DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5tb2rbpgv
title: Data from: The adaptive function of waste management in a social spider mite

description: Effective waste management is fundamental to the success of social living,
 playing a key role in disease prevention and maintaining a habitable
 environment. However, experimental evidence for its adaptive significance
 remains limited, primarily due to the difficulties in manipulating
 defecation behaviour. The social spider mite Stigmaeopsis longus defecates
 cooperatively near nest entrances, guided by tactile and chemical cues. We
 experimentally altered the number and location of defecation sites using
 host plant extracts that mimic the chemical cues and examined the effects
 on reproduction and survival under different female densities. Centralised
 and increased defecation sites reduced egg survival in high-density nests,
 but not in low-density ones. Nevertheless, both densities exhibited
 increased nest extension, suggesting a compensatory response. When nest
 extension was physically prevented, egg survival declined even in
 low-density nests, confirming that nest extension mitigates the faecal
 hazards. These findings demonstrate that spatial control of waste is
 crucial for supporting group living by reducing exposure to faecal
 hazards, particularly for immobile life stages such as eggs. This study
 provides the first empirical evidence for the adaptive function of waste
 management in spider mites, highlighting its potential role in the
 evolution of sociality and nest-based living in arthropods.
description: # Data from: The adaptive function of waste management in a social spider
 mite Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.5tb2rbpgv](10.5061/dryad.5tb2rbpgv) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This dataset was collected to
 investigate the adaptive function of defecation behaviour in the social
 spider mite *Stigmaeopsis longus*. Two experiments were conducted: *
 **Table S1** contains data from **Experiment 1**, in which defecation was
 manipulated while allowing nest extension. * **Table S2** contains data
 from **Experiment 2**, in which nest extension was blocked during
 defecation manipulation. * **R_markdown_file.Rmd** provides the R script
 used for figure preparation and statistical analysis. *
 **R_markdown_file.html** shows the output of the R script, using the
 datasets (Table S1 and Table S2) to generate the figures and conduct the
 analysis. 
 
 ## Files and variables ### File: STable1.csv **Description:** Data set in
 experiment 1: Defecation manipulation with nest extension allowed. |
 Column name | Description | | ------------------------------------ |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Nest** | Nest ID. | | **Temporal block** | Temporal block ID. | | **Number of founder females** | The number of mated, adult females used as nest founders (five or seven). | | **Treatment** | “T” indicates treatment (use of a piece of filter paper soaked in host plant extract), and “C” indicates control (use of a piece of filter paper soaked in solvent, diethyl ether). | | **Number of pieces of filter paper** | The number of filter papers used in the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of defecation sites** | The number of defecation sites observed during the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of adult females\_Live** | The number of mated, adult females surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of adult females\_Dead** | The number of mated, adult females dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of immatures\_Live** | The number of immatures surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of immatures\_Dead** | The number of immatures dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of eggs\_Live** | The number of eggs surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of eggs\_Dead** | The number of eggs dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Frequency of nest extensions** | The number of nest extensions observed during the 14-day experiment. | 
 
 ### File: STable2.csv **Description:** Table S2 Data set in experiment 2:
 Defecation manipulation with nest extension blocked. | Column name |
 Description | | --------------------------------- |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Nest** | Nest ID. | | **Temporal block** | Temporal block ID. | | **Treatment** | “T” indicates treatment (use of a piece of filter paper soaked in host plant extract), and “C” indicates control (use of a piece of filter paper soaked in solvent, diethyl ether). | | **Number of adult females\_Live** | The number of mated, adult females surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of adult females\_Dead** | The number of mated, adult females dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of immatures\_Live** | The number of immatures surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of immatures\_Dead** | The number of immatures dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of eggs\_Live** | The number of eggs surviving at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | | **Number of eggs\_Dead** | The number of eggs dead at the end of the 14-day experiment. “NA” indicates missing values. | 
 
 ### R_markdown_file.Rmd **Description:** R Markdown file containing the
 script for figure preparation and statistical analysis. ##### ####
 R_markdown_file.html **Description:** HTML output generated by running the
 R Markdown file using the provided datasets. #####