The neonicotinoid imidacloprid impairs the predatory performance and functional response of the jumping spider Helpis minitabunda (Araneae, Salticidae)

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  The neonicotinoid imidacloprid impairs the predatory performance and functional response of the jumping spider Helpis minitabunda (Araneae, Salticidae) Abstract The neonicotinoid imidacloprid can cause lethal and sublethal effects in non-target organisms, including impaired behavior, reduced fertility, disrupted locomotion, and reduced predatory performance in arthropods. Spiders are among the most abundant arthropod predators in terrestrial ecosystems, including agricultural ecosystems, yet the effects of neonicotinoids on the predatory function of jumping spiders remain poorly understood. The functional response of a predator describes how predation rates change with prey density and is key to understanding predator–prey dynamics. We tested whether acute exposure to a commercial formulation of imidacloprid at field-recommended concentrations alters the functional response of the Aussie bronze jumping spider, Helpis minitabunda (L. Koch, 1880). We compared the predation of treat...

Five new Heteropoda species from Southeast Asia (Sparassidae: Heteropodinae)

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Five new Heteropoda species from Southeast Asia (Sparassidae: Heteropodinae)

Abstract 

Five new species of the genus Heteropoda from Southeast Asia are described: H. asa spec. nov. (Indonesia: Kalimantan; male), H. dede spec. nov. (Malaysia: Sabah; female), H. josephkohi spec. nov. (Brunei: Temburong; male, female), H. saracenoi spec. nov. (Indonesia: Flores; male, female), and H. singaporensis spec. nov. (Singapore; male, female). Most of them exhibit special palpal features like embolic apophyses or outgrowths, conductor apophyses, additional RTA branches or, in one case, a unique opisthosomal shape.

Jäger, P. (2024). Five new Heteropoda species from Southeast Asia (Sparassidae: Heteropodinae). Arachnology 19(8): 1100-1113.