Elizabeth M. Jakob

Associate Professor
Ph.D. 1989, University of California-Davis

FAX 413-545-0996
Phone 413-577-0707
107 Middlesex
ejakob "at" psych.umass.edu*

I am a behavioral ecologist, and I work on spiders. I use a combination of field work, lab work, and computer modeling to answer questions. My students conduct a wide variety of projects, although (currently, at least!) all work on spiders. Our work spans a wide range of topics, seemingly very disparate. However, the connecting theme is behavior and its adaptive value.

The following projects are currently in progress in my lab. To see more details, please go to the Jakob lab page [in progress].

Learning in jumping spiders. Jumping spiders have excellent vision and are particularly good for investigating learning. We are working on both spatial learning and learning to avoid aposematic prey. PhD student Christa Skow (NSB program) is working on these projects.

Limited attention. It's been shown in other species, most notably birds, that animals that are attending to particular stimuli are less likely to respond to other potentially dangerous stimuli. We're testing this in salticids. Undergraduate Lindsay Hamrick is working on this project.

Behavior and invasion success. Daniel Jennings (US Forest Service), PhD student Jeremy Houser (NSB program) and I are collaborating on an investigation of the effects of the introduced linyphiid on the native arachnofauna of Maine. Our study site is Acadia National Park. We are particularly interested in the role of aggressive behavior in invasion success.

Behavior and conservation. How do animals decide to move from one fragment of habitat to another? Master's student Liv Baker (OEB program) is using salticids as a model system to investigate corridor quality, among other things.

Spiders as predators in greenhouses. This work, carried out by PhD student Chad Hoefler (Entomology and OEB), investigates whether jumping spiders can be effective predators in a greenhouse setting. (Chad also works on mating systems in salticids.)

Social behavior. Although most spiders are solitary and aggressive towards conspecifics, a handful of species exhibit some degree of social behavior. I've worked on the facultatively pholcid Holocnemus pluchei, and the social Metepeira incrassata. The latter work is in collaboration with Dr. George Uetz at the University of Cincinnati, and modeling is done in collaboration with Adam Porter.

Specialties

Behavioral Ecology
Spiders

Selected Publications

Skow, C. and E. Jakob. In press. Effects of maternal body size on clutch size and egg weight in a pholcid spider (Holocnemus pluchei). Journal of Arachnology.

Hoefler, C., M. Taylor, and E. M. Jakob. In press. The role of chemical cues in the foraging behavior of salticids. Journal of Arachnology.

Jakob, E. M., A. H. Porter, and G. W. Uetz. 2001. Site fidelity and the costs of movement among territories: An example from colonial web-building spiders. Can. J. Zool. 79:2094-2100.

Carducci, J. and E. Jakob. 2000. The effect of rearing environments on the behavior of a jumping spider. Animal Behaviour 59(1):39-46.

Jakob, E., J. Blanchong, M. Popson, K. Sedey, and M. Summerfield. 2000. Ontogenetic shifts in the cost of living in large groups: focal observations of a pholcid spider (Holocnemus pluchei). American Midland Naturalist 143:405-413.

Marshall, S., E. M. Jakob, and G. W. Uetz. 1999. Re-estimating fitness: Can scaling issues confound condition indices? Oikos 87:2.

Johnson, S. and E. Jakob. 1999. Let autotomy in a spider has minimal costs in competitive ability and development. Animal Behaviour 57:957-965.

Sedey, K. and E. Jakob. 1998. A unique "web-dome" built by egg-guarding pholcids. Journal of Arachnology 26:385-388.

Jakob, E., A. Porter, and G. Uetz. 1998. The effect of conspecifics on the timing of orb construction in a colonial spider. Journal of Arachnology 26:335-341.

Kaster, J. and E. Jakob. 1997. Last-male sperm priority in a haplogyne spider: correlations between female morphology and patterns of sperm usage. Annals of the American Entomological Society 90:254-259.

Jakob, E., S. Marshall, and G. Uetz. 1996. Estimating fitness: a comparison of body condition indices. Oikos 77:61-67.

Blanchong, J., M. Summerfield, M. Popson, and E. Jakob. 1995. Chivalry in pholcid spiders revisited. Journal of Arachnology 23:165-170.

Jakob, E. M. 1994. Contests over prey by group-living pholcids (Holocnemus pluchei). J Arachnology 22:39-45.

Uetz, G.W., C.S. Hieber, E. M. Jakob, R.S. Wilcox, D. Kroeger, A. McCrate, and A. Mostrum. 1994. Behaviour of orb-weaving spiders during a solar eclipse. Ethology 96:24-32.

Jackson, R.R., E.M. Jakob, M. B. Willey, and G.E. Campbell. 1993. Anti-predator defences of a web-building spider, Holocnemus pluchei (Araneae, Pholcidae). J. Zool. Lond. 229:347-352.

Jakob, E.M. 1991. Costs and benefits of group living for pholcid spiders: losing food, saving silk. Animal Behaviour, 41:711-722.

Jakob, E.M. and H. Dingle. 1990. Food level and life history characteristics in a pholcid spider. Psyche, 97: 95-110.

Porter, A.H. and E.M. Jakob. 1990. Allozyme variation in the introduced pholcid spider Holocnemus pluchei (Araneae: Pholcidae) in California. Journal of Arachnology, 18:313-319.

*The use of "at" rather than the traditional @ is an attempt to keep spam "spiders" from harvesting our email addresses.