Morphological and thermoregulatory responses to urbanization in the European garden spider Araneus diadematus.
Katrien De Wolf, Maxime Dahirel, Pieter Vantieghem, Bram Vanthournout, Mieke Soenens, Liliana D’Alba, Matthew D. Shawkey, Eva Vermeersch, Sylvia Lycke, Peter Vandenabeele, Dries Bonte
This study examines morphological and thermoregulatory responses of spiders to urbanization across spatial scales, finding size increases with urbanization while body condition declines, and no significant color change despite pigment evidence.
bioRxiv · Jun 11, 2026 · PreprintEcology