Optimal foraging or predator avoidance: why does the Amazon spider Hingstepeira folisecens (Araneae: Araneidae) adopt alternative foraging behaviors?

ABSTRACT Strategies that increase foraging efficiency may also increase predation risk. We investigated how individuals of Hingstepeira folisecens Hingston, 1932, which build shelters at the orb hub, modulate their foraging behaviors in response to the trade-off between capturing prey and becoming exposed by leaving their shelters. We evaluated whether the position of the prey on the web alters the frequency at which spiders leave their shelters. Hingstepeira folisecens spiders were more likely to capture prey positioned below than above the entrance of the shelter. Moreover, when the prey was...