TY - JOUR AU - Berger, Cory A. AU - Brewer, Michael S. AU - Kono, Nobuaki AU - Nakamura, Hiroyuki AU - Arakawa, Kazuharu AU - Kennedy, Susan R. AU - Wood, Hannah M. AU - Adams, Seira A. AU - Gillespie, Rosemary G. PY - 2021 DA - 2021/03/22 TI - Shifts in morphology, gene expression, and selection underlie web loss in Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiders JO - BMC Ecology and Evolution SP - 48 VL - 21 IS - 1 AB - A striking aspect of evolution is that it often converges on similar trajectories. Evolutionary convergence can occur in deep time or over short time scales, and is associated with the imposition of similar selective pressures. Repeated convergent events provide a framework to infer the genetic basis of adaptive traits. The current study examines the genetic basis of secondary web loss within web-building spiders (Araneoidea). Specifically, we use a lineage of spiders in the genus Tetragnatha (Tetragnathidae) that has diverged into two clades associated with the relatively recent (5 mya) colonization of, and subsequent adaptive radiation within, the Hawaiian Islands. One clade has adopted a cursorial lifestyle, and the other has retained the ancestral behavior of capturing prey with sticky orb webs. We explore how these behavioral phenotypes are reflected in the morphology of the spinning apparatus and internal silk glands, and the expression of silk genes. Several sister families to the Tetragnathidae have undergone similar web loss, so we also ask whether convergent patterns of selection can be detected in these lineages. SN - 2730-7182 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01779-9 DO - 10.1186/s12862-021-01779-9 ID - Berger2021 ER -