The influence of regurgitation by sisters on male growth in the subsocial spider Anelosimus vierae (Araneae, Theridiidae).

Food exchange by the mother to her brood is a frequent phenomenon in social arthropods. In the subsocial spiders of the genus Anelosimus Simon, 1891, maternal regurgitation to offspring plays an important role in the survival of the colony. Regurgitations also occur between subadult males and females in Anelosimus vierae Agnarsson, 2012.