Stein, LauraGatch, Laura2024-08-012024-08-012024-08-01https://hdl.handle.net/11244/340551Risks of sociality, including competition and conspecific aggression, are particularly pronounced in venomous invertebrates such as arachnids. Spiders show a wide range of sociality, with differing levels of cannibalism and other types of social aggression. To have the greatest chance of surviving interactions with conspecifics, spiders must learn to assess and respond to risk. One of the major ways risk assessment is studied in spiders is via venom metering, in which spiders choose how much venom to use based on prey and predator characteristics. While venom metering in response to prey acquisition and predator defense is well-studied, less is known about its use in conspecific interactions. In Chapter 1, I discuss that due to the wide range of both sociality and venom found in spiders, they are poised to be an excellent system for testing questions regarding whether and how venom use relates to the evolution of social behavior and, in return, whether social behavior influences venom use and evolution. I focus primarily on the widow spiders, Latrodectus, as a strong model for testing these hypotheses, and my hypotheses in Chapter 2. In Chapter 2, I test for the presence of aversion learning, a risk-management tool, in Latrodectus mactans juveniles. Although no aversion learning was evident from the results, there were potential signs of other, nonassociative learning types. The results indicate that aversion learning is not utilized by juvenile L. mactans to reduce the risk of cannibalism in the social environment, leaving the question of how L. mactans maintains sociality while mitigating risk open. Given that successful responses to risk are vital for maintaining sociality, comparative analysis of spider taxa in which venom metering and sociality vary can provide valuable insights into the evolution and maintenance of social behavior under risk.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalBiology, Ecology.ArachnologyBehavior, LearningSociality