A new species and a new record of Zoicinae Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979 (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Sumatra Island, with notes on miniaturization in wolf spiders

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  A new species and a new record of Zoicinae Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979 (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Sumatra Island, with notes on miniaturization in wolf spiders Abstract A new species of wolf spider, Zoica veloxilla sp. nov., from Sumatra (Indonesia) is described based on both sexes. Lysania pygmaea Thorell, 1890 is recorded from Sumatra for the first time, and its male is illustrated and redescribed. A distribution map for Zoica and Lysania is provided. The problem of miniaturization in wolf spiders is briefly discussed. Based on an analysis of the literature, 32 minute species of wolf spiders in four subfamilies and eleven genera have been reported. The smallest wolf spider known worldwide seems to be Zoica minuta (McKay, 1979) from Australia. Omelko, M.M. & Fomichev, A.A. (2026) A new species and a new record of Zoicinae Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979 (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Sumatra Island, with notes on miniaturization in wolf spiders. Zootaxa, 5869 (2), 339–350. https://doi.o...

Abundance, coexistence and behavioural interactions among juveniles of two sympatric tarantulas from Argentina

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Abundance, coexistence and behavioural interactions among juveniles of two sympatric tarantulas from Argentina

Abstract

Grammostola vachoni (Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1961) and Plesiopelma longisternale (Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1942) are two sympatric tarantula species living in mountain systems from central Argentina occurring at the same microhabitat. Adults and juveniles of both species live under rocks, where they construct their shelters. They are also synchronous in egg sac laying and hatching of the first stages (December and January). Given this scenario, it is probable that juveniles compete for resources, such as shelters during early stages. Thus, we evaluated the abundance and demography of both species at their natural habitat, by registering the sizes of individuals found, their refuges, and percentage of coexistence. We also conducted intra- and interspecific interactions to register the behavioural patterns of spiders against congeners and hetero-specific individuals. Grammostola vachoni was more abundant at one site studied; however, both species showed similar abundances at the second site. We identified 16 behavioural units. The most frequent behaviour displayed by both species was “retreat”. The most frequent behaviour during interspecific interactions was “retreat” for P. longisternale, whereas for G. vachoni it was “abdomen elevation”. For intraspecific encounters, the most common behaviours were “contraction” and “silk deposition” for P. longisternale, while for G. vachoni they were “retreat”, “raising palps”, and “grasp”.

Fiorella Signorotto, Micaela Millenpeier, Agustina Aguirre-Morales, Carolina Guerra, Nelson Ferretti "Abundance, coexistence and behavioural interactions among juveniles of two sympatric tarantulas from Argentina," Arachnology, 19(9), 1292-1297, (13 November 2024)