Abstract
The theridiid spider Anelosimus crassipes (Araneae, Theridiidae) is a maternal species. The offspring were provided the prey by mother during the gregarious period. However, the mode of feeding changed as the young grew up, i.e., at the beginning of the gregarious period, the offspring were offered the prey immobilizing by the mother, in the end of the gregarious period, the prey capture was performed by the mother and her young. Analysis of the sequence of prey-supply activity showed prey-recognition of spiderlings were released by mother's behavior unit “WLK.” Spiderlings never ran towards the prey without the unit “WLK” of mother. The tolerance of mother to young was investigated experimentally by exchanging the mother. The result showed the mother distinguished her own young from other's. The present study showed that in A. crassipes maternal behavior depends on the communication mechanism consists of stimuli emanating from the mother to young.
