Subject: spiders & Hemileuca - two more thoughts

From: "Mark K. Stowe" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 17:53:04 -0400

After rereading my previous post, a disclaimer seemed in order.  I
unintentionally implied that there is some reason for favoring a web origin
to the alleged attractants, when in fact it is entirely possible that the
attractants are emitted by the body of the spider (as they are in some of
the moth-attracting specialists).  If they are emitted by the spider's
body, a different experimental approach would be desirable.

Another thought I had was to encourage anyone observing this phenomenon to
record the temperature and general weather conditions.  In the case of the
Ophrys orchids, the temperature and weather seems to have an effect on the
ability of the orchids to attract their pollinators, and if this is the
case with the spiders it might be necessary to have this information to get
reproducable results.

Cheers, Mark

Best wishes, Mark

 --------------
Mark Stowe c/o Jon Reiskind
Department of Zoology
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611 USA

E-mail: [email-masked]

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