The neonicotinoid imidacloprid impairs the predatory performance and functional response of the jumping spider Helpis minitabunda (Araneae, Salticidae)

Posted by
  The neonicotinoid imidacloprid impairs the predatory performance and functional response of the jumping spider Helpis minitabunda (Araneae, Salticidae) Abstract The neonicotinoid imidacloprid can cause lethal and sublethal effects in non-target organisms, including impaired behavior, reduced fertility, disrupted locomotion, and reduced predatory performance in arthropods. Spiders are among the most abundant arthropod predators in terrestrial ecosystems, including agricultural ecosystems, yet the effects of neonicotinoids on the predatory function of jumping spiders remain poorly understood. The functional response of a predator describes how predation rates change with prey density and is key to understanding predator–prey dynamics. We tested whether acute exposure to a commercial formulation of imidacloprid at field-recommended concentrations alters the functional response of the Aussie bronze jumping spider, Helpis minitabunda (L. Koch, 1880). We compared the predation of treat...

Contributions to the knowledge of trapdoor spiders: descriptions of Iberesia melici sp. nov., the female of Nemesia dukagjinica Geci & Sherwood, 2025, and new distribution records of some other European nemesiids (Araneae: Nemesiidae)

Posted by

 


Contributions to the knowledge of trapdoor spiders: descriptions of Iberesia melici sp. nov., the female of Nemesia dukagjinica Geci & Sherwood, 2025, and new distribution records of some other European nemesiids (Araneae: Nemesiidae)

Abstract
A new species, Iberesia melici sp. nov., is described from Santa Fé de Montseny, Catalonia, Spain, based on a holotype male; the female of Nemesia dukagjinica Geci & Sherwood, 2025, from Kosovo, is described for the first time. Finally, faunistic data are presented for some specimens of four assorted nemesiids: Brachythele denieri (Simon, 1916), B. media Kulczyński, 1897, Iberesia machadoi Decae & Cardoso, 2006, and Nemesia has tensis Decae, Pantini & Isaia, 2015.

Geci, Donard & Sherwood, Danniella. (2025). Contributions to the knowledge of trapdoor spiders: descriptions of Iberesia melici sp. nov., the female of Nemesia dukagjinica Geci & Sherwood, 2025, and new distribution records of some other European nemesiids (Araneae: Nemesiidae). Arachnology. 20. 485-490.