DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bcc2fqzh5
title: The role of high-contrast male facial stripes in mitigating female aggression in the jumping spider, Plexippus paykulli

description: Vibrant male coloration and energetic courtship displays set jumping
 spiders apart from most arachnids, which typically rely on non-visual
 stimuli. Like many other spiders, female salticids engage in sexual
 cannibalism, making courtship a risky but necessary endeavor for males. In
 this study, we investigated the relationship between male coloration and
 female aggression to better understand the interplay of attraction and
 aversion during courtship. Many male jumping spiders sport conspicuous
 coloration or high-contrast patterns that are reminiscent of the
 coloration of many aposematic insects. The faces of Plexippus paykulli
 males are adorned with bold vertical stripes they direct toward females
 during courtship. We hypothesized that these stripes could function as a
 sensory trap, leveraging female aversion to the signal to reduce the
 likelihood of cannibalism. We tested whether spiders exhibit an aversion
 to stripes in the context of predation by manipulating prey coloration and
 testing spider preference for prey based on the presence or absence of
 stripes. Then we conducted two courtship experiments by manipulating male
 facial coloration to determine whether the presence of male stripes
 affects female aggression and likelihood of mating. We also manipulated
 female foraging drive in each courtship experiment (either diet or mating
 status) to see whether common sources of natural variation among females
 influenced response to courting males. We found that spiders showed an
 aversion to stripes while foraging but that this aversion does not confer
 reduced aggression from females toward striped males vs. males with
 stripes obscured. However, stripes did affect the likelihood of male
 reproductive success, as striped males mounted females more frequently
 than non-striped males. Finally, female condition influenced female
 response to courting males, with hungrier females showing higher
 aggression and previously mated females being mounted less frequently than
 non-mated females.
description: # Title of Dataset: The role of high-contrast male facial stripes in
 mitigating female aggression in the jumping spider, Plexippus paykulli ***
 ## Description of the Data and file structure #
 'expt1\_prey\_choice.csv' &
 'expt1\_prey\_choice\_x2.csv' These datasheets contain the same
 data but are formatted differently for analyses we performed in R. The
 spreadsheet, 'expt1\_prey\_choice.csv' is a long format wherein
 each trial (represented by 'spider\_id') has two rows (one for
 each prey treatment, Grey or Striped). The other has a single row per
 trial and the chosen prey is listed under 'chosen\_treatment'.
 Variable descriptions by column (expt1\_prey\_choice.csv'):
 spider\_id - unique identifier for spiders used in trials (also serves as
 Trial ID since no spiders were used repeatedly) treatment - color
 treatment applied to termite prey (Grey or Striped) choice\_binary -
 Yes/no outcome of trial (1 = Yes, indicating the spider struck the termite
 treatment indicated (grey or striped); 0 = No, the spider did not strike
 the termite in the corresponding row (grey or striped) n\_orientations -
 count data; number of times spider faced (oriented toward) each prey
 treatment trial\_date - date trial was performed sex\_binary - sex of
 spider in each trial; 0 = female; 1 = male age\_days - number of days
 since the spider emerged from its egg sac maturity - categorical
 classification of maturity (whether the spider reached its final molt
 prior to trial) strike\_latency\_min - amount of time passed between the
 release of the spider and it striking a termite (in minutes)
 expt1\_prey\_choice\_x2.csv contains the same variables except for:
 orient\_grey - number of times a spider oriented toward termites with Grey
 treatment orient\_striped - number of times a spider oriented toward
 termites with Striped treatment (These data are the same as those in the
 other spreadsheet, just oriented differently) Associated R file:
 '1\_PREY\_CHOICE\_EXPT.R'
 ############################################################################################## # 'female\_cond\_origin.csv' This datasheet includes measurements of mature female spiders that were captured from the field or reared from eggsacs in the lab for the purposes of comparing body condition. Measurements include the mass of the spider and the width of the carapace (or prosoma). In the case of field-collected spiders, measurements were taken the day of capture. Variable descriptions by column (female\_cond\_origin.csv) female\_cw\_um: width at widest part of carapace (prosoma) in micrometers (later converted to millimeters in R); 'cw' stands for 'carapace width' female\_mass\_g = mass of spider in grams id = trial/spider ID Associated R file: '2\_COURTSHIP\_EXPT1\_DIET\_STRIPES.R' ############################################################################################## # 'Plexippus\_results\_diet\_plus\_eggdata.csv' This datasheet contains data associated with courtship trials in which we manipulated the facial stripes of male spiders and the diet of female spiders (Plexippus paykulli). We tested female spiders' response to courting males. For each trial (column: 'name\_video'), we recorded body measurements for each participating male and female (mass (g); width of the carapace (mm). The difference between the carapace widths of paired male and female spiders is listed for each trial under 'cw\_diff' and is calculated by subtracting male carapace width from female carapace width. Thus negative values indicate a larger male. Count data for each scored behavior can be found in columns labeled 'n\_behavior' (e.g., 'n\_stalk'). Instances of each behavior over the duration of the trial can be found in columns labeled 'behavior\_time'. Time is measured in minutes. All trials that did not culminate in cannibalization of a male were 30 minutes long, so a female spider that stalked a male six times during a trial has an 'stalk\_time' value of 0.2 (6 instances of stalking/30 minute trial). Variable descriptions by column ('Plexippus\_results\_diet\_plus\_eggdata.csv') name\_video - ID used for each trial recording (interchangeable with trial ID) female\_treatment - female diet treatment (Standard diet vs. Reduced diet) male\_treatment - male stripe treatment (Stripes concealed vs. Stripes intact) female\_mass - mass of female on day of trial (in grams) male\_mass - mass of male on day of trial (in grams) n\_attack - number of times female directed propulsive behaviors (lunging and grappling) at males; (count data) attack\_time - count data (n\_attack) divided by trial duration (see explanation above) n\_display - number of times female raised first two pairs of legs at male; (count data) display\_time - count data (n\_display) divided by trial duration (see explanation above) n\_stalk - number of times female stalked male during a trial (count data) stalk\_time - count data (n\_stalk) divided by trial duration (see explanation above) n\_mount - number of times male mounted female during a trial (count data) mount\_time - count data (n\_mount) divided by trial duration (see explanation above) female\_cw\_mm - width of widest point of carapace in millimeters (female spiders) \* male\_cw\_mm - width of widest point of carapace in millimeters (male spiders) \* cw\_diff - difference between male and female carapace width in millimeters (female - male) \* eggs\_yn - indicates whether female spider deposited an eggsac after the trial (0 = no eggs produced; 1 = eggs produced) eggs\_yesno - redundant (coded Yes/No instead of 1/0 as above) mount\_yn - did male mount female (1 = yes; 0 = no) \* : variables containing NAs (where data not available); data were not entered into the database following pre-trial measurement phase Associated R files: '2\_COURTSHIP\_EXPT1\_DIET\_STRIPES.R'; 'SUPP\_COURTSHIP\_EXPTS\_DURATION.R' ############################################################################################# #'Plexippus\_results\_repro\_v3.csv' Associated R files: '3\_COURTSHIP\_EXPT1\_REPRO\_STRIPES.R'; 'SUPP\_COURTSHIP\_EXPTS\_DURATION.R' This datasheet contains data associated with courtship trials in which we manipulated the facial stripes of male spiders and the mating status of female spiders (Plexippus paykulli). This set of data is structurally identical to 'Plexippus\_results\_diet\_plus\_eggdata.csv' save for the following exceptions: Trial IDs are listed as numbers under 'video\_id' (instead of 'name\_video') and there are no data associated with eggsac deposition by females. This variable was not relevant in this experiment because paternity of offspring could not be determined in the 'mated' female treatment. Female treatment is either 'Mated' or 'Virgin' (instead of diet manipulations (Standard diet or Reduced diet)). This datasheet does not contain NA values.