Nutrient regulation in a predator, the wolf spider Pardosa prativaga

Nutrient balancing is well known in herbivores and omnivores, but has only recently been demonstrated in predators. To test how a predator might regulate nutrients when the prey varies in nutrient composition, we restricted juvenile Pardosa prativaga wolf spiders to diets of one of six fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, prey types varying in lipid:protein composition during their second instar. We collected all fly remnants to estimate food and nutrient intake over each meal. The spiders adjusted their capture rate and nutrient extraction in response to prey mass and nutrient composition irrespective of energy intake. Intake was initially regulated to a constant lipid plus protein mass, but later spiders fed on prey with high proportions of protein increased consumption relative to spiders fed on other prey types. This pattern indicates that the spiders were prepared to overconsume vast amounts of protein to gain more lipids and energy. The spiders also regulated protein after ingestion, and ingested protein was incorporated less efficiently into body tissue when the prey was protein rich. Despite both pre- and postingestive nutrient regulation, the body lipid:protein compositions of the spiders were highly affected by the nutrient compositions of their prey, and growth in carapace length and lean body mass increased with increasing prey protein:lipid ratio. Our results demonstrate that prey nutrient composition affects these predators, but also that the spiders possess behavioural and physiological adaptations that lead to partial compensation for these effects.