Chemical signals during egg-sac care in spiders Pardosa saltans (Lycosidae)
Abstract
In the major part of arthropods, included arachnids, the female limits her progeny cares at the construction of an egg-sac before abandoning it.
But in some species of spiders, the female stay near her egg-sac and take care of it until the young emergence. Pardosa saltans is a wandering
spider who transports her egg-sac attached to her spinnerets and takes care of it throughout the incubation period. The aim of our study is to
identify the effect of the egg-sac developmental status and the contact chemical signals perceived by the mother to start and maintain this
maternal behaviour.