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First published online June 16, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 2631-2637 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01068

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Colourful orb-weaving spiders, Nephila pilipes, through a bee's eyes

I-Min Tso¹, Chih-Wei Lin¹ and En-Cheng Yang^2,*

¹ Department of Biology, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan
² Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Schematic drawings illustrating the colour markings of the typical morph giant wood spider Nephila pilipes. Reflectance spectra were recorded from the areas specified (see Figs 5, 6).

View larger version (10K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Mean (± S.E.M.) insect interception rates (no. of insects per hour per web) of different morphs of Nephila pilipes.

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. (A) The forest understorey daylight illuminating spectrum in the study site in Orchid Island and (B) the spectral reflection of the background to which the photoreceptors are assumed to be adapted in the model calculations. The curve was the mean of the reflection functions of fresh leaves, fallen leaves and bark (N=190).

View larger version (12K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Mean reflectance spectra of (A) yellow and (B) black parts on the body of the typical morph Nephila pilipes.

View larger version (32K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. (A,B) Mean (± S.E.M.) colour contrasts of different body parts of typical Nephila pilipes viewed by achromatic and chromatic vision. Broken lines indicate the threshold for colour-contrast detection estimated for honeybees. (C,D) Schematic drawings mimicking the (C) dorsum and (D) ventrum patterns perceived by bees using chromatic vision. Body parts whose colour contrasts were smaller than the discrimination threshold were given the same colour as the background, which was artificially designated as black. Those with significantly higher values were assigned different degrees of grey according to their contrast values. Numbers correspond to areas shown in Fig. 1.

View larger version (33K): [in a new window]   Fig. 6. (A,B) Mean (± S.E.M.) colour contrasts of different body parts of melanic Nephila pilipes viewed by achromatic and chromatic vision. Broken lines indicate the threshold for colour-contrast detection estimated for honeybees. (C,D) Schematic drawings mimicking the (C) dorsum and (D) ventrum patterns perceived by bees using chromatic vision following scenarios used in Fig. 5.