Mentor name: Rowan McGinley

Co-mentor(s): Sabrina Amador; Rachel Page; William Wcislo

Location of internship: Gamboa, Isla Barro Colorado y Tupper, Panamá.

Project abstract

Communication allows animals to manipulate the behaviour of other animals – from coordinating social defenses to deceiving prey. Successful communication usually requires transmission of a signal from a signaling animal, through the environment, to an animal that receives the signal. Therefore, the environment may play a significant role in the success and the evolution of animal communication. This project will use wolf spiders (Lycosidae) – which live and communicate in habitats that can vary over space and time – to understand the various ways that the environment can affect communication. Male wolf spiders court females using a combination of signals in different sensory modalities (e.g visual and vibrational signals) that vary from one species to another. It is expected that certain types of signals are better suited for communication under the particular environmental conditions in which these different species are active – some species may be diurnal, while others might be more active at night, and different species may inhabit different microhabitats, such as grass or leaf litter. In addition, anthropogenic disturbances to the environment, such as light and noise pollution, may have different effects on the communication of these different species. Interns working on this project will investigate whether the use and success of particular types of signals is dependent on the signaling environment and will have the opportunity to collect various types of data, from field observations to experiments manipulating the signals and signaling environments of these spiders.

Skills required

Experimental design; data collection in the field and in the lab, including collecting spiders in the field; running behavioral trials; identifying and measuring specimens; and analyzing recordings. Hours are flexible, but a minimum of four days each week will be required, including some hours at night. It is expected that the research is carried out with the intention to publish a manuscript and possibly present the findings at conferences.