Project Details
Description
Invasive species can cause great damage to humans and the environment. To reduce these negative effects, it is important to understand what are the secrets of their success? We suggest that interactions with parasites may play an important role in species’ ability to invade. We propose to investigate the interaction between the potentially dangerous brown widow spider, which has invaded regions worldwide, and a parasitic wasp that attacks and develops inside the spider’s egg sacs. We suggest that the ability of this spider to defend its eggs from the wasp, by producing spike-like silk structures on the surface of its egg sac, has given it an advantage over other spider species that do not have such defenses, thereby promoting its invasion. To address this hypothesis, we will compare Wasp's success in attacking the spikey egg sacs with that of the smooth ones of other widow spiders. We will further test whether the removal of the spikes makes it easier for the wasp to attack the brown widow spider’s egg sac, and whether the spider produces more and longer spikes following exposure to the parasitoid. This would suggest that the spikes do indeed provide protection from parasitism, giving this spider an advantage over native spider species throughout the invasive range. Using genetic tools, we will detennine whether the parasitoid invaded along with this spider and, subsequently, negatively affected native species. The results will promote our understanding of species invasions and help develop means to control the spread of this invasive spider.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 1/01/21 → 31/12/23 |
Links | https://www.bsf.org.il/search-grant/ |
Funding
- United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)