DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bft
title: Mantidfly larvae use substrate-borne cues to locate and distinguish different sexes and life stages of potential spider hosts

description: In many animals, early-life decisions influence long-term fitness.
 Mantidflies are spider egg predators; their tiny larvae climb aboard
 spiders to find eggs, but little is known about how they find spiders. We
 tested the hypothesis that mantidfly larvae (Dicromantispa sayi) detect
 and respond to substrate-borne spider cues (e.g., silk and/or excreta). We
 presented larvae with filter paper exposed to different types of spiders
 (adult female, adult male, or juvenile Habronattus trimaculatus jumping
 spiders) versus a no-cue control. Larvae spent more time on filter paper
 with spider cues. We then tested the hypothesis that mantidflies make
 finer distinctions between spiders when given direct choices between these
 cues. Larvae did not discriminate between sexes but spent more time (and
 exhibited more phoretic behavior) on filter paper with female or male cues
 compared with juvenile cues. While this suggests that mantidflies actively
 seek out adult spiders, we also found that adult spiders were more active
 than juveniles and may have simply deposited more silk and excreta,
 providing a stronger cue to detect. We discuss these findings in the
 context of the risks and benefits of different spider hosts, and how
 early-life spider-searching strategies may shape a mantidfly’s long-term
 fitness.
description: Data for behavioral experiment with mantispid larvae. Larvae were
 given a series of choice tests between filter paper halves treated with
 different cues. Time spent on each filter paper type (1,2) and frequency
 of phoresy behavior (2) were collected. We also measured spider activity
 when treating the filter paper with cues as a proxy for how much silk and
 excreta the spiders laid on filter paper (2). Exploratory analyses using
 the side the mantispid started on is included in a separate dataset
 (3).
description: # Mantidfly larvae use substrate-borne cues to locate and distinguish
 different potential spider hosts File Name:
 Mantispid_Larvae_Host_Choice_1* * TotalTime: time in minutes larva spent
 on filter paper from specified treatment cue * FilterPaper: type of cues
 used to treat filter paper; "control" is no cues and
 "spider" is spider cues * SpiderType: type of spider used to
 treat filter paper with cues; "male" is adult male,
 "female" is adult female, "immature" is juvenile *
 MaternalID: individual unique identifier for female that produce larva in
 trial * TrialID: individual unique ID for each trial File Name:
 Mantispid_Larvae_Host_Choice_2* * TotalTime: time in minutes larva spent
 on filter paper from specified treatment cue * FilterPaper: type of spider
 used to treat filter paper with cues; "male" is adult male,
 "female" is adult female, "zjuvenile" is juvenile *
 MaternalID: individual unique identifier for female that produced larva
 used in trial * TrialID: individual unique ID for each trial * Combo:
 signifies which spider types were used in trial; "mj" is male
 and juvenile, "fm" is female and male, "fj" is female
 and juvenile * Phoretic: frequency of phoretic behaviors displayed by
 larva * Phoreticpermin: "Phoretic" divided by
 "TotalTime" * SpiderID: individual unique identifier for spider
 used to treat filter paper * BoxedCrossed: number of 2cm boxes spider from
 "SpiderID" fully crossed during 15-minute observation period
 File Name: FirstChoiceExploratory* * ID:  individual unique identifier for
 larva used in trial * StartSide: side of the arena the larva started on
 (spider or control for experiment 1 and female/male/juvenile for
 experiment 2 where the combinations of treatments are fm, mj, or fj as
 shown in the Experiment column) * Experiment: whichever choice test the
 trial is from (1=experiment 1, fm=female vs male, mj=male vs juvenile,
 fj=female vs juvenile) * StartSpid: In experiment 1, indicates what type
 of spider sex/life stage the spider cues came from."male" is
 adult male, "female" is adult female, "immature" is
 juvenile. *Any cells containing "n/a" or "na" for all
 dataset files indicate null cells and are "not applicable".