Effects of diet and water supply on energy intake and water loss in a mygalomorph spider in a fluctuating environment of the central Andes

The metabolic and water evaporation strategies in spiders may be part of a set of physiological adaptations to tolerate low or unpredictable food availability, buffering spiders against environmental fluctuations such as those of the high mountains of the central Andes. m of this study is to analyze experimentally the variations in metabolic rate and the rate of evaporative water with food and/or water restriction in a high mountain mygalomorph spider population (Paraphysa sp.). nd that the low metabolism of this spider was not affected by water restriction, but its metabolism was depressed after 3 weeks of food deprivation. The spider did not show seasonal metabolic changes but it presented seasonal changes in the rate of evaporative water loss at high temperatures. s with egg sacs reduced their metabolic rate and evaporative water at high temperatures. findings constitute a set of possible adaptations to a highly fluctuating Mediterranean environment, which is completely covered with snow for many months and then progresses rapidly to a very dry climate with high temperatures.