I am broadly interested in the ecological and evolutionary consequences of consistent between-individual behavioral variation. Specifically, I want to assess how differences in population averages of individual personality traits can potentially alter evolutionary trajectories. I plan to tackle this question using genetically isolated populations of the black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) along the pacific coast. Populations of the western black widow display varying levels of sociality, from complete solitary living to facultative group living and even refuge sharing of several adult and subadult females. Each population also experiences distinct ecological conditions as they inhabit variable, unique habitats. Therefore, it is possible for these unique ecological conditions to select for different behavioral trait optima. My goal is a holistic understanding of population evolutionary dynamics and social evolution driven by behavioral differences. The evolutionary framework for my work is an updated phylogenetic model for population-level diversity in L. hesperus, currently in preparation in our lab. I propose to sample populations from California through British Columbia, including the population at Hastings reserve, for which previous lab members have collected 8 years of population distribution and reproductive behavior. At Hastings, I propose to map the webs of adult females in the fields previously identified, noting web dimensions, female size, evidence for web overlap, or social contact between spiders. I will then conduct field tests for ecologically relevant personality traits in a randomly chosen subset of free-living spiders. This will include dispersal propensity, and replicated tests of boldness and voracity. Finally, tested females will be collected in the field and returned to our invertebrate rearing facility at the University of Toronto where I will conduct additional behavioral tests, and initiate a laboratory population that will allow examination of inter-generational correlates of behavioral tendencies and field estimates of fitness.

Approved