Data from: The contribution of developmental experience vs. condition to life history, trait variation, and individual differences

Developmental experience, for example food abundance during juvenile stages, is known to affect life history and behaviour. However, the life history and behavioural consequences of developmental experience have rarely been studied in concert. As a result it is still unclear whether developmental experience affects behaviour through changes in life history, or independently of it. The effect of developmental experience on life history and behaviour may also be masked or affected by individual condition during adulthood. Thus, it is critical to tease apart the effects of developmental experience and current individual condition on life history and behaviour. In this study we manipulated food abundance during development in the western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, by rearing spiders on either a restricted or ad lib diet. We separated developmental from condition dependent effects by assaying adult foraging behaviour (tendency to attack prey and to stay on out of the refuge following an attack) and web structure multiple times under different levels of satiation following different developmental treatments. Spiders reared under food restriction matured slower and at a smaller size than spiders reared in ad lib conditions. Spiders reared on a restricted diet were more aggressive towards prey and built webs structured for prey capture while spiders reared on an ad lib diet were less aggressive and build safer webs. Developmental treatment affected which traits were plastic as adults: restricted spiders built safer webs when their adult condition increased, while ad-lib spiders reduced their aggression when their adult condition increased. The amount of individual variation in behaviour and web structure varied with developmental treatment. Spiders reared on a restricted diet exhibited consistent variation in all aspects of foraging behaviour and web structure, while spiders reared on an ad lib diet exhibited consistent individual variation in aggression and web weight only. Developmental experience affected the average life history, behaviour, and web structure of spiders, but also shaped the amount of phenotypic variation observed among individuals. Surprisingly, developmental experience also determined the particular way in which individuals plastically adjusted their behaviour and web structure to changes in adult condition.发育经历（例如幼体阶段的食物丰度）已知会影响生物的生活史与行为表现。然而，目前极少有研究同时探究发育经历对生活史与行为的综合影响。因此，目前仍不清楚发育经历是通过改变生活史来影响行为，还是独立于生活史直接发挥作用。此外，发育经历对生活史与行为的影响，还可能被成年个体的自身状态所掩盖或干扰。因此，厘清发育经历与当前成年个体状态对生活史及行为的各自影响，至关重要。本研究以西黑寡妇蜘蛛（Latrodectus hesperus）为研究对象，通过将幼蛛分别置于食物受限与自由采食（ad lib）的饲养条件下，操控其发育阶段的食物丰度。本研究通过在不同发育处理后，对成年个体在不同饱腹状态下的觅食行为（攻击猎物的倾向、攻击后停留于庇护所外的行为倾向）以及蛛网结构进行多次测定，以此区分发育相关效应与状态依赖效应。相较于自由采食组幼蛛，食物受限组个体的成熟速度更慢，体型也更小。食物受限组个体对猎物的攻击性更强，且结出的蛛网更偏向于猎物捕获型结构；而自由采食组个体攻击性较弱，结出的则是更具保护性的蛛网。发育处理还会影响成年个体的性状可塑性：当成年个体状态提升时，食物受限组个体的蛛网会变得更具保护性；而自由采食组个体的攻击性则会随成年状态提升而下降。不同发育处理下，个体在行为与蛛网结构上的变异程度存在差异。食物受限组个体在觅食行为与蛛网结构的所有维度上均表现出稳定的个体差异；而自由采食组个体仅在攻击性与蛛网重量上存在稳定的个体差异。发育经历不仅会影响蜘蛛的平均生活史、行为与蛛网结构，同时还会塑造种群内个体间的表型变异程度。值得注意的是，发育经历还决定了个体针对成年状态变化进行行为与蛛网结构可塑性调整的具体模式。