New insights into maternal care and juvenile dispersal in Pterinopelma roseum (Araneae: Theraphosidae)

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  New insights into maternal care and juvenile dispersal in Pterinopelma roseum (Araneae: Theraphosidae) Abstract Tarantulas (Theraphosidae) exhibit a wide diversity of reproductive behaviors, yet many aspects of their natural history, particularly those related to maternal care and juvenile dispersal, remain poorly known. Pterinopelma roseum is a species distributed in southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina for which information on reproductive biology is limited. The aim of this study was to document maternal care, egg sac composition, and juvenile dispersal through the monitoring of a female collected together with its egg sac in Misiones Province, Argentina. The female was maintained under controlled laboratory conditions and observed daily until juvenile dispersal. During the incubation period, the female actively protected the egg sac, remaining in contact with it most of the time and displaying defensive behaviors when disturbed, while continuing to feed regularly. The e...

A new species of Harmonicon F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896, from central-west Brazil and redescription of H. rufescens F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Dipluridae)

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A new species of Harmonicon F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896, from central-west Brazil and redescription of H. rufescens F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Dipluridae)

Abstract

A new species of Harmonicon F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896, is described from the Cerrado biome in Central-West Brazil, representing the first non-Amazonian and the southernmost record for the genus. Furthermore, we present a new diagnosis of the genus, expanding its original diagnosis, and redescribe its type species, Harmonicon rufescens F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896, based on an adult female specimen from the same biogeographical area of its type locality.

Wermelinger-Moreira G, de Souza Castanheira P, Baptista RLC (2024) A new species of Harmonicon F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896, from central-west Brazil and redescription of H. rufescens F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Dipluridae). Evolutionary Systematics 8(2): 261-271. https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.8.141847