacs after exposure to the parasitoid. We showed that L. geometricus
 employs both behavioural defences and modifications to the egg sac
 structure to protect against the parasitoid. These defences may provide L.
 geometricus an advantage over native species in its invasive range,
 potentially contributing to its invasion success.
description: In this Dataset, you can find data collected from three
 experiments in our research: Widow spider
 behaviour with exposure to parasitoid wasps (three files)
 Egg sac spike removal experiment (two files)
 Egg sac morphology in response to exposure to wasps (one
 file) The methods and analysis for each of
 the experiments are described in the manuscript Maternal care thwarts
 parasitoids in the invasive brown widow spider (<em>Latrodectus
 geometricus).</em>
description: # Data from: Maternal care thwarts parasitoids in the invasive brown widow
 spider (Latrodectus geometricus)
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r9s](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r9s) ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset consists of raw and summarized data from three experiments described in the manuscript: Maternal care thwarts parasitoids in the invasive brown widow spider (*Latrodectus geometricus).* In this research, we compared the defence mechanisms of the invasive *L. geometricus* with those of another widow spider native to the Negev desert, *L. pallidus*, against the egg sac parasitoid wasp *Philolema latrodecti*. We conducted interaction experiments between the widow spiders and/or their egg sacs and the parasitoid wasp. This dataset includes behavioural observations from those experiments and the parasitism rate of the parasitoid wasp in the widow spiders' egg sacs. All the experiments were conducted in 2021-2022, in the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. The specific methodology and statistical analysis done with the data are described in the manuscript. ### Files and variables #### File: Widow\_spider\_behaviour\_with\_exposure\_to\_parasitoid\_wasps\_full\_data.csv **Description:** Hourly observations of widow spider and parasitoid wasp behaviour - full data of all behaviours recorded. Each row represents spider or wasp behaviour documented during one hour of recording.  ##### Variables * spider ID: Individual spider ID * camera: Which camera was used to record the experiment (out of 8 cameras) * Traement/ Control: If the spiders were exposed to parasitoid wasps (Treatment) or not (Control) * date: Date when the experiment was preformed  * time (in program): The time (in hours) in which the behaviours were documented  * notes: Comments on spider or wasp behaviour, or about the recording, n/a - no comments * activity: If the spider was active (1-yes, 0-no) * cleaning legs: If the spider was doing Cleaning legs behaviour (1-yes, 0- no) * web repair: If the spider was doing Web repair behaviour (1-yes, 0-no) * tapping the egg sac: Number of times the spider was doing Tapping the egg sac behaviour * circling the egg sac: Number of times the spider was doing Circling the egg sac behaviour * wasp dropping: Number of occurrences of wasp dropping off the spider web * stretching: If the spider was doing Stretching behaviour (1-yes, 0-no)  * walking around nest:  If the spider was doing Walking around nest behaviour (1-yes, 0-no) * body shaking: Number of times the spider was doing Body shaking behaviour * wrapping wasp in silk: If the spider wrapped captured wasps in silk (1-yes,0-no) * attaching dead wasp to the egg sac: If the spider attached captured wasps to its egg sac (1-yes, 0-no) * eating wasp: If the spider consumed captured wasps (1-yes, 0-no) * dropping wasp wrapped in silk: If the spider dropped captured wasps off the web (1-yes, 0-no) * moving egg sac: If the spider moved its egg sac inside the nest (1-yes, 0-no) * building an egg sac: If the spider build a new egg sac during the trial (1-yes, 0-no) #### File: Widow\_spider\_behaviour\_with\_exposure\_to\_parasitoid\_wasps\_summerized\_data\_for\_analysis.csv **Description:** Summerized data from "Widow spider behaviour with exposure to parasitoid wasps" experiment. Recorded widow spider and parasitoid wasp behaviour.  ##### Variables * Spider_ID: Individual spider ID (with site collected as the name) * Control_or_Treatment: If the spiders were exposed to parasitoid wasps (Treatment) or not (Control) * Species: *Latrodectus geometricus* or*Latrodectus pallidus* * N_hours_of_observation: The length of the observation (Number of hours) * Activity: Number of hours in which the spiders were active  * Tapping_the_egg_sac: Number of hours in which the spiders showed tapping the egg sac behaviour  * Circiling_the_egg_sac: Number of hours in which the spiders showed circling the egg sac behaviour  - Body_shaking: Number of hours in which the spiders showed body shaking behaviour  #### File: Widow\_spider\_behaviour\_with\_exposure\_to\_parasitoid\_wasps\_parasitism\_rate.csv **Description:** Parasitism rate of widow spider egg sac in each trial of "Widow spider behaviour with exposure to parasitoid wasps" experiment. ##### Variables * date: Date when the experiment was preformed  * spider ID: Trial ID (in numbers) * camera: Which camera was used to record the experiment (out of 8 cameras) * spider: Individual spider ID (with site collected as the name) * species: *Latrodectus geometricus* or *Latrodectus pallidus* * wasp: Individual wasp ID (with spider ID depositing the egg sac from which it emerged as the name, "C"-egg sac construction date, "H"-date of wasps emerging) * dead wasps found: Number of wasps found dead in the end of the trial  * *dead wasps wrapped in silk: Number of wasps found dead and wrapped in silk in the end of the trial  * comments: General comments about the trials, n/a - no comments * control date: When the control trials for each treatment trial were conducted, n/a - control was not conducted  * control ES date: When the egg sac for the control trial was deposited, n/a - control was not conducted  * control camera: Which camera was used to record the trial (out of 8 cameras), n/a - control was not conducted  * parasitized: If the egg sac was parasitized during the experiment (1-yes, 0- no) #### File: Egg\_sac\_spike\_removal\_experiment\_full\_data.csv **Description:** Parasitoid wasp behaviour on manipulated *L. geometricus* egg sacs (with spikes removed from half of the egg sac). ##### Variables * ID no.: Trial ID (in numbers) * egg sac ID: Individual egg sac ID [with spider ID (site collected as the name) depositing the egg sac as the name] * first side approached (s/n): The side of the egg sac which the wasp approached first: Spiky (s) or Spike-removal (n) * time of first approach: When the wasp first approached the egg sac (time on stopwatch) * time of first approach in minutes: Time until the wasp first approached the egg sac (in minutes) * side of first oviposition (s/n/0): The side of the egg sac which the wasp oviposited (inserted ovipositor) first: Spiky (s), Spike-removal (n), or no oviposition (0) * time of first oviposition: When the wasp first oviposited the egg sac (time on stopwatch) * oviposition s: Duration of oviposition on spiky side  * oviposition n: Duration of oviposition on spike-removal side * no. ovip S: Number of ovipositor insertion into spiky side * no. ovip N: Number of ovipositor insertion into spike-removal side * time spent on S: Total duration of time the wasp spent on spiky side (time on stopwatch) * time spent on N: Total duration of time the wasp spent on spike-removal side (time on stopwatch) * in minutes S: Total duration of time the wasp spent on spiky side (in minutes) * in minutes N: Total duration of time the wasp spent on spike-removal side (in minutes) #### File: Egg\_sac\_spike\_removal\_experiment\_number\_of\_wasp\_eggs\_laid.csv **Description:** Number of eggs that parasitoid wasps laid on each side of the manipulated *L. geometricus* egg sac (with spikes removed from half of the egg sac). ##### Variables * ID no.: Trial ID (in numbers) * egg sac ID: Individual egg sac ID [with spider ID (site collected as the name) depositing the egg sac as the name] * No. of wasp eggs laid on SpikeRemoval side: Number of wasp eggs counted inside the spider egg sac on the spike-removal side * No. of wasp eggs laid on Spiky side: Number of wasp eggs counted inside the spider egg sac on the spiky side #### File: Egg\_sac\_morphology\_in\_response\_to\_exposure\_to\_wasps.csv **Description:** Description of *Latrodectus geometricus* egg sac before and after exposure to parasitoid wasps. Measurements of spike length and density, and parasitism rate. ##### Variables * Spider_ID: Individual spider ID (with site collected as the name) * DateDep: Date egg sac was deposited by the spider female * EggsacNumber: The order of the egg sac (if it was first, second or third deposited by the spider) * Treatment: If the spiders were exposed to parasitoid wasps (wasps) or not (control) * Spike1: Spike length (in µm) * Spike2: Spike length (in µm) * Spike3: Spike length (in µm) * Spike4: Spike length (in µm) * Spike5: Spike length (in µm) * Spike6: Spike length (in µm) * Spike7: Spike length (in µm) * Spike8: Spike length (in µm) * Spike9: Spike length (in µm) * Spike10: Spike length (in µm) * Spikedensity: Number of spikes in a visible area under the 4x magnification of the microscope (an area of ~0.2 cm2) * Eggsac.size: Eggsac diameter (in µm) * parasitized: If the egg sac was parasitized during the experiment (1-yes, 0- no)