Stenophagy (narrow diet breadth) represents an extreme of trophic specialization in carnivores, but little is known about the forces driving its evolution. We used spiders, the most diversified group of terrestrial predators, to investigate whether stenophagy (1) promoted diversification; (2) was phylogenetically conserved and evolutionarily derived state; and (3) was determined either by geographical distribution and foraging guild. We used published data on the prey of almost 600 species. Six categories of stenophagy were found: myrmecophagy, araneophagy, lepidopterophagy, termitophagy, dipterophagy, and crustaceophagy. We found that the species diversity of euryphagous genera and families was similar to stenophagous genera and families. At the family level, stenophagy evolved repeatedly and independently. Within families, the basal condition was oligophagy or euryphagy. Most types of stenophagy were clearly derived: myrmecophagy in Zodariidae; lepidopterophagy in Araneidae; dipterophagy in Theridiidae. In contrast, araneophagy was confined to basal and intermediate lineages, suggesting its ancestral condition. The diet breadth of species from the tropics and subtropics was less diverse than species from the temperate zone. Diet breadth was lower in cursorial spiders compared to web-building species. Thus, the evolution of stenophagy in spiders appears to be complex and governed by phylogeny as well as by ecological determinants.

Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Sciences Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic E mail National Museum of Natural History P O Box 37012 Washington DC 20013 7012Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program University of Akron Akron Ohio 44325 3908

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

Composition and toxicity of venom produced by araneophagous white-tailed spiders (Lamponidae: Lampona sp.)

The World Spider Trait database: a centralized global open repository for curated data on spider traits

The food web in a subterranean ecosystem is driven by intraguild predation

Estimation of trophic niches in myrmecophagous spider predators

High Specific Efficiency of Venom of Two Prey-Specialized Spiders

Prey and Venom Efficacy of Male and Female Wandering Spider, Phoneutria boliviensis (Araneae: Ctenidae)

An updated perspective on spiders as generalist predators in biological control

Capture efficiency and trophic adaptations of a specialist and generalist predator: A comparison

Different hunting strategies of generalist predators result in functional differences

Discovery of a monophagous true predator, a specialist termite-eating spider (Araneae: Ammoxenidae)