Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider

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  Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider ABSTRACT Sex differences in behavior and functional traits are often attributed to differences in mating effort intensity, but the role of sex-specific parental demands remains poorly understood. Using the jumping spider Toxeus maxillosus —where males engage in mate searching and courtship without providing parental care, while females provide extended maternal care from egg attendance to offspring maturity (around 3 months)—we conducted an exploratory investigation into whether these distinct selective pressures led to divergence in spatial behaviors and nest architecture. Results revealed that males and females showed equivalent accuracy, latency, and learning-related performance in both a route-planning test under water stress and a color-pattern associative memory task. In contrast, during nest-construction assays, females built complex, multi-entrance structures that closely matched the container'...

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