A comparison of adhesive performance among six cursorial spider species

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  A comparison of adhesive performance among six cursorial spider species Abstract The ability to adhere to surfaces is particularly relevant for cursorial predatory arthropods like hunting spiders, which often traverse relatively complex environments characterized by large variation in substrate properties. Here, we evaluated the adhesive performance of six hunting spider species that are common in eastern temperate North America and lack specialized tarsi for climbing smooth or inclined surfaces [Lycosidae: Pardosa lapidicina Emerton, 1885 and Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer, 1837); Oxyopidae: Oxyopes salticus Hentz, 1845; Pisauridae: Pisaurina mira (Walckenaer, 1837); Dolomedidae: Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837), and Dolomedes scriptus Hentz, 1845]. We tested adhesion performance as shear load resistance (g) on a glass plate, and as the angle of failure (°) when the plate was gradually inclined relative to horizontal. Average angle of failure and shear resistance differed among ...

Annotated checklist of the spiders of Ascension Island with new faunistic records, including three newly recorded non-native species (Araneae: Araneomorphae)

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Annotated checklist of the spiders of Ascension Island with new faunistic records, including three newly recorded non-native species (Araneae: Araneomorphae)

Abstract
A checklist of the spiders of Ascension Island is given, with new faunistic records for one family, five genera, and three species-level taxa. For the latter, Oecobius marathaus Tikader, 1962 (Oecobiidae), and Scytodes velutina Heineken & Lowe, 1832 and S. univittata Simon, 1882 (both Scytodidae) are recorded. Seven genera recorded from the island by prior workers based on indeterminable immature material are expunged from the list due to lack of evidence. In total, 38 genera and 41 species, accommodated in 22 families, are recognised as valid taxa on Ascension. Of these, only 1 genus and 5 species are considered possibly or probably endemic, meaning 99.97% of genera and 87.81% of species are non-endemic. 

Sherwood, D., Sharp, A., Wilkins, V., & Ashmole, P. (2025). Annotated checklist of the spiders of Ascension Island with new faunistic records, including three newly recorded non-native species (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Acta Zoológica Lilloana, 437–474. https://doi.org/10.30550/j.azl/2179