The faunistic diversity of the spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Waterberg District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa

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  The faunistic diversity of the spiders ( Arachnida , Araneae ) of the Waterberg District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa Abstract The South African National Survey of Arachnida ( SANSA ) has conducted surveys in the Waterberg District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, over more than 40 years. The first annotated checklist for the Waterberg District is provided here, along with the global distributions, endemicity and conservation assessments for each species, as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) criteria. A total of 54 families, 292 genera and 600 species were recorded. The study highlights species of special conservation concern, as well as the nine species endemic to the Waterberg District. Salticidae (95 species), followed by Thomisidae (80 species), Araneidae (53 species) and Gnaphosidae (48 species), are the most species-rich families. In contrast, single species represent 14 families. Most species (546; 91.2%) are widely distr...

Record of Lepidoptera and Hemiptera as a food resource of Acutisoma longipes Roewer, 1913 (Arachnida: Opiliones) in the Cerrado, Brazil

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Record of Lepidoptera and Hemiptera as a food resource of Acutisoma longipes Roewer, 1913 (Arachnida: Opiliones) in the Cerrado, Brazil

Abstract 

Harvestmen are nocturnal arachnids, commonly found in humid forests, with omnivorous feeding behavior. There are records of different taxa in the diet of these arthropods, but data is still scarce for many species, especially in Cerrado areas. Thus, the objective of the present work is to report Lepidoptera and Hemiptera in the diet of the harvestman Acutisoma longipes Roewer, 1913 (Arachnida: Opiliones), in Mata de Galeria in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The records occurred randomly in the municipality of Luminárias, Minas Gerais, on October 10th and December 4th, 2023. In the first record, the species A. longipes was feeding on a moth (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). In the second record, the same species fed on a leafhopper, Mahanarva sp. (Hemiptera: Cercopidae). It was not possible to say whether these insects were preyed upon, usurped by other predators or found dead, but any of these hypotheses can be considered. This record contributes to increasing knowledge about the diet of harvestmen, especially in the Cerrado biome, where there is a need for more related studies.

Silva, Maria Luiza Simões, Igor Rodrigues de Castro, Felipe Barbosa Augusto de Freitas, Diogo Silva Vilela, Gabriel de Castro Jacques, and Marcos Magalhães de Souza. 2024. “Record of Lepidoptera and Hemiptera As a Food Resource of Acutisoma Longipes Roewer, 1913 (Arachnida; Opiliones) in the Cerrado, Brazil”. EntomoBrasilis 17 (June):e1082. https://doi.org/10.12741/ebrasilis.v17.e1082.