Data from: Rapid nectar-meal effects on a predator’s capacity to kill mosquitoes

Using Evarcha culicivora, an East African jumping spider (Salticidae), we investigate how nectar meals function in concert with predation specifically at the juvenile stage between emerging from the egg sac and the first encounter with prey. Using plants and using artificial nectar consisting of sugar alone or sugar plus amino acids, we show that the plant species (Lantana camara, Ricinus communis, Parthenium hysterophorus), the particular sugars in the artificial nectar (sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose), the concentration of sugar (20%, 5%, 1%) and the duration of pre-feeding fasts (3 days, 6 days) influence the spider's prey-capture proficiency on the next day after the nectar meal. However, there were no significant effects of amino acids. Our findings suggest that benefits from nectar feeding are derived primarily from access to particular sugars, with fructose and sucrose being the most beneficial, glucose being intermediate and maltose being no better than a water-only control.本研究以东非跳蛛科（Salticidae）的*Evarcha culicivora*为实验对象，探究其在从卵囊孵化至首次遭遇猎物的幼蛛阶段，花蜜取食与捕食作用的协同效应。本研究分别采用天然植物以及仅含糖类或糖类添加氨基酸的人工花蜜开展实验，结果表明：植物种类（马缨丹*Lantana camara*、蓖麻*Ricinus communis*、银胶菊*Parthenium hysterophorus*）、人工花蜜中的特定糖类（蔗糖、果糖、葡萄糖、麦芽糖）、糖浓度（20%、5%、1%）以及取食前的禁食时长（3天、6天），均会对蜘蛛在取食花蜜次日的猎物捕获效能产生显著影响。然而，氨基酸的添加并未产生显著作用。本研究结果显示，取食花蜜所带来的益处主要源于摄入特定糖类，其中果糖与蔗糖的增益效果最为显著，葡萄糖处于中等水平，而麦芽糖的效果并不优于仅喂食水的对照组。