Web building of the spider is an investment behavior for prey foraging with genetic constraint.
Individual's decision-making on the web construction depends on diverse environmental variables. This study
investigated web structure of the wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, to compare individual's behaviors in dry field and
in wet field. We measured 35 web structures in dry field (Chunma-San, Incheon) showing relatively low humidity
(46.4%) and luxuriant herbage, and 13 web structures in the wet rice field (73.9%; Taean-Gun, Chungnam).
Comparing to the wet field the individuals in the dry field invested significantly more silk: 32.5±12.8 number of
silk spirals used in the dry field vs. 16.9±5.4 in the wet field. The web area of the dry field was greater than that
of the wet field: 976±643cm2 vs. 532±254cm2. The web height, distance between the ground and the center of the
web, appeared higher in the dry field than in the wet field: 71.4±39.6cm vs. 49.6±31.2cm. Also the web constructed
in the dry field showed longer stabilimentum than the web of the wet field: 18.8±3.4cm vs. 3.9±3.2cm. The
perpendicular inclination and the inclination to East-West of the web showed no difference between the two fields.
This study suggests that adult females of A. bruennichi could modulate its construction behavior depending on the
micro-habitat factors.
Keywords : Construction Behavior, Micro-Habitat, Argiope bruennichi