DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vx
title: Data from: Mate choice as a third context in which a mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues

description: For animals living in a noisy world, the volume of potentially relevant
 information exceeds attentional capacity, but relying on the same cue in
 multiple contexts might be a solution to this problem. This solution has
 been suggested by findings from research on Evarcha culicivora, a
 mosquito-specialist jumping spider in which both sexes rely on
 red-coloured cues in the context of identifying blood-carrying Anopheles
 mosquitoes as preferred prey. In a second context, males also attend to
 the red-coloured faces of other males that are displayed in male-male
 interactions. Here, as a third context, we present evidence that the
 presence of a male’s red face is also used as a mate-choice cue for
 females. In a Y-shaped arena, we gave females the choice between two
 size-matched stationary male specimens enclosed in glass vials. With
 colour as the only variable, significantly fewer females chose (i.e.,
 approached and tapped) the vials that housed males with their red facial
 coloration concealed by application of black liquid eyeliner when the
 alternative was sham-treated males that had their red facial coloration
 intact. Our findings suggest that, for E. culicivora, relying on the same
 colour in three different contexts may function as a way to minimize
 attentional load.
description: # Data from: Mate choice as a third context in which a mosquito-specialist
 jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vx](10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vx) ## GENERAL INFORMATION
 1. Title of Dataset: Mate choice as a third context in which a
 mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues 2. Author
 contact information A. Name: Lisa A Taylor Institution: University of
 Florida Email: [lisa.taylor@ufl.edu](mailto:lisa.taylor@ufl.edu),
 [lisa.anne.taylor@gmail.com](mailto:lisa.anne.taylor@gmail.com) B. Name:
 Fiona Cross Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand Email:
 [fiona.r.cross@gmail.com](mailto:fiona.r.cross@gmail.com) C. Name: Robert
 R Jackson Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand Email:
 [robert.jackson@canterbury.ac.nz](mailto:robert.jackson@canterbury.ac.nz)
 ## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW This dataset contains a single Excel file
 only, entitled “Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx”. ##
 METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION For all methodological details of data
 collection and funding sources see the following manuscript: Taylor LA,
 Cross F, Jackson RR. Mate choice as a third context in which a
 mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues. Royal
 Society Open Science. The data contained in this dataset can be used to
 replicate all analyses that are detailed in the above manuscript. Note
 that the data included here are those used to generate Figure 2 (Methods)
 and Figure 3 (Results and Discussion). ### Files and variables #### File:
 Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
 The Excel file (“Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx”)
 contains the following 2 sheets. 1. Fig 2 - Face color manip data. These
 data show the spectral properties of our experimental color manipulation
 as well as data on the color of blood-carrying mosquitoes and the
 spiders' natural black underlying cuticle of the face. This sheet
 contains mean spectral reflectance data (% reflectance from 350-700
 nanometers (nm)) for (1) the natural red face of male *Evarcha
 culicivora,* (2) the face of male *Evarcha culicivora* after having been
 experimentally concealed with black liquid eyeliner, and (3) the red
 abdomens of blood-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes between 0 and 6
 hours after feeding on blood, and (4) the spiders' natural underlying
 black cuticle. The face data (columns B and C) were collected as part of
 our previous study that used similar color manipulation methods (Cross,
 Jackson, and Taylor (2020), reused with permission from Springer Nature),
 where we provided additional details of the spectrophotometer and methods
 used to collect these data. The mosquito data (column D) were collected as
 part of another previous study (Taylor et. al 2022). We include it here
 simply to show how the redness of males' faces compares to the
 redness of these spiders' preferred prey. Again, additional details
 of the spectrophotometer and methods used to collect these data are
 included in the manuscript. The spectral data for the spiders'
 underlying black cuticle (columns E-J) is provided for reference so that
 readers can see how the underlying black cuticle compares to the black
 eyeliner used to conceal the red face (and follows the same methods of
 collection as reported in Cross et al. 2020).   Cross FR, Jackson RR.
 Taylor LA. (2020). Influence of seeing a red face during the male–male
 encounters of mosquito-specialist spiders. Learning & behavior 48:
 104-112 Taylor L, Cross F, Jackson R. (2022). Blood-red colour as a
 prey-choice cue for mosquito specialist predators. Animal Behaviour 188:
 85-97 **Variables** The specific variables in the spreadsheet are as
 follows: 1. column A: wavelength (nm): This is the wavelength in
 nanometers that corresponds to each reflectance value in columns B-C.  2.
 column B: natural red face (% reflectance, mean) (data from Cross et al.
 2020). This is the mean reflectance value (% reflectance relative to a
 white standard) of natural (unmanipulated males) with their red coloration
 intact. Additional details are provided in the accompnaying manuscript and
 in Cross et al. 2020.  3. column C: red face concealed with black eyeliner
 (% reflectance, mean) (data from Cross et al. 2020). This is the mean
 reflectance value (% reflectance relative to a white standard) of color
 manipulated males that illustrates how our color manipulation affected
 male color by covering up the red. Additional details are provided in the
 accompnaying manuscript and in Cross et al. 2020.  4. column D:
 blood-carrying mosquito between 0 and 6 hours after feeding on blood (data
 from Taylor et al. 2022). These data are for illustrative purposes only to
 show how the natural red face of the males in our study compares to the
 red of this species' preferred prey (blood-carrying mosquitoes).
 These data are the mean reflectance values (% reflectance relative to a
 white standard) of mosquitoes between 0 and 6 hours after feeding on
 blood. The data are from our previous study on the coloration of these
 mosquitoes; additional details are provided in that manuscript (Taylor et
 al. 2022).  5. columns E-J: five individual measures of the spiders'
 natural underlying black cuticle (E-I) and the mean value (column J) (%
 reflectance relative to a white standard).  3. Fig 3 - mate choice
 data. This sheet contains the results of choice tests where female test
 spiders (*Evarcha culicivora*) chose between conspecific male mounts that
 either had their red facial coloration intact ("red-intact"
 treatment group) or that had their red facial coloration concealed with
 black liquid eyeliner ("red-concealed" treatment group). 1. The
 heading of column A is "Trial ID (arbitrary number)" - this is
 simply an arbitrary ID number - its value has no meaning. 2. Column B is
 titled, "treatment group of male chosen". This indicates whether
 the test female chose the red-intact or red-concealed male. If the trial
 was unsuccessful (following the criteria described in the manuscript text)
 it says "trial unsuccessful".  ## Code/software None needed ##
 Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * The
 complete dataset included here is not available anywhere else.  A subset
 of the data was derived from the following sources (as described in detail
 under the "files and variables" section): * Cross FR, Jackson
 RR. Taylor LA. (2020). Influence of seeing a red face during the male–male
 encounters of mosquito-specialist spiders. Learning & behavior 48:
 104-112 Taylor L, Cross F, Jackson R. (2022). Blood-red colour as a
 prey-choice cue for mosquito specialist predators. Animal Behaviour 188:
 85-97