Persons also found that when the smaller Pardosa was placed in a container where Hogna had at one time been kept, the Pardosa will lose weight and not produce as many eggs in response to chemical signals left by the Hogna. Persons research has practical applications in the agricultural industry. Persons said if spider chemicals are indeed capable of being read by other organisms, they could be used to keep crop-eating insects away from fields. Persons hypothesizes that eventually researchers will find that chemical signals result in a huge drama or soap opera that s being played out in an ordinary soybean field, for example. Persons is now seeking to take his lab findings and see if they hold up in the field.
Persons also looks at other aspects of spider behavior, such as sexual selection.
He said that female spiders would respond to a male s courtship display by either mating with him or eating him, or perhaps mating with him and then eating him. Persons said he d like to study what factors the female uses to determine her actions. Persons research is done in conjunction with student research, something that he wanted to do when he chose Susquehanna. Persons said that he went to a private liberal arts college for his undergraduate studies and enjoyed the atmosphere. The difference between small and large schools became apparent to him as a graduate student.