The influence of temperature on courtship and mate choice in a wolf spider: implications for mating success in variable environments.

This article investigates how temperature variation influences individual signaling and mating behaviors in the wolf spider *Schizocosa floridana*, focusing on the plasticity and repeatability of complex courtship signals across thermal environments. Using repeated-measures trials at 20 °C, 25 °C, and 32 °C, the study finds that while overall courtship rate and energetic signaling increase with temperature, individual males show low consistency in their courtship behavior across temperatures, except for traits associated with the abdominal "chirp" component, which are more repeatable and predict mating success at higher temperatures. Female mate choice is moderately repeatable and generally favors increased courtship rate at all temperatures, but preferences for chirp-related traits emerge only at higher temperatures. The findings suggest that individual variation in thermal responses can modulate or obscure patterns of sexual selection, highlighting the importance of environmental context and individual plasticity in the evolution of complex sexual signals.