Modality-specific experience with female feedback increases the efficacy of courtship signalling in male wolf spiders

A male displaying to attract a mate faces the problem of effectively communicating through a complex and variable signalling environment. Many solutions to this problem include flexible adjustments of signaller behaviour that result in improved signal transmission, yet the mechanisms underlying these solutions remain unknown. We propose that males can optimize signal transmission by attending to female feedback cues and adjusting their signalling position accordingly. We test this hypothesis with males of the wolf spider Schizocosa rovneri, which court females with seismic signals transmitted through substrates on the forest floor. In response, receptive S. rovneri females perform a slow pivot display, producing visual and seismic cues. We mimic female receptivity using puppets, manipulated remotely, and ask whether males alter their signalling position, in terms of substrate use, with female feedback. We further ask if adjustment depends upon receiving cues in particular sensory modalities. We found that males receiving visual and/or seismic feedback cues from puppet females increased overall signalling effort. However, only males that received seismic feedback cues altered substrate use when subsequently signalling. Ultimately, males optimized their signal transmission by altering their use of signalling substrate in response to seismic female receptivity cues. Our results demonstrate a behavioural mechanism for how males effectively position themselves in the signalling environment: experience with female feedback.

► We tested whether male wolf spiders adjust signalling in response to female feedback cues.
► We mimicked female visual and/or seismic receptivity cues using puppets.
► Males increased overall signalling effort in response to female feedback cues.
► Males altered their use of signalling substrate in response to seismic, but not visual, female receptivity cues.