Nesting habits of the Japanese foliage spider, Cheiracanthium japonicum (Araneae: Miturgidae): host plant preference based on the physical traits of plant leaves

Abstract

A Japanese foliage spider, Cheiracanthium japonicum, builds nests with plant leaves. The nests are classified into seven types in relation to the seasons and purposes of nesting. We investigated whether the spider selects a plant species according to the nest type and how the physical traits of leaves influence the spider's plant selection. The difference between the composition of the host plant species used for nesting and that of the seasonal vegetation cover was confirmed. This suggests that the spider chooses the host plant species regardless of its abundance in their habitat. Early juveniles use small living or large dead leaves of various plant species to build moulting nests. Females prefer long and large leaves found in Miscanthus sinensis and Phragmites japonica over other plant leaves to build breeding nests.

Keywords:

• Cheiracanthium japonicum
• Japanese foliage spider
• host preference
• silken nest
• host selection