Relationship of web characteristics and body measures of Leucauge decorata (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)

Present study was conducted to investigate the relationships between web characteristics and body measures of leucauge decorata (araneae: tetragnathidae). for this purpose a rice field (800 m2) in village kirka located in lahore district was selected. the data of spider's webs and prey was collected in september 2007 and 2008. most of the l. decorata constructed inclined webs at the height that ranged from 40 cm to 123 cm above ground. spiders recorded from the higher webs (81-120 cm) were larger and heavier than the spiders recorded from the lower webs (40-80 cm). time required to complete a web was 1.00 ± 0.21 hour. the average diameter of the web was 25 ± 6.8 cm. principal component analysis (pca) did not separate the collected spiders on the basis of capture area (web character) and carapace width (body measure). most of the prey items recorded from the webs belonged to diptera,homoptera and lepidoptera. prey types and their number collected from the webs of different heights varied significantly. capture area of l. decorata web showed a positive correlation with carapace width and body weight. web characteristics (i.e.,number of radii,number of spirals and mesh height) were not correlated with any of the body measures (i.e.,carapace width,total length and wet weight). for prey capture l. decorata construct webs of different sizes and at different heights but always maintain the basic web architecture (i.e.,number of radii,number of spirals and mesh height). copyright 2010 zoological society of pakistan.