Maydianne Andrade / en Male black widow spiders piggyback on the work of their rivals to find female mates faster: U of T study /news/male-black-widow-spiders-piggyback-work-their-rivals-find-female-mates-faster-u-t-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Male black widow spiders piggyback on the work of their rivals to find female mates faster: U of T study </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Black-widows.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Np8bUuVJ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Black-widows.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xOeuoKbE 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Black-widows.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=DvuwbArt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Black-widows.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Np8bUuVJ" alt="Female (left) and male (right) black widow spiders"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>noreen.rasbach</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-07-31T09:56:44-04:00" title="Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 09:56" class="datetime">Wed, 07/31/2019 - 09:56</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Female (left) and male (right) black widow spiders (photo by Sean McCann)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new Ƶ study finds male black widow spiders will hijack silk trails left by rival males in their search for a potential mate.</p> <p>Male black widows will follow chemical cues – pheromones – released by potential female mates, but it was always assumed they would avoid rival males because competition is so fierce.</p> <p>“We expect males to use female cues to find a potential mate, and use those left by their rivals to avoid them,” says <strong>Catherine Scott</strong>, a PhD candidate in Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong>’s lab at U of T Scarborough and lead author of the study.</p> <p>“We found male black widows follow rather than avoid rival males, using their silk trails as highways that rapidly lead them to a female’s web, even if they can’t smell the female themselves.”</p> <p>The western black widow spider is a venomous spider native to large areas of western North America. The life of a male is brutal and short. Mate-searching is risky – only 12 per cent of males survive – and few females are receptive to potential mates each night. The males who survive also risk being cannibalized by much larger females before getting a chance to mate.</p> <p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FK-qjGGK0R4" width="750"></iframe></p> <p>Andrade, a renowned expert on the mating habits of cannibalistic widow spiders,&nbsp;says this dual tactic of using female cues and following their rivals appears to benefit males because speed is critical.</p> <p>“Males are better off competing for the same female instead of risking missing out completely,” she says.</p> <p>“Courtship can also last for hours, so even if a male isn’t the first to arrive on the web, if he gets there quickly enough he may be able to win the competition to be the first to mate.”</p> <h3><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade">Read more about Maydianne Andrade&nbsp;</a></h3> <p>Scott conducted much of the research for this study in the field&nbsp;with co-author Sean McCann, partly supported through a crowd-funding campaign, where she tracked hundreds of male western black widows on a Vancouver Island beach.</p> <p>She found males were able to locate females from up to 60 metres away, despite only being the size of a grain of rice. Surprisingly, males with access to other males’ silk trails moved at higher speeds than those only with access to chemical cues from females.</p> <p>It’s not clear whether males are picking up on chemical cues left on their rivals’ silk, but it’s likely they are since they only follow the silk of other black widows and not from other species.</p> <p>What is clear is that the presence of a rival’s silk indicates a female was signalling with pheromones at some point earlier in the evening. The first male who finds that female will shut down the signal by destroying her web, but Scott points out other males will “eavesdrop” on this earlier conversation by following the silk trail left behind, even if they can no longer smell the female themselves.</p> <p>The immediate goal of this research is to see how the male black widow spiders use information to win the race to find a mate, but understanding the chemical communication of black widows could have important practical applications. The findings could help eventually develop a pesticide-free way to control black widows in situations where they are considered pests, which is important considering their venom is a neurotoxin in humans.</p> <p>Scott, who will become a postdoctoral researcher at Acadia&nbsp;University in the fall, was surprised to find males following their rivals. Generally, if male animals have a choice between competing over a mate or avoiding competition, they avoid it.</p> <p>“By studying these spiders in the field we realized they probably never get to make that choice,” she says.</p> <p>While much research in the lab tends to focus on how chemical cues affect courtship behaviour or allows females to attract potential mates, she says much less is known about how males find females in the wild.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s really difficult to do this type of study in nature,” adds Andrade, whose lab has discovered how male black widows will choose well-fed females to avoid being eaten alive, and how they also seek out immature females as a mating strategy.</p> <p>“When you discover behaviour that seems counterintuitive, it just goes to show that you really need to study this mating behaviour as it happens in nature.”&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.1470">The study, published in the <em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B</em></a>, received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Research Chairs program, and the Toronto Entomologists’ Association Eberlie Grant.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 31 Jul 2019 13:56:44 +0000 noreen.rasbach 157402 at U of T study on redback spiders finds seemingly abhorrent mating strategy appears to benefit both males and females /news/u-t-study-redback-spiders-finds-seemingly-abhorrent-mating-strategy-appears-benefit-both-males <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T study on redback spiders finds seemingly abhorrent mating strategy appears to benefit both males and females</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-12-12-spider-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KAsR_WNM 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-12-12-spider-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=QiskV5AT 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-12-12-spider-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=JLHOcl5u 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-12-12-spider-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KAsR_WNM" alt="Photo of redback spider"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rasbachn</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-12-12T10:57:04-05:00" title="Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 10:57" class="datetime">Tue, 12/12/2017 - 10:57</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(photo by Ken Jones)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/life-sciences" hreflang="en">Life Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/spiders" hreflang="en">Spiders</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A mating strategy among redback spiders where males seek out immature females appears to benefit both sexes, a new Ƶ&nbsp;study has found.</p> <p>“There’s no evidence to suggest this behaviour is costly to females in terms of survivorship and reproductive output,” says&nbsp;<strong>Luciana Baruffaldi</strong>, post-doctoral researcher and director of the <a href="http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/labs/andrade/">Andrade </a>lab at U of T Scarborough and lead author of the research <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17524-6">published in the journal&nbsp;</a><em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17524-6">Scientific Reports</a>.</em></p> <p>The research builds on past work by the Andrade lab that found some male redback spiders will avoid being cannibalized by mating with immature females that are not experienced in eating their partners. For this study, they wanted to determine whether males mating with immature females was a sign of “coercion” – a male mating tactic that was costly to females.</p> <p>At least superficially, the behaviour appeared to be against the female’s best interest. For one, males in this case mate with little investment in courtship, mating will sometimes injure females, while females will often attack potential mates, suggesting resistance.</p> <p>But what they found was that being mated as an immature has no cost to females in terms of reproductive output or survival, and that females mating in this way do not signal for additional mates in the future.</p> <p>“This early mating may be good for female redback spiders because in nature they’re at risk of not finding a mate at all,” says Baruffaldi.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7105 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/2017-12-12-spider-researcher-resized.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="678" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Luciana Baruffaldi, director of the&nbsp;Andrade&nbsp;lab at U of T Scarborough and lead author of the research published in Scientific Reports (photo by Ken Jones)</em></p> <p>Any delays in mating are costly for female redbacks. Not only do they lose out on potential offspring, past research has shown that unmated females have shorter lifespans than mated females, likely the result of having eggs that have to be maintained that can be a drain on their resources.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>Redbacks, a species of venomous widow spiders, are one of few arachnids that engage in sexual cannibalism while mating. In fact, males have been observed to actively assist in being cannibalized by doing summersaults to place their abdomen over the adult female’s mouth. In the majority of cases, females will continue to eat the male even while they mate. But this seemingly extreme form of mating also appears to have advantages in terms of reproductive success.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="http://gicr.utoronto.ca/support-the-report/">Interested in publicly funded research in Canada? Learn more at U of T’s #supportthereport advocacy campaign</a></h3> <p>Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong>, co-author of&nbsp;the research and Baruffaldi’s thesis supervisor, says the behaviour needs to be considered in terms of its evolutionary consequences.</p> <p>“When you study evolutionary ecology,&nbsp;there’s a temptation to ascribe human characteristics or judgments on the behaviour being observed,” says Andrade, a world-renowned expert on the mating habits of cannibalistic spiders.</p> <p>“What we’re seeing could have more than one evolutionary implication, and even if it looks abhorrent to us, the evolutionary consequence can be positive for the animal engaging in that behaviour.”</p> <p>Andrade says if we want to think about why a particular set of behaviours has evolved, the underlying question is how it may affect the reproductive success of the animal doing it.</p> <p>“That’s the evolutionary currency – what’s playing out over time is the number of gene copies left behind in offspring,” she says.</p> <h3><a href="/news/tags/spiders">Read more about U of T's&nbsp;&nbsp;Maydianne Andrade and her lab</a><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade">&nbsp;</a></h3> <h3><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17524-6">Read the fully study in the journal <em>Scientific Reports</em></a></h3> <p>“If there’s a behaviour that increases how many gene copies are left, this means more offspring showing the same traits as their parents, and that’s the behaviour we expect to see.”</p> <p>The study&nbsp;received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and the Canada Research Chairs Program.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 12 Dec 2017 15:57:04 +0000 rasbachn 124612 at Recluse or not? Citizen science project looks to the public for help in gathering data on much maligned spider /news/recluse-or-not-citizen-science-project-looks-public-help-gathering-data-much-maligned-spider <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Recluse or not? Citizen science project looks to the public for help in gathering data on much maligned spider </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-10-12-spiders-main-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1KiRzebj 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-10-12-spiders-main-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=pp8qFHo5 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-10-12-spiders-main-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=0tadsy5H 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-10-12-spiders-main-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1KiRzebj" alt="Picture of spider"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rasbachn</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-10-12T12:28:29-04:00" title="Thursday, October 12, 2017 - 12:28" class="datetime">Thu, 10/12/2017 - 12:28</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"> "Recluse or Not?" aims to educate the public about the recluse spider while also gathering more information about where they can be found and to identify those spiders often mistaken for a brown recluse (photo by Sean McCann)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new citizen science project co-founded by a Ƶ&nbsp;researcher is harnessing the power of social media to dispel some common myths about a much-maligned spider.</p> <p>“We’re looking for people to post photos of any spider that they think is a brown recluse,” says <strong>Catherine Scott</strong>, a PhD student in Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong>’s lab at U of T Scarborough.&nbsp;</p> <p>Started by three entomologists including Scott, <a href="http://spiderbytes.org/recluse-or-not/"><strong>Recluse or Not?</strong></a> aims to educate the public about the recluse spider while also gathering more information about where they can be found and to identify those spiders often mistaken for a brown recluse.</p> <p>“It’s important to know if populations are popping up outside of their native range, but also offer reliable information to help people identify the often-harmless spiders they may come across and end up killing,” she says.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__6376 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/2017-10-12-spiders-inset-resized.jpg" style="width: 302px; height: 453px; margin: 10px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image">Scott (left) was motivated to start the project more than a year ago, saying&nbsp;there’s an abundance of poor information online, particularly about brown recluse bites. There is also a&nbsp;myth that the spider is common in Canada.</p> <p>Inspired by a social media project started by ecology professor David Steen for copperhead and cottonmouth snakes, Scott borrowed the idea with Steen’s permission. She began searching Twitter for photos that people were posting of what they thought were brown recluse spiders, using the hashtags #NotARecluse or #ReallyRecluse.</p> <p>Entomologists Dr. Matt Bertone and Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice approached Scott last month about expanding her effort into a citizen science project where people could provide data on where they are finding brown recluse spiders across North America. Together they recently started the @RecluseOrNot Twitter account, inspired by ecologist Dr. Michelle LaRue’s #CougarOrNot hashtag.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>One goal of the project is to collect data on genetic differences between indoor and outdoor brown recluse spiders. Sample specimens will be sent to Bertone, who is part of a team doing DNA analysis to understand the differences between the two and the movement of these spiders.</p> <p>Brown recluse spiders have a bad reputation because their bites can occasionally be dangerous. But bites are rare, even in areas where the spider is common, and more than 90 per cent are not serious and don’t require medical intervention. Only a handful of people have ever died from a recluse bite, notes Scott.</p> <p>“People like to blame spiders for mystery bites even though the more likely culprits are ticks, mites, mosquitos, bed bugs and fleas, which are all arthropods that feed on human blood. Spiders on the other hand do not feed on blood, have no reason to bite humans, so bites are very rare,” she says.</p> <p>In fact, the brown recluse is not aggressive and will only bite if it’s being defensive, like if one gets stuck in your clothing or if you reach into a dark corner. Scott says it’s important the public understand this because a misdiagnosed brown recluse bite could be hiding a more serious health concern. She adds many conditions can be mistaken for recluse bites including MRSA, Lyme disease, and even some cancers.</p> <p>There are 11 species of recluse spiders in North America, but only brown recluses are found in homes. In fact, the brown recluse is particularly adept at living with humans and can be found living mostly in homes throughout the much of the central United States. &nbsp;</p> <p>There have only been four recorded specimens of recluse spiders ever recovered in Canada – none of them a brown recluse and all hitchhikers from far away – with the most recent being found in 2007. Yet there’s a persistent myth that the spiders are in Canada and that people are being bitten, including recent media coverage.&nbsp;</p> <p>“One of my main motivations in doing this as a Canadian is that pretty much everyone I have talked to knows someone who claims to have been bitten by a brown recluse,” she says. “I highly doubt it’s true, since there’s no evidence of brown recluse spiders being in Canada, and even where they are common, bites are very rare.”</p> <p>One spider that commonly gets mistaken for a brown recluse in Canada is the hobo spider, which is found in areas of British Columbia. But, as Scott notes, pretty much any spider that’s brown is often mistaken for a brown recluse.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I’m looking forward to people posting their photos of what they think are brown recluses, and as a scientist I’m happy to be proven wrong with evidence that they occur in Canada,” she says. “I just strongly doubt that will happen.”&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 12 Oct 2017 16:28:29 +0000 rasbachn 118796 at From super flies to chimps, international animal behaviour conference at U of T next week /news/super-flies-chimps-international-animal-behaviour-conference-u-t-next-week <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">From super flies to chimps, international animal behaviour conference at U of T next week</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-06-09-animal.jpg?h=926c2e1a&amp;itok=HGwJO9Q6 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-06-09-animal.jpg?h=926c2e1a&amp;itok=7PM9sdw_ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-06-09-animal.jpg?h=926c2e1a&amp;itok=dsoHPhyp 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-06-09-animal.jpg?h=926c2e1a&amp;itok=HGwJO9Q6" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-06-09T16:48:15-04:00" title="Friday, June 9, 2017 - 16:48" class="datetime">Fri, 06/09/2017 - 16:48</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Baby gorilla rides on mother's back. A conference at U of T Scarborough next week looks at research into all kinds of animal behaviour (photo by Smithsonian's National Zoo via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/megan-easton" hreflang="en">Megan Easton</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Megan Easton</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/animal" hreflang="en">Animal</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Are you fan of <em>Animal Planet</em>? Can't get enough of the Discovery Channel?</p> <p>More than 750 experts in animal behaviour from across the globe – leading researchers from North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe – gather at U of T Scarborough next week for a&nbsp;conference that probes all aspects of why animals do what they do.</p> <p>The 54th annual conference of the Animal Behavior Society, will be hosted June 12 to 16 by Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong> and Professor <strong>Andrew Mason</strong> of the department of biological sciences.</p> <p>“Our larger goal is to put U of T Scarborough&nbsp;on the map for animal behaviour,” says Andrade.</p> <p>The breadth of high-profile researchers attending and presenting at the conference has attracted significant media attention from science journalists. The Discovery Channel will be on campus all week doing interviews, among other TV and radio outlets.</p> <p>The Animal Behavior Society has ensured that students will also get the rare opportunity to hear from world-class scientists, offering a reduced registration fee to graduate students and a special program for undergraduates.</p> <p>About 60 elementary school students are invited to the “Adventures in Animal Behaviour” outreach fair on Monday, and there are 100 tickets to the <a href="https://utsc.library.utoronto.ca/animal-behaviour-society-film-festival-utsc">animal behaviour film festival</a> on Tuesday evening reserved for students and the public (priced at just $5).</p> <p>The Animal Behavior Society, founded in 1964, promotes the study of animal behaviour in the broadest sense. Members’ research areas span the invertebrates and vertebrates, both in the field and the lab, and include experimental psychology, behavioral ecology, neuroscience, zoology, biology, applied ethology, human ethology as well as many other specialized areas.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 09 Jun 2017 20:48:15 +0000 ullahnor 108270 at Meet U of T Scarborough's new vice-dean, faculty affairs & equity /news/meet-u-t-scarborough-s-new-vice-dean-faculty-affairs-equity <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Meet U of T Scarborough's new vice-dean, faculty affairs &amp; equity</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-andrade.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fVQQ3LoW 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-13-andrade.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YDzF5rUw 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-13-andrade.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=tZf3r-JY 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-andrade.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fVQQ3LoW" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-16T16:30:12-05:00" title="Monday, January 16, 2017 - 16:30" class="datetime">Mon, 01/16/2017 - 16:30</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/equity" hreflang="en">Equity</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/diversity" hreflang="en">Diversity</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/spiders" hreflang="en">Spiders</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Maydianne Andrade is known for her research on the mating habits of cannibalistic spiders</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong> is meticulous in her research on the mating habits of cannibalistic spiders. Like any renowned scientist, she lets the data do the talking.</p> <p>In her new role as U of T Scarborough's vice-dean, faculty affairs &amp; equity, she plans on doing much of the same. Her plan is to take a data driven approach to figuring out ways U of T Scarborough&nbsp;can do a better job in hiring, developing and promoting its faculty while also ensuring these processes maximize transparency and minimize the unintended effects of <a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/vpdean/unconscious-bias">unconscious bias</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Andrade, who began her new role on Jan.&nbsp;1&nbsp;spoke to U of T's <strong>Don Campbell</strong> about being a black woman in academia, her priorities, and what she’s looking forward to most in the new position.&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="/news/gender-equity-university-toronto">Read about U of T's efforts on gender and racial equity</a></h3> <hr> <p><strong>You’ve already had a distinguished career as a researcher, but what attracted you to this role in particular?</strong></p> <p>From the first day I walked into my office as a new faculty member, being a black woman in this position meant I was unusual.</p> <p>I was asked many times to give talks about being a woman and visible minority in academia, as well as about equity and diversity. I always said no because I felt it wasn’t in my area of expertise. As I advanced in my career that changed, especially after becoming a Canada Research Chair. It became clear to me that although people are trying to change things for the better, change is happening very slowly, if at all. I became very interested in the literature on challenges to equity and representation.&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="/news/when-choosing-mate-literally-yes-literally-matter-life-and-death">Read about her research</a></h3> <p>From reading the literature I was surprised at the magnitude of the effect of unconscious bias&nbsp;on our ability to judge each other fairly. I had heard about bias before, but usually in a descriptive way and with a focus on the individual experiences of those who are directly affected. It is important to understand this perspective, but I think it’s important for people to also understand that the overall effect is measurable, serious&nbsp;and can have a significant effect on how our institutions function.</p> <p>About six years ago, I started saying yes and began giving talks about just how strong these effects are, and how they can manifest in our everyday working lives. I have found people surprisingly receptive. It’s like bias was the elephant in the room. Once it’s named – and it’s clear that we all have biases – the focus can shift to one that is proactive and positive.</p> <h3><a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/vpdean/unconscious-bias">Hear her talk about unconscious bias</a></h3> <p><strong>What will this new role entail?</strong></p> <p>I will be helping with the mechanistic aspects of faculty hiring and promotion. This will include overseeing procedural aspects of faculty searches, appointments, tenure and promotion&nbsp;but also providing tools that will help with these processes. The more innovative side is fostering development opportunities for our faculty. This will start with recruitment – working to broaden our applicant pools, making&nbsp;it clear why UTSC is a fantastic place to be&nbsp;and ensuring that people have the right mentorship and support once they are here. Much of this will need to be data-driven&nbsp;so I will need to get a complete picture of our faculty, the challenges and aspirations they have and what barriers they may face in career advancement.</p> <p>The role also supports UTSC’s aspiration to increase the diversity of people working here&nbsp;and making sure there’s a climate that they are happy to work in and where they will flourish. Achieving this will require taking some lessons from the literature on unconscious bias and ensuring our search and promotion procedures are fair and equitable.</p> <p>Even though we tend to focus on race and gender, clearly there is a wider range of diversity that we wish to have represented here. Unfortunately, there may be a similar diversity of unrecognized biases that cannot be anticipated. The key then is to ensure fair, transparent processes&nbsp;and that everyone understands that this goal is at the heart of the procedures we follow.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>What will be your first priorities? &nbsp;</strong></p> <p>First of all, I hope to develop pragmatic tools that will help departments&nbsp;in a discipline-specific way&nbsp;to increase the diversity of applicants they are considering. I will also provide the information needed to make it easier to hold a transparent search that avoids unintended biases.</p> <p>Second, I really want to tackle mentorship and support for all faculty who are already here.</p> <p>There is considerable data showing that mentorship can increase career satisfaction, productivity, and progress. While most departments at UTSC have some sort of mentorship policy, all may not be effective. On top of that, Professor <strong>Myrna Simpson</strong>&nbsp;proposed an idea that I really like and that is creating a cross-discipline mentorship network. Sometimes, someone from another department at a slightly more advanced career stage can offer great advice. This effort will start by inviting faculty to tell me what they think would be most effective&nbsp;and working from there.</p> <p><strong>What are you most looking forward to in this role?</strong></p> <p>I think the potential to make real and positive change. I’m really looking forward to meeting with different departments&nbsp;and getting to know their cultures. I want to visit them as soon as possible now that the new term has started. I need to know about their plans, their expectations and challenges.</p> <p>Although I know UTSC and the larger university culture very well, I do feel like I exist in a bubble in terms of research and teaching aspirations. I spend a lot of time with my students and we all like spiders (laughs), or I spend a lot of time with other biologists, who are also a unique lot (laughs again). It will no doubt be a learning experience. I don’t expect to get it right all the time right away, but I promise to learn from the process and from those I meet. I’m looking forward to making connections&nbsp;and seeing how I can shape structures that will help.</p> <p><strong>There have been notable examples recently of misogyny, racism, and homophobia in North America. There’s also been a bit of a mainstream backlash against the perceived overreach of political correctness. How do you view your role given the current climate?</strong></p> <p>I would say that is part of the reason I was interested in the role. I think giving prominence to equity is important in the current climate.&nbsp; In academia, we really do live in a bubble, but even within this bubble, there are challenges to equity coming from a variety of directions.</p> <p>I think we need to emphasize fairness, particularly at a time when more people are finding it easier to say they don’t support fairness in society. Certain people have been open about saying certain groups can and should be excluded from being treated fairly. We need to be equally firm in asserting our core values. I use bullying as an example. Now it’s widely regarded as abhorrent&nbsp;and rightly so. But when I was younger, bullies were common at school and hardly spoken about negatively. In one generation it has become totally unacceptable.</p> <p>Unfortunately, that goes both ways. If we don’t find some way to adjust the conversation, I’m afraid the ugliness we’re seeing now will only get worse.</p> <p><strong>What do like most about working at the university?</strong></p> <p>Since I started here it’s the only place I’ve ever wanted to be. The university is an amazing place.</p> <p>The students at UTSC are spectacular. They’re interested. They come from diverse backgrounds, are respectful of others, and on the whole I feel we’re respectful to them in return, even while challenging them to think about things in new ways. I truly believe we’re a community that is more interested in meeting and talking out differences rather than fighting. I think UTSC can make positive changes, and not just these end points, but the process in getting there can be positive as well.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:30:12 +0000 ullahnor 103268 at How do male black widow spiders find a mate? Competition is "extremely fierce," U of T researcher says /news/how-do-male-black-widow-spiders-find-mate-competition-extremely-fierce-u-t-researcher-says <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">How do male black widow spiders find a mate? Competition is "extremely fierce," U of T researcher says</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/spider_1140.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KOCq3mK8 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/spider_1140.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=motVVPUD 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/spider_1140.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Kf9-zyiy 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/spider_1140.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KOCq3mK8" alt="A black widow spider"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-10-18T10:46:41-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 10:46" class="datetime">Tue, 10/18/2016 - 10:46</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(All photos by Sean McCann)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utsc" hreflang="en">UTSC</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/spiders" hreflang="en">Spiders</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The life of a male black widow spider isn’t easy.</p> <p>Not only do they make perilously long journeys to find a mate – avoiding rival males along the way&nbsp;– but once they find a possible mate, there’s a risk of being eaten alive.</p> <p><img alt="photo of student looking at spider" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2252 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/catherine_scott.jpg" style="width: 332px; height: 453px; float: left; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image">So how do male black widow spiders, without the aid of good sight or hearing, find their mates across great distances? It’s a&nbsp;question that <strong>Catherine Scott</strong>, a PhD candidate in Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong>’s lab at Ƶ Scarborough, intends to answer.</p> <p>“Competition among male black widows is extremely fierce,” she says.</p> <p>“One experiment we ran found that as many as 40 males arrive at a female’s web in just one night. We want to find out how these spiders use chemical cues produced by their rivals to gain a competitive advantage in everything from the timing of their development to their ability to locate a potential mate.”</p> <p>Recent research in Andrade’s lab found that some male black widow spiders can mate with immature females, which may allow them to mate more quickly and more often. But little is known about how males find these females, Scott notes.</p> <p>“There is still so much to learn about these spiders, and fieldwork is crucial for making new discoveries while also supporting or challenging what we know from lab experiments,” she says.&nbsp;</p> <p>In order to successfully complete her research, Scott needs to go back into the field and conduct experiments at the right time of the year. But that's not as simple as it sounds.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s simply not safe to be alone in the field conducting research on black widow spiders at night because they’re venomous,” says Andrade.</p> <p>One solution would be to&nbsp;hire an&nbsp;assistant. The research is being supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant, Andrade says, but since the grant is late in its five-year cycle, there are limited ways to come up with new funds to pay for a research assistant.&nbsp;So she started a&nbsp;<a href="https://experiment.com/projects/performance-enhancing-substances-how-do-male-black-widows-use-chemical-cues-to-gain-a-competitive-advantage">crowd-funding campaign</a>&nbsp;and is looking to the public for support.</p> <p>While the immediate goal of the research is to see how the male spiders use chemical cues to avoid or succeed in competing with rival males, the research&nbsp;could also have important practical applications. The findings could help in developing a pesticide-free way to control black widow spiders, an important outcome since their venom is neurotoxic to humans.</p> <p>Those who contribute to the campaign, which has a $6,000 goal, can follow the project with regular updates and&nbsp;photos from the field, and will see how their contribution is making a difference in the research. The public has already responded strongly – the campaign reached more than 50 per cent of its target in a little more than a week.</p> <p>“This is an exciting new way to get those interested in science to support and become engaged in our work,” says Scott.&nbsp;</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/185456728?color=ff3e17&amp;title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen width="640"></iframe></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 18 Oct 2016 14:46:41 +0000 lavende4 101462 at When choosing a mate is literally (yes, literally) a matter of life and death /news/when-choosing-mate-literally-yes-literally-matter-life-and-death <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">When choosing a mate is literally (yes, literally) a matter of life and death</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-02-13T04:43:03-05:00" title="Friday, February 13, 2015 - 04:43" class="datetime">Fri, 02/13/2015 - 04:43</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"> "In a species where there is no risk from sexual cannibalism, males are not choosy." says PhD student Luciana Baruffaldi (all photos by Ken Jones)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/valentine-s" hreflang="en">Valentine's</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utsc" hreflang="en">UTSC</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Research shows male black widow spiders can smell hunger of females</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Forget worrying about a sense of humour or an attractive personality. For male black widow spiders, finding an appropriate mate may come down to avoiding being eaten alive.&nbsp;</p> <p>New research by PhD student <strong>Luciana Baruffaldi</strong> and Professor <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong> of the Ƶ Scarborough’s department of biological sciences shows&nbsp;the reason male black widow spiders prefer well-fed female mates may be to avoid the risk of sexual cannibalism.</p> <p>The research, which was supported by an NSERC Discovery Grant, will be published in the upcoming edition of the journal <em>Animal Behaviour</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;is already making headlines around the world. (<a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150213-male-black-widows-spot-cannibals">Read the BBC coverage</a>.)</p> <p>“We knew male black widow spiders seek out well-fed females in nature, but we didn’t know if it was because they were looking for better quality mates or if it was to avoid being eaten,” said&nbsp;Andrade. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="photo of two spiders" src="/sites/default/files/2015-02-13-black-widow-and-friend.jpg" style="width: 276px; height: 345px; margin: 10px; float: left;">To test the theory Baruffaldi and Andrade compared the response of males to female sex pheromones in two closely related species; the western black widow and the Australian redback. The two species provide an ideal comparison because they share similar reproductive behaviours except for some key differences. Even if female redbacks are hungry they will not eat males until after they’ve mated. In fact, male redbacks are complicit and do nothing to avoid being eaten because it does not prevent them from fathering offspring.&nbsp;</p> <p>This is not the case for male black widow spiders who will avoid hungry females because the females’ need to feed will trump any urge to mate.&nbsp;</p> <p>“We found that male black widow spiders had a very strong sexual response to pheromones from well-fed females, but basically ignored pheromones from hungry females. On the other hand, redback males reacted strongly to both types of females,” said&nbsp;Baruffaldi.&nbsp;</p> <p>“This tells us that in a species where there is no risk from sexual cannibalism, males are not choosy.”&nbsp;</p> <p>The laboratory study extracted sex pheromones – chemical signals or ‘perfume’ produced by females – located in their silk to test male responses. They were able to determine pheromones contain information that males could use to tell whether a female has eaten recently or not – but only male black widows, under the threat of cannibalism, make use of this important information.&nbsp;</p> <p>(<a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/picky-male-black-widow-spiders-prefer-well-fed-virgins">Read more about Andrade's research</a>.)</p> <p><em>Don Campbell is a writer with the Ƶ Scarborough.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-02-13-black-widow-solo.jpg</div> </div> Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:43:03 +0000 sgupta 6792 at Picky male black widow spiders prefer well-fed virgins /news/picky-male-black-widow-spiders-prefer-well-fed-virgins <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Picky male black widow spiders prefer well-fed virgins</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2014-04-22T08:10:59-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - 08:10" class="datetime">Tue, 04/22/2014 - 08:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(all photos by Ken Jones)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/maydianne-andrade" hreflang="en">Maydianne Andrade</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/science" hreflang="en">Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utsc" hreflang="en">UTSC</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>New Ƶ Scarborough research shows that male black widow spiders prefer their female mates to be well-fed virgins – a rare example of mate preference by male spiders.&nbsp;</p> <p>The study, authored by UTSC post-doc <strong>Emily MacLeod</strong> and <strong>Maydianne Andrade</strong>, a professor in UTSC’s Department of Biological Sciences, found in both controlled field studies and the wild that males overwhelmingly chose to mate with well-fed, unmated females. They also found male black widows can tell whether a potential mate is well-fed and unmated by pheromones released by females.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>“This near unanimous preference by males for well-fed mates using only phermonal cues has not been documented in any other spider species,” says MacLeod. “These are not visual or auditory cues they are picking up but smells they are sensing, often from far away.”</p> <p>Macleod says the reason males show a strong preference for females who smell like they’ve eaten a lot is that mating with a fatter female may result in more offspring than with less well-fed females.</p> <p>“Females who have been able to eat a lot and obtain a lot of food resources can transfer those resources into egg production,” says MacLeod. “It’s not just that they are healthier but that they are more fertile because they can produce more egg sacks.”</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2014-04-22-spider-researchers.jpg" style="width: 375px; height: 250px; margin: 10px; float: right;">Another reason for male choice may be a simple matter of survival.</p> <p>“It’s important to remember that when a female eats a lot of prey, she’s less likely to eat a potential mate,” says Andrade (pictured at right with MacLeod).</p> <p>The study focused on Latrodectus Hesperus, a species of black widow native to western North America including parts of Canada. These black widows are not generally cannibalistic but males are much smaller than females, meaning if a female is hungry her drive to feed will be greater than her drive to reproduce.</p> <p>“If you have this little food item dancing on a web you may as well eat it if you don’t have energy to produce eggs,” adds MacLeod.</p> <p>The existence of male choice in nature is unusual because of the costs associated with being picky. In a lab environment male spiders can afford to be choosey, but in nature there are risks in spending time, energy and resources finding a mate, says Andrade.</p> <p>The study also shows there may be more involved to mating preference than a mere matter of what’s available. “It shows that males aren’t just promiscuous sperm packages, in fact they can go to great lengths to exercise choice in a mate,” says MacLeod.&nbsp;</p> <p>The research, which received funding through an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS), is published in the journal Animal Behaviour.</p> <p><em>Don Campbell is a writer with the Ƶ Scarborough.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2014-04-22-black-widow.jpg</div> </div> Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:10:59 +0000 sgupta 6059 at