Three-panel bar chart showing dispersal behaviour frequencies in Mermessus trilobatus offspring. Panel (a) shows tiptoe frequency, panel (b) shows rafting frequency, and panel (c) shows take-off frequency. Each panel displays four bars representing offspring from different locations: W = Wilgartswiesen (core, first found 1981), L = Landau (core, first found 1981), V = Vienna (front, first found 2009), and H = Horsens (front, first found 2018). Error bars show standard error. Statistical differences between locations are marked with letters a and b, where locations sharing the same letter are not significantly different. Generally, offspring from area with the most recent colonisation (Horsens) show twice higher dispersal frequencies than those from long-established populations (Vienna, Wilgartswiesen and Landau).
The key: highly dispersive spiders accumulate at invasion edge with the most recent spread, mate with each other → super-dispersive offspring → faster spread. Genetic spatial sorting in action or microbial puppets? ⬇️ #EvolutionaryBiology #InvasionGenetics #SpatialSorting doi.org/10.1111/geb....
