Data from: Mate choice as a third context in which a mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues
Data files
Oct 31, 2025 version files 60.94 KB
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Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx
54.14 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
For animals living in a noisy world, the volume of potentially relevant information exceeds attentional capacity, but relying on the same cue in multiple contexts might be a solution to this problem. This solution has been suggested by findings from research on Evarcha culicivora, a mosquito-specialist jumping spider in which both sexes rely on red-coloured cues in the context of identifying blood-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes as preferred prey. In a second context, males also attend to the red-coloured faces of other males that are displayed in male-male interactions. Here, as a third context, we present evidence that the presence of a male’s red face is also used as a mate-choice cue for females. In a Y-shaped arena, we gave females the choice between two size-matched stationary male specimens enclosed in glass vials. With colour as the only variable, significantly fewer females chose (i.e., approached and tapped) the vials that housed males with their red facial coloration concealed by application of black liquid eyeliner when the alternative was sham-treated males that had their red facial coloration intact. Our findings suggest that, for E. culicivora, relying on the same colour in three different contexts may function as a way to minimize attentional load.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vx
GENERAL INFORMATION
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Title of Dataset: Mate choice as a third context in which a mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues
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Author contact information
A. Name: Lisa A Taylor
Institution: University of Florida
Email: lisa.taylor@ufl.edu, lisa.anne.taylor@gmail.comB. Name: Fiona Cross
Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Email: fiona.r.cross@gmail.comC. Name: Robert R Jackson
Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Email: robert.jackson@canterbury.ac.nz
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
This dataset contains a single Excel file only, entitled “Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx”.
METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
For all methodological details of data collection and funding sources see the following manuscript:
Taylor LA, Cross F, Jackson RR. Mate choice as a third context in which a mosquito-specialist jumping spider attends to red-coloured cues. Royal Society Open Science.
The data contained in this dataset can be used to replicate all analyses that are detailed in the above manuscript.
Note that the data included here are those used to generate Figure 2 (Methods) and Figure 3 (Results and Discussion).
Files and variables
File: Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
The Excel file (“Evarcha_red_face_mate_choice_DRYAD_data_ALL.xlsx”) contains the following 2 sheets.
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Fig 2 - Face color manip data. These data show the spectral properties of our experimental color manipulation as well as data on the color of blood-carrying mosquitoes and the spiders' natural black underlying cuticle of the face. This sheet contains mean spectral reflectance data (% reflectance from 350-700 nanometers (nm)) for (1) the natural red face of male Evarcha culicivora, (2) the face of male Evarcha culicivora after having been experimentally concealed with black liquid eyeliner, and (3) the red abdomens of blood-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes between 0 and 6 hours after feeding on blood, and (4) the spiders' natural underlying black cuticle. The face data (columns B and C) were collected as part of our previous study that used similar color manipulation methods (Cross, Jackson, and Taylor (2020), reused with permission from Springer Nature), where we provided additional details of the spectrophotometer and methods used to collect these data. The mosquito data (column D) were collected as part of another previous study (Taylor et. al 2022). We include it here simply to show how the redness of males' faces compares to the redness of these spiders' preferred prey. Again, additional details of the spectrophotometer and methods used to collect these data are included in the manuscript. The spectral data for the spiders' underlying black cuticle (columns E-J) is provided for reference so that readers can see how the underlying black cuticle compares to the black eyeliner used to conceal the red face (and follows the same methods of collection as reported in Cross et al. 2020).
Cross FR, Jackson RR. Taylor LA. (2020). Influence of seeing a red face during the male–male encounters of mosquito-specialist spiders. Learning & behavior 48: 104-112
Taylor L, Cross F, Jackson R. (2022). Blood-red colour as a prey-choice cue for mosquito specialist predators. Animal Behaviour 188: 85-97
Variables
The specific variables in the spreadsheet are as follows:
- column A: wavelength (nm): This is the wavelength in nanometers that corresponds to each reflectance value in columns B-C.
- column B: natural red face (% reflectance, mean) (data from Cross et al. 2020). This is the mean reflectance value (% reflectance relative to a white standard) of natural (unmanipulated males) with their red coloration intact. Additional details are provided in the accompnaying manuscript and in Cross et al. 2020.
- column C: red face concealed with black eyeliner (% reflectance, mean) (data from Cross et al. 2020). This is the mean reflectance value (% reflectance relative to a white standard) of color manipulated males that illustrates how our color manipulation affected male color by covering up the red. Additional details are provided in the accompnaying manuscript and in Cross et al. 2020.
- column D: blood-carrying mosquito between 0 and 6 hours after feeding on blood (data from Taylor et al. 2022). These data are for illustrative purposes only to show how the natural red face of the males in our study compares to the red of this species' preferred prey (blood-carrying mosquitoes). These data are the mean reflectance values (% reflectance relative to a white standard) of mosquitoes between 0 and 6 hours after feeding on blood. The data are from our previous study on the coloration of these mosquitoes; additional details are provided in that manuscript (Taylor et al. 2022).
- columns E-J: five individual measures of the spiders' natural underlying black cuticle (E-I) and the mean value (column J) (% reflectance relative to a white standard).
- Fig 3 - mate choice data. This sheet contains the results of choice tests where female test spiders (Evarcha culicivora) chose between conspecific male mounts that either had their red facial coloration intact ("red-intact" treatment group) or that had their red facial coloration concealed with black liquid eyeliner ("red-concealed" treatment group).
- The heading of column A is "Trial ID (arbitrary number)" - this is simply an arbitrary ID number - its value has no meaning.
- Column B is titled, "treatment group of male chosen". This indicates whether the test female chose the red-intact or red-concealed male. If the trial was unsuccessful (following the criteria described in the manuscript text) it says "trial unsuccessful".
Code/software
None needed
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- The complete dataset included here is not available anywhere else.
A subset of the data was derived from the following sources (as described in detail under the "files and variables" section):
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Cross FR, Jackson RR. Taylor LA. (2020). Influence of seeing a red face during the male–male encounters of mosquito-specialist spiders. Learning & behavior 48: 104-112
Taylor L, Cross F, Jackson R. (2022). Blood-red colour as a prey-choice cue for mosquito specialist predators. Animal Behaviour 188: 85-97