Sierra Dome Spider
(Neriene litigiosa: Linyphiidae)

The Sierra Dome spider (Neriene litigiosa, formerly Linyphia litigiosa) is a North American sheet-weaving spider in the family Linyphiidae known for its unusually complex mating system, including female-controlled sperm use, elaborate male–male competition and intersexual courtship, extended mate guarding under female control, and conditional male kleptoparasitism.

The Sierra Dome spider has served as a long-term model system in evolutionary behavioral ecology through more than four decades of continuous field and laboratory research conducted by Dr. Paul J. Watson. Its accessible web structure, dramatic courtship behaviors, and strong individual variation make it uniquely well suited for studying sexual selection, development, and behavioral integration.

Why the Sierra Dome Spider Matters

• One of the most detailed long-term field and laboratory studies of a single spider species
• Clear example of multi-modal female mate selection and cryptic female choice of multiple sires
• Extensive evidence bearing on polyandry and mate selection strategies
• Studies documenting the real-time energetics of multi-modal courtship and male–male fighting behaviors
• Integration of behavior, physiology, and individual differences in physical and behavioral development
• Studies of the role of disease in mating system evolution
• Research on this system is ongoing, and new behavioral and molecular biological investigators are needed to keep the work going!

Research Program

Dr. Paul J. Watson has been studying the sexual selection system of the Sierra Dome spider in northwestern Montana at Flathead Lake Biological Station since 1980. A fuller overview of the long-term research program is available below.

Taxonomic clarification: The Sierra Dome spider is Neriene litigiosa (formerly Linyphia litigiosa), the species studied extensively in this research program. It should not be confused with bowl-and-doily spiders in the genus Frontinella, such as Frontinella communis or F. pyramitela, which belong to a different genus within the same spider family and subfamily (Linyphiidae and Linyphiinae, respectively). Species of Frontinella exhibit very different behavioral ecology. Several studies of the sexual behavior of bowl-and-doily spiders were conducted by Robert B. Suter and associates at Vassar College, including “The Courtship of Frontinella Pyramitela (Araneae, Linyphiidae): Patterns, Vibrations and Functions”.

Comparative evolutionary behavioral ecology studies of the sexual selection systems of holarctically distributed Neriene species, as well as different genera of sheetweb-weaving members of the subfamily Linyphiinae, would form the basis of a fascinating career.

The Sierra Dome spider was featured in the Natural History magazine article “Dancing in the Dome” (Watson, 1995), which introduced a broad audience to the species’ unusual mating system, including intense male–male competition and female-controlled reproductive outcomes.

→ Full Research Program on the Sierra Dome Spider

Publications on the Sierra Dome Spider

1. Watson, P. J. (1986). Female pheromone transmission thwarted by males in Linyphia litigiosa. Science, 233, 219–221.
2. Watson, P. J. (1990). Female-enhanced male competition determines the first mate and principal sire in the spider Linyphia litigiosa (Linyphiidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 26, 77–90.
3. Watson, P. J. (1991). Multiple paternity and first-mate sperm precedence in Linyphia litigiosa (Linyphiidae). Animal Behaviour, 41, 135–148.
4. Watson, P. J. (1991). Multiple paternity as genetic bet-hedging in female Sierra Dome spiders. Animal Behaviour, 41, 343–360.
5. Watson, P. J. (1993). Foraging advantage of polyandry for female Sierra Dome spiders (Linyphia litigiosa). American Naturalist, 141, 440–465.
6. Watson, P. J., & Lighton, J. R. B. (1994). Sexual selection and the energetics of copulatory courtship in the spider Linyphia litigiosa. Animal Behaviour, 48, 615–626.
7. Watson, P. J. (1995). Dancing in the dome. Natural History, 104, 40–43.
8. Watson, P. J. (1998). Multi-male mating and female choice increase offspring growth in the spider Neriene litigiosa. Animal Behaviour, 55, 387–403.
9. deCarvalho, T. N., Watson, P. J., & Field, S. (2004). Costs increase as ritualized fighting progresses in the Sierra Dome spider, Neriene litigiosa. Animal Behaviour, 68, 473–482.
10. Keil, P. L., & Watson, P. J. (2010). Assessment of self, opponent, and resource during male-male contests in the Sierra Dome spider, Neriene litigiosa. Animal Behaviour, 80, 809–820.