Dani submitted her Honours thesis on 8 June 2026 … Dani’s nights searching for spiders on difficult terrain – often in the rain – are over and she was rewarded with a First Class Honours grade!
Life on the water’s edge: ecology and courtship in the fishing spider Dolomedes facetus
Abstract: Animal behaviour is influenced by ecological pressures, population structure, and mating dynamics. In particular, habitat structure and population dynamics impact predator-prey interactions, as well as population distribution and mate access. Due to their abundance across most ecosystem types, spiders are model organisms for studying the impacts of ecological change on microhabitat preference, population dynamics, and reproductive behaviours. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to global research efforts on Dolomedes sp. by exploring the ecology, population dynamics and reproductive behaviours of an Australian fishing spider, Dolomedes facetus. Despite their global distribution, spiders of the genus Dolomedes are under researched, particularly in Australia where little is known about their ecology and behaviour. This study provides an insight into substrate preference and association to water by collecting D. facetus individuals from seven sites across Melbourne. Simultaneously, field surveys at two different sites (Candlebark Park and Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary (NTWS)), were conducted to analyse population dynamics and distribution. Finally, captive mating trials were conducted to describe male courtship behaviours and the mating system of D. facetus. This study indicates an absence of substrate preference in D. facetus. Furthermore, a predominantly female biased sex ratio was recorded during population surveys, alongside a fairly even distribution around survey sites, except for a few abundant areas. Finally, male courtship behaviour was described and indicates a combination of visual and vibratory signalling is utilised to attract females. This study has provided new data on the ecology, population structure, and courtship behaviour of D. facetus and in doing so has provided a platform for future research.
A transition network plot illustrating the transition from one behaviour to another for all sequences. The direction of the transition is indicated by the arrow, and the probability of the transition is shown along the line. Only behaviours with a mean proportion of time greater than 0.05 and transition probabilities greater than 0.10 are shown.