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 ...

First report of cave-adapted mite harvesters (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) from Aotearoa New Zealand

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First report of cave-adapted mite harvesters (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) from Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Mite harvesters (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi) are tiny arachnids known to inhabit leaf litter on forest floors throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Recently, Cyphophthalmi in the genus Aoraki were discovered in caves in the northern South Island, representing the first records of cave-dwelling mite harvesters from New Zealand. A comparison of anatomical ratios taken from body and appendage measurements of the cave animals and epigean Aoraki species demonstrate that the cave animals display trends characteristic of troglobitic arthropods, suggesting adaptation to cavernicolous environments. We sequenced the mitochondrial loci COI and 16S rRNA from one of the cave specimens in order to better define the animal's phylogenetic position and to assess the possibility that it represents a new species. Using an integrative taxonomic approach, results suggest the animals are cave-adapted populations of Aoraki westlandica.

Acknowledgment: I am grateful to Dr. Sirvid for kindly sharing the full paper with me through ResearchGate. 

Vang, U. Y., Henderson, S. A., Sirvid, P. J., Stewart, A. M., & Boyer, S. L. (2025). First report of cave-adapted mite harvesters (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) from Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00779962.2025.2529069