The effects of food availability on reproductive success in a false widow spider

All animals require food to survive, grow, reproduce, and thus optimize fitness in nature. Food availability can profoundly affect demographic parameters such as longevity and fecundity. Here, we compared reproductive parameters in the false widow spider, Steatoda grossa (Araneae, Theridiidae), when the availability and size of prey (the house cricket, Acheta domesticus) were manipulated. Adult mated female spiders that were fed weekly (constant prey treatment) produced more progeny during their lifetime than females fed every 3 weeks (intermittent prey treatment). Furthermore, the monitoring of fecundity schedules showed that over the first 10 egg sacs, the mean number of neonate spiderlings per egg sac was around 40% higher in constantly fed than intermittently fed spiders. Time intervals between egg sac productions were generally higher when prey availability was lower. Some females lost more than 50% of their body mass after the production of the first egg sac, although reprodu..., This study aims to investigate the effects of food availability on reproductive success. The experiment was divided into two parts: a lifetime experiment, which investigates a long-term effect on the quantity of viable offspring, reproductive intervals, and female body mass changes, and a three-month experiment with more divided treatments, which explains the details of the reproductive performance from the first 3 egg sacs. We titled these two experiments “long-term experiment” and “short-term experiment” respectively.
In the long-term experiment, adult females were fed one cricket per week before they were mated according to the protocol described in the Animal collection and rearing section. Following mating, they were divided into two feeding groups: 1) Intermitted feeding (n = 36), where spiders received one cricket every 3 weeks, and 2) Constant feeding (n = 57), where spiders received one cricket every 2-3 days. Crickets for feeding weighed between 150 and 200 mg. We recorded the..., , # The effects of food availability on reproductive success in a false widow spider

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4gf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4gf)

## Description of the data and file structure

#### Column Heading Discriptors for **final_dataset_s**heet 1 (short term):         

fe         # unique identifier of the females

treatment         # food treatments, these values refer to the approximate body mass of crickets we provided per week, 5mg, 30mg, 60mg, 120mg, and 240mg

weight on 25/4            #  female body mass on the day we started different food treatments, unit = mg

weight on 15/6            #  female body mass after 51 days, unit = mg

weight on 20/7            #  female body mass around a week after mating, unit = mg

mate_day        #  the day for mating

courtship_duration      #  the duration for the male to perform courtship behavior, unit = mins

cannibal           #  if females did cannibalise the male within 24 hours after mating, 1 refers to...,

# 食物可获得性对假寡妇蜘蛛（Steatoda grossa，蜘蛛目Araneae，球蛛科Theridiidae）繁殖成功率的影响
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4gf

所有动物均需摄取食物以维持生存、生长与繁殖，进而优化其自然适应度。食物可获得性会对寿命、繁殖力等种群统计参数产生显著影响。本研究通过操控猎物（家蟋蟀Acheta domesticus）的可获得性与体型大小，比较了假寡妇蜘蛛的繁殖相关参数。
与每3周投喂1次的雌性（间断投喂组）相比，每周投喂1次的交配成年雌性蜘蛛（持续投喂组）终生可产生更多后代。此外，对繁殖力动态的监测显示，在前10个卵囊中，持续投喂组每个卵囊的新生幼蛛平均数量比间断投喂组高出约40%。当猎物可获得性较低时，卵囊生产的时间间隔普遍更长。部分雌性在产下首个卵囊后体重流失超过50%，尽管繁殖……

本研究旨在探究食物可获得性对繁殖成功率的影响。实验分为两部分：其一为终生实验，用于评估食物可获得性对可育后代数量、繁殖间隔以及雌性体重变化的长期效应；其二为为期3个月的细分处理实验，用以阐明前3个卵囊的繁殖表现细节。本研究将两项实验分别命名为“长期实验”与“短期实验”。

在长期实验中，成年雌性蜘蛛在交配前按照“动物采集与饲养”章节所述的实验方案，每周投喂1只蟋蟀。交配完成后，将其分为两个投喂组：1）间断投喂组（n=36）：每3周投喂1只蟋蟀；2）持续投喂组（n=57）：每2~3天投喂1只蟋蟀。投喂所用蟋蟀的体重介于150~200 mg之间。本研究记录了……

## 数据与文件结构说明
### 短期实验数据集（final_dataset_sheet 1）的列标题说明：
fe：雌性个体唯一标识符
treatment：食物处理组，该参数对应每周投喂蟋蟀的近似体重，分别为5mg、30mg、60mg、120mg与240mg
weight on 25/4：开始不同食物处理当日的雌性体重，单位：mg
weight on 15/6：51天后的雌性体重，单位：mg
weight on 20/7：交配后约1周的雌性体重，单位：mg
mate_day：交配日期
courtship_duration：雄性求偶行为持续时长，单位：分钟
cannibal：记录雌性是否在交配后24小时内同类相食雄性个体，1代表……