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Yip EC, Berner-Aharon N, Smith DR, Lubin Y (2016) Coy Males and Seductive Females in the Sexually Cannibalistic Colonial Spider, Cyrtophora citricola. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0155433. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155433

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155433

 

  1. What is the main hypothesis formulated by the authors?
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  1. Briefly describe the experimental set up that tested males choosiness for female reproductive state
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  1. Method: 
    1. a. How many times did the authors repeat the experiment above (number of replicates) for each condition? _________  
    2. Why is it important to repeat experiments?
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  1. In most species, females choose their mates. What characteristic does Cyrtophora citricola have that made the evolution of choosy males possible?
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  1. What information can be extracted from looking at the graph in Figure 1?
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  1. Did the results of the experiment support or refute the hypothesis? 
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Observation of mating behavior in jumping spiders

 

To avoid bias and subjectivity, ethologists (scientists studying animal behavior) must catalogue the behaviors exhibited by their focal animal. A description of the order of behaviors (timing, duration, characteristics) is called an ethogram. Sometimes this entails careful use of equipment e.g. Lecture: Creating and using an ethogram

Here is an example from the peacock spider from Girard et al. 2011.

 

Girard, Madeline & Kasumovic, Michael & Elias, Damian. (2011). Multi-Modal Courtship in the Peacock Spider, Maratus volans (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874). PloS one. 6. e25390. 10.1371/journal.pone.0025390.

 

Here is an example of a courtship ethogram in the spider Acanthogonatus centralis (Ferretti et al. 2011)

  1.  Select one of the videos below and make an ethogram of the male behaviors (mark which one you choose). Click on the box, and choose “Edit”. You can either construct the ethogram within the drawing, or you can upload an image (if you construct the ethogram on paper, simply scan and import the image)
  • Habronattus pyrrithrix courtship
  • Habronattus dossenus courtship
  1. As a researcher, you can follow the protocols and methods written by other authors, and modify them to test your own experiments. Making sure that you provide citations (e.g. Ferretti et al. 2011, Yip et al 2016, Girard et al. 2011…. etc), write up a “Methods” section in which you describe an experimental design that tests if the sound produced by males of Habronattus dossenus attracts females of Habronattus pyrrithrix. 
Methods

 

 

  1. Scientific observations come in many forms – from your own data, to information from other researchers’ journal articles, videos, books etc. Observations lead to questions, which in turn can be used to structure hypotheses. Choose one question that you have had as a result of completing this lab, and describe how you could formulate a hypothesis to explore the question scientifically.