Sarah Carpentier & Pierre-Olivier Montiglio

 - Abstract: Changing selective forces alter behavioral features like spiders' ability to build webs. We examine how diet-driven behavioral plasticity affects adaptive potential and how biotic and abiotic factors affect the direction and strength of selection on web structure in the Western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus). We measure selection on web parameters in different environments (urban and desert) with varying resource availability, prey communities, and competition using a combination of field and lab methods. We anticipate relaxed selection favoring behavioral diversity with higher prey richness along with stronger directional selection under resource shortage. This work aims to disentangle the interplay between environmental variability, selection, and behavioral plasticity, highlighting how behavioral flexibility contributes to the maintenance of phenotypic diversity in natural populations.