Structural complexity and prey availability shape spider communities under retention forestry

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 Abstract Retention forestry is promoted as a conservation-oriented management strategy to sustain forest biodiversity by preserving key structural elements, such as single old trees and deadwood. However, the effectiveness of this approach in conserving the diversity of spiders as generalist predators remains unclear, particularly because the effect of structural elements under retention forestry on spiders may be mediated by its effect on prey availability. We sampled spiders (Araneae) and potential prey (Diptera, Hemiptera, Collembola) in 55 1-hectare plots across mixed temperate forests of the Black Forest, Germany. We used pitfall traps targeting species active on the forest floor. We studied spider abundance, taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity (combined measure of functional and phylogenetic distance) and community composition along gradients of forest structure (canopy cover, proportion of conifers, stand structural complexity, volume of lying deadwood, herb cover and...

Three’s a Crowd: On the Taxonomic Status of Three Species of Macrothele Ausserer, 1871, Described from Africa by Pierre L. G. Benoit (Araneae: Macrothelidae)

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Three’s a Crowd: On the Taxonomic Status of Three Species of Macrothele Ausserer, 1871, Described from Africa by Pierre L. G. Benoit (Araneae: Macrothelidae)

Abstract and figures
The three macrothelid species described by the late P. L. G. Benoit at the Royal Museum for Central Africa are digitised and re-evaluated: Macrothele abrupta Benoit, 1965 and Macrothele incisa Benoit, 1965 are declared nomina dubia as the name bearing types of both taxa are juvenile. Macrothele triangularis Benoit, 1965 is a valid species and we depict and describe its spermathecae for the first time.

Sherwood, Danniella & Jocqué, Rudy. (2025). Three's a crowd: on the taxonomic status of three species of Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 described from Africa by Pierre L. G. Benoit (Araneae: Macrothelidae). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología. 47. 69-72.