Effect of odour on prey pattern aversion in jumping spiders
- 1Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL, USA
Abstract
Many animals defend themselves with toxic chemicals and use multimodal warning displays involving odours and bright colours to advertise their toxicity. Yet, how coloration and odour interact and why they so often evolve together is not well understood. Recent work in jumping spiders has shown that defensive odours from three chemically defended bugs (Order Hemiptera: Acanthocephala femorata, Mormidea sp. and Leptoglossus phyllopus) increase a foraging aversion to red prey. Here, we ask whether these odours also increase avoidance of another visual warning: high-contrast stripes. Jumping spiders (Habronattus trimaculatus) were given choices between pattern-manipulated termites (solid white and black-and-white striped) in the presence or absence of a defensive odour from one of the aforementioned bug species. We predicted that any aversion to stripes would be stronger when odour was present. Surprisingly, we found no effect of any bug odour on the spiders’ aversions to stripes. Interestingly, these odours that so strongly and consistently trigger aversion to red do not have the same effect on stripes. This highlights the different ways that odours and coloration can interact (or not) to influence predators, providing insight into the diversity of aposematic displays in nature.
Related
- How spiders use dragline silk to control abseiling and jumping
- Predator sounds disrupt visual attention in jumping spiders
- Pheromones induce visuomotor arousal in jumping spiders
- The Spring Phenology of Arboreal Beetles and Spiders and Their Potential as Alternative Prey for Birds Mistimed With Peak Caterpillar Abundance
- Predator self limitation controls pattern formation in a predator prey system with additional food: a Turing Hopf analysis
BibTeX
@article{persad2026effect,
title = {{Effect of odour on prey pattern aversion in jumping spiders}},
author = {Aditi Persad and Laurel B. Lietzenmayer and Lisa A. Taylor},
journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rsos.261295},
url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261295/483648/Effect-of-odour-on-prey-pattern-aversion-in},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effect of odour on prey pattern aversion in jumping spiders
AU - Aditi Persad
AU - Laurel B. Lietzenmayer
AU - Lisa A. Taylor
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Royal Society Open Science
DO - 10.1098/rsos.261295
UR - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261295/483648/Effect-of-odour-on-prey-pattern-aversion-in
AB - Many animals defend themselves with toxic chemicals and use multimodal warning displays involving odours and bright colours to advertise their toxicity. Yet, how coloration and odour interact and why they so often evolve together is not well understood. Recent work in jumping spiders has shown that defensive odours from three chemically defended bugs (Order Hemiptera: Acanthocephala femorata, Mormidea sp. and Leptoglossus phyllopus) increase a foraging aversion to red prey. Here, we ask whether these odours also increase avoidance of another visual warning: high-contrast stripes. Jumping spiders (Habronattus trimaculatus) were given choices between pattern-manipulated termites (solid white and black-and-white striped) in the presence or absence of a defensive odour from one of the aforementioned bug species. We predicted that any aversion to stripes would be stronger when odour was present. Surprisingly, we found no effect of any bug odour on the spiders’ aversions to stripes. Interestingly, these odours that so strongly and consistently trigger aversion to red do not have the same effect on stripes. This highlights the different ways that odours and coloration can interact (or not) to influence predators, providing insight into the diversity of aposematic displays in nature.
SN - 2054-5703
ER -