Master thesis: Male energetic investment in vibratory courtship in response to female feeding condition in the nursery web spider Pisaura mirabilis. 

Communication is essential to interactions both within and between species and relies on the exchange of signals. These signals can be of various modalities, including chemical, visual, acoustic, and seismic, and are often combined into complex and elaborate courtship displays. For example, male birds combine colorful mating plumage (visual) with songs (acoustic) to attract females. Signals can be used by both sexes to assess potential mating partners, as signal production is often associated with costs for the signaling individual. These costs can either be direct, such as an increased predation or parasitism risk, or indirect through a high energetic expenditure during signaling. If courtship is particularly costly, signaling individuals can allocate their courtship investment depending on the potential reproductive benefits, which often relates to the quality of the mating partner.

In my Master’s thesis, I study the nursery web spiderPisaura mirabilis, a species widespread across Europe and commonly found in grasslands, hedges, and forest edges. Adult male P.mirabilis catch prey items and wrap nuptial gifts to present to females before mating. In addition, males produce substrate-borne vibrational signals by tremulating their opisthosoma, and transferring pulses onto the substrate via their legs. 

My research focuses on the energetic investment in the production of these vibrational signals and how males adjust their signaling effort in response to females of different feeding condition. I developed a new experimental setup that combines respirometry and vibrometry techniques. Using this system, I record male tremulation signals in response to female silk and quantify male investment by measuring CO₂ production during active signaling periods.