DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p325
title: Dataset:Female state and condition-dependent chemical signalling revealed by male choice of silk trails

description: We ask whether males of the nuptial gift-giving spider Pisaura
 mirabilis exert preferences for mates varying in their reproductive
 potential based on chemical information during mate search. Males were
 presented with binary trails consisting of silk lines and substrate-borne
 chemicals deposited while females were walking, from females varying in a)
 body condition (high vs. low), b) developmental state (subadult vs. adult)
 and c) mating state (unmated vs. mated). If female chemical signaling
 co-varies with individual state, we expect males to choose trails of
 females that are a) in higher body condition, indicating higher fecundity,
 b) adults, which can successfully reproduce, and c) unmated, to avoid
 sperm competition. We show that female signaling is condition-dependent,
 with males being more likely to follow trails of higher body condition
 females, but not dependent on female mating state. Males also tended to
 prefer trails of adults over subadults. Choice did not depend on male
 individual body condition.
description: Experimental trials were run in the laboratory
 using wild-caught spiders. Males were presented with binary trails
 consisting of silk lines and substrate-borne chemicals deposited while
 females were walking (in a V-shaped corridor). Silk was deposited by
 females varying in a) body condition (high vs. low fed females), b)
 developmental state (subadult vs. adult females) and c) mating state
 (unmated vs. mated females). 
description: ## Title and authors Data, analysis script and associated files for:
 Michelle Beyer, Kardelen . Uludag, Cristina Tuni (2023, accepted in
 Behavioral Ecology) Female state and condition-dependent chemical
 signalling revealed by male choice of silk trails Data collected by KU.
 Please refer to the manuscript for data collection methods and statistical
 analyses. For questions or to notify the authors if any errors are
 identified in the data, please contact Dr. Cristina Tuni
 (). ## Information on data files ###
 ESM\_Beyer et al.csv This data was used to test whether males of the
 spider Pisaura mirabilis prefere females varying body condition,
 developmental state or mating state. #### Description of variables used
 for data analysis | columnHeading | description | | --------------- |
 :------------------------------------------------------------------------:
 | | Date | Date of trial conduction | | Experiment | Type of experiment
 the trial belongs to | | TrialNumber | Number of trials the male has
 conducted (1-4) | | IdMale | Male individual identity | | AgeMale | Male
 age in days after moult to adulthood | | MassMale | Male body mass \[g] |
 | MassMaleMg | Male body mass \[mg] | | SizeMale | Male head width \[mm] |
 | ResIndMale | Male residual index of body mass and size | | IdFem |
 Female individual identity | | AgeFem | Female age in days after moult to
 adulthood | | MassFem | Female body mass \[g] | | MassFemMg | Female body
 mass \[mg] | | SizeFem | Female head width \[mm] | | ResIndFem | Female
 residual index of body mass and size | | Treatment | Specific trail type
 in the device arm | | DirectionChosen | Information on whether the device
 arm was followed by the male (Yes or No) | | | | #### Description of
 variables not used for analysis due to low sample sizes | columnHeading |
 description | | ------------------------ |
 :----------------------------------------------------------------------: |
 | femalearm | The arm the female left her silk in (Left vs. Right) | |
 bounceYN | Occurrence of male bouncing behaviour (abdominal vibration):
 (Yes or No) | | bounceduration | Duration of male bouncing behaviour
 \[sec] | | rubYN | Occurrence of male leg rubbing behaviour | |
 rubduration | Duration of male leg rubbing behaviour \[sec] | | waitYN |
 Male waited in the device arm (Yes or No) | | waitduration | Duration of
 male waiting \[sec] | | silkcontact | Visual contact observed between male
 and female silk | | activemovementduration | Duration the male spent in
 the device | | numberofturns | Number of 180 turns the male did in the
 device | | start walking in the arm | Start time of the male inside one of
 the device arms | | timeanimalleft the arm | Time of male leaving the arm
 (i.e. finish of trial) | | timespent | Total time spent in the device | |
 intersec.totaltime | Duration the male spent in the intersection area of
 the device | | intersectionagain | Male reached intersection area again
 (Yes or No | | malechoicechange | Male changed device arm (Yes or No | ###
 ESM-BinomialChoice.R R script for the statistical analysis of
 "ESM_Beyer et al.csv". ## Information on Code/Software ### State
 and condition-dependent chemical signaling of adult females revealed by
 male preference in a gift-giving spider.Rmd R markdown file of the R code
 file "ESM-BinomialChoice." Includes more in-depth descriptions
 of code.