FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF THE HAWAIIAN HAPPY FACE SPIDER (ARANEAE, THERIDIIDAE)

The Hawaiian happy face spider, Theridion grallator Simon, builds a fl imsy web on the undersides of leaves. We compared the foraging behavio r of T. grallator on three plant species (Broussaisia arguta, Clermont ia arborescens, and Hedychium sp.) that differed in number of associat ed arthropods, leaf area, and web area of the associated spiders. Spec ifically, we tested whether spiders exhibited specialization on partic ular prey, greater site tenacity on webs of larger area, greater site tenacity in microhabitats of locally abundant and predictable prey, an d foraging activity beyond the confines of the web. We found no eviden ce of prey specialization or association of web-site tenacity with web area or locally abundant prey. Unexpectedly, web-site tenacity was re lated negatively to prey capture. The results supported the hypothesis that T. grallator freely forages away from the immediate web, and ind ividual spiders frequently move to a new leaf to capture insects. We s uggest that T. grallator may be capable of locating and capturing prey on a leaf other than its leaf of residence.