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Habitat Structure pp 325–348Cite as

Habitat structure and spider foraging

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Part of the book series: Population and Community Biology Series ((PCBS,volume 8))

Abstract

Spiders are extremely common inhabitants of most terrestrial communities, yet, compared to other animal taxa, they have only recently become the subject of ecological research (Turnbull, 1973; Witt and Rovner, 1982; Wise, 1984; Shear, 1986; Nentwig, 1987, for reviews). From the earliest studies, it has been clear that the physiognomy or physical structure of environments has an important influence on the habitat preferences of spider species, and ultimately on the composition of spider communities. This is certainly no coincidental observation for two important reasons:

  1. 1.

    Many spiders build webs for prey capture, and the attachment of these webs to surrounding structures often requires the presence of specific architectural features or arrangements (Riechert and Gillespie, 1986).

  2. 2.

    The nature of both web-building and non-web-building spiders’ primary sensory modalities (they perceive vibration through mechanoreceptors) dictates that they perceive their environment using tactile and vibratory cues (Barth, 1985).

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  1. Department of Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Susan S. Bell , Earl D. McCoy  & Henry R. Mushinsky ,  & 

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Uetz, G.W. (1991). Habitat structure and spider foraging. In: Bell, S.S., McCoy, E.D., Mushinsky, H.R. (eds) Habitat Structure. Population and Community Biology Series, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3076-9_16

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