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Nadja Geiger

@nadjageiger.bsky.social

PhD Student @sleeblab.bsky.social | University of Bonn | Behavioural Ecology | Conservation | Photo- & Videography | SciCom | gazing at sleepy spiders 🕷️✨🌿 she/her

10 Posts240 Follower168 Folgt
Lauren Sumner-Rooney@laurensr.bsky.social · last mo.

Beyond proud of @atal-pande.bsky.social, whose first PhD chapter is out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social! Atal shows that spiders that use their vision to hunt have convergently evolved similar eye arrangements, which imply lots of resampling of frontal space www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hunting ecology predicts eye arrangements in the modular visual system of spiders

Vision is one of the most important senses used by animals and contributes to fundamental behaviors, including foraging, navigation, and mate detectio…

sciencedirect.com

Springer@springer.springernature.com · last mo.

🌍 An #OpenAccess study in 'Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology' investigates abdomen bobbing in the diurnal jumping spider Heliophanus cf. cupreus, revealing its role as a visual signal during predator and conspecific encounters. bit.ly/4uTZd5f @nadjageiger.bsky.social #BehSci 🪲

Context-dependent abdomen bobbing in a jumping spider: a dynamic visual signal - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Signals function in intra- and inter-specific communication across several different contexts, such as predation, foraging, competition and mate choice. Static signals including shape or color are well-studied, whereas locomotion-related signals remain less understood despite being particularly intriguing as they can be controlled by the animal’s perception of danger or competition. In this study, we explore the potential function of a highly conspicuous dynamic behavior—abdomen bobbing—exhibited by the diurnal jumping spider Heliophanus cf. cupreus during locomotion. Due to the high conspicuousness, we hypothesized that abdomen bobbing could function as a visual signal, specifically as an anti-predatory signal. To test this hypothesis, we first analyzed the behavior and found that bobs occurred almost exclusively during gait stops (98.5%) with 83.5% of gait stops entailing abdomen bobbing. We then examined its context-dependency, measuring the prevalence of abdomen bobbing under five conditions: (1) control, (2) in darkness, (3) during prey encounters, (4) during simulated conspecific encounters (i.e. mirror), and (5) during predator encounters. Abdomen bobbing was virtually absent in darkness and during prey encounters, but significantly increased during conspecific and predator encounters, suggesting active control. The increase in abdomen bobbing when confronted with a predator supports an anti-predatory signaling function, potentially a form of locomotion mimicry. We equally found support for an intra-specific signaling function, which might indicate the co-option of this signal from one context (predatory) to another (conspecific). Our study opens new avenues for investigating the role of motion in spiders for both inter- and intraspecific signaling.

bit.ly

Science Magazine@science.org · 2mo ago

Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation. https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq

How animals sense Earth’s magnetic field is one of biology’s enduring mysteries. Researchers have now identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons (Columba livia) to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation. Photo: Andreas Teichmann/laif/Redux
ISBE2026@isbe2026.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Meet our Plenary Speaker Daniela Rößler Fueled by curiosity and a deep love of natural history Daniela discovered a REM-like sleep state in spiders and uses integrative field, lab and comparative approaches to investigate the function, ecology, and evolution of sleep across the spider tree of life.

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ISBE2026@isbe2026.bsky.social · last yr.

The Local Organizing Commitee welcomes behavioral ecologists from across the world and of all career stages to enjoy a five-day meeting rich in top-notch science and ample networking opportunities in Turin (Italy), 20-24 July 2026.

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