LYCOSID SPIDERS ON ARTIFICIAL FOLIAGE: 
STRATUM CHOICE, ORIENTATION PREFERENCES, 
AND PREY-WRAPPING 1 
By Eric A. Greenquist and Jerome S. Rovner 
Department of Zoology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701 
The majority of lycosid spiders neither spin webs for prey 
capture nor hunt actively, but spend most of their time waiting 
for prey at a resting site (Cragg, 1961; Edgar, 1969). In this regard, 
those lycosids that inhabit the herbaceous stratum resemble the 
aerial web-weaving spiders. As does a web, the foliage substratum 
provides a waiting site, a medium for transmission of vibratory 
stimuli produced by prey, and a surface on which capture is per- 
formed (Rovner and Knost, 1974). In the present study we used 
artificial foliage to examine stratum choice in Lycosa punctulata 
Hentz and L. rabida Walckenaer, which usually are found in the 
herbaceous stratum of fields, and in Schizocosa saltatrix (Hentz) 
and S. crassipes (Walckenaer), which typically are found on the 
leaf litter of forest floors. We also studied body orientation 
preferences shown by individuals of the first three species when 
they rested at an elevated site on the artificial foliage. The sig- 
nificance of a preference for vertical orientation was hypothesized 
with regards to equalizing proprioceptive input, minimizing 
energy expenditure, facilitating prey detection, and improving 
concealment from predators. Finally, we observed post-immo- 
bilization prey-wrapping to determine if this behavior is an 
adaptation for retention of captured prey by spiders dwelling 
in the herbaceous stratum, as hypothesized by Rovner and Knost 
(1974). 
Methods 
Sokal and Rohlf (1969) was the source of all parametric sta- 
tistical analyses. All means are accompanied by their standard 
deviation. 
'This study was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant BMS- 
7101589 to J. S. Rovner. 
Manuscript received by the editor September 27, 1976 
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