Mangora acalypha (Walckenaer, 1802), araña europea 2026 (Arachnida: Araneae)

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  Mangora acalypha (Walckenaer, 1802), araña europea 2026 (Arachnida: Araneae) Abstract Mangora acalypha (Walckenaer, 1802) has been chosen by specialists from several European countries as the spider of the year for 2026. It is the only species of the genus Mangora found on the European continent. Thanks to the characteristic color pattern on the dorsal side of the opisthosoma, even juvenile stages can be easily identified. The Iberian Peninsula has abundant records distributed throughout its territory, and therefore the species is not considered threatened.  Fernandez Perez, Jon & Hernández-Corral, Jesús & Prieto, Carlos. (2026). Mangora acalypha (Walckenaer, 1802), araña europea 2026 (Arachnida: Araneae). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología. 48. 119-122.  Via ResearchGate

The critical role of arachidonic acid on molting in spiders

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Image Credit: Tom Moran, courtesy of Tom's Big Spiders. Reproduction or use of this image without explicit permission is strictly prohibited.


The critical role of arachidonic acid on molting in spiders 

Abstract

Spiders frequently suffer abnormal molting and subsequent death when sustained on a monotypic diet of fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster. The fruit flies lack arachidonic acid (AA), a nutrient that may be critical for successful molting of spiders. To test this hypothesis, we compared the survival rates of juvenile wolf spiders, Pardosa pseudoannulata, fed on three kinds of diets, midges (Tendipes sp.), fruit flies enriched in AA and fruit flies lacking in AA. In addition, we analyzed the fatty acid composition of spiders feeding on midges and fruit flies enriched in AA and their prey. Juvenile spiders fed on midges and AA-enriched fruit flies reached full maturity without molting issues, whereas nearly all spiders fed the flies lacking in AA did not survive. Among the 35 different fatty acids, only the AA levels in both prey and spiders correlated positively with spider survival. Our findings provide compelling evidence that AA is crucial for the survival and molting of P. pseudoannulata.

Lelei Wen, Lieping Wang, Zhigan Wang, Haixin Zhang, Lang Hu, Baoyu Peng, Yu Peng, Xiaoguo Jiao, Changchun Li, The critical role of arachidonic acid on molting in spiders, Current Zoology, Volume 71, Issue 3, June 2025, Pages 373–380, https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae056