Plenary Talk Title
Dangerous liaisons: causes and consequences of monogynous mating systems
Biography
Prof. Jutta M. Schneider is a distinguished behavioural ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Hamburg. Her extensive research focuses on the evolution of mating systems, sexual selection, and sexual conflict, as well as the mechanisms behind cooperative behaviour in spiders. Additionally, she investigates adaptive plasticity in life-history traits, such as growth, body size, and the strategic allocation of resources toward reproductive and neural traits.
Her current scientific projects delve into chemical communication, specifically analyzing the signal content of female volatile and silk-based pheromones and their influence on male mating decisions. Schneider also examines the role of sexual selection in the hybridisation of orb-web spiders. Furthermore, she utilizes both field- and laboratory-based approaches to study the dynamics of social spider groups and how these interactions ultimately shape population sex ratios.
In her plenary lecture, Prof. Schneider explores the evolution of monogyny—a rare mating system that has evolved independently multiple times in spiders. Drawing on comparative research from the genera Argiope, Trichonephila, and Latrodectus, she discusses the remarkable consequences for male reproductive strategies, including genital damage, mating plugs, male self-sacrifice, and extreme sexual size dimorphism (eSSD). Through these case studies, the lecture highlights the fascinating parallels and divergences in evolutionary pathways across different taxa.