Nocturnal spider favors artificial lights

A spider that feeds at night shows an intriguing inborn preference for building its webs near artificial lights.

References:

Heiling, A.M. 1999. Why do nocturnal orb-web spiders (Araneidae) search for light? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 46(June):43.

Further Readings:

Helmuth, L. 1999. Spider solidarity forever. Science News 155(May 8):300.

Photos, species descriptions, and links to spider sites can be found at http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/spidhome.htm and http://www.xs4all.nl/~ronlog/australian/araneidae/araneidae.html.

Sources:

Mark A. Elgar
University of Melbourne
Department of Zoology
Parkville, Victoria 3052
Australia

Astrid M. Heiling
University of Vienna
Institute for Zoology
Althanstrasse 14
A-1090 Vienna
Austria

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 26, June 26, 1999, p. 407. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.

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