Importance of hunger and prey type on predatory behavior stages inCorythalia albicincta(Araneae: Salticidae)

Predators often adopt strategies to capture prey that reflect both the characteristics of the prey and their own hunger level. In generalist spiders of the family Salticidae, predatory behavior typically consists of four phases: orientation towards the prey, pursuit, crouching, and jumping to capture. In this study, we conducted laboratory experiments in order to determine whether predatory strategies change according to prey type and hunger level in Corythalia albicincta (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge 1901). We used adult specimens of both sexes to evaluate variation in capture jump distance, time spent on each predatory stage and attack efficiency, in terms of prey capture. Jump distance was greater with prey that can more readily escape (crickets and flies), compared to fly larvae. The duration of both latency and orientation was greater in larval trials than in the cricket and fly trials. Corythalia albicincta spent less time in a crouching position with flies and the total duration of the predation process was shorter with flies than with crickets or larvae. Numbers of failures, defined as the number of failed attacks before a spider captures a prey item in the test, was higher in spiders that had been starved for one day compared to those that had been starved for 7 and 15 days. Predatory strategies were modified according to movement patterns and prey speed, while hunger level affected predation efficiency.