Keiser, Carl N
(2016)
GROUP COMPOSITION IN SOCIAL SPIDERS: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR, KEYSTONE INDIVIDUALS, AND BACTERIAL TRANSMISSION DYNAMICS.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
The global success of animal societies is due, in part, on the ability of groups of animals to perform collective behaviors that would be unachievable by a single individual. One major determinant of collective behavior is the composition of different types of individuals within the group. For example, individuals often differ consistently in their behavioral traits and the tasks in which they participate, and a group’s composition of individuals expressing different behavioral phenotypes (i.e., “personalities”) can be a fundamental driver of collective behaviors. Though, the same compositions that excel in one aspect of collective behavior may also incur costs in other, opposing patterns of social interactions. Here, I use the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola to test how group personality composition explains patterns of collective behaviors, social interactions, and bacterial transmission. Stegodyphus dumicola is an African social spider that lives in colonies of several dozen to many hundreds of individuals whose collective behaviors are determined by the composition of “bold” and “shy” spiders present in the colony. I found that group personality composition is a more important predictor of the execution of collective behaviors than more conspicuous colony traits like group size. Then, using social network analyses I found that colony contact networks are disassortive, where individuals preferentially interact with others of opposing personality types. Using experimental exposures to a fluorescence-transformed cuticular bacterium (Pantoea sp.), I found that horizontal bacterial transmission is predominantly directional, occurring more so from “bolder” to “shyer” spiders. Thus, it could be reasoned that animal groups containing diverse personality types may experience augmented success during collective tasks, but may also incur costs in the context of horizontal bacterial transmission. Taken together, it appears that personality compositions may impose constraints on the social organization of animal societies.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
30 September 2016 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
18 April 2016 |
| Approval Date: |
30 September 2016 |
| Submission Date: |
23 June 2016 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
123 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Biological Sciences |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Bacterial transmission
Collective behavior
Social spider
Stegodyphus dumicola |
| Date Deposited: |
30 Sep 2016 14:59 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 14:33 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28354 |
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