Hidden diversity in plain sight: four new species of Nemesia (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from the Córdoba Province of Spain

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  Hidden diversity in plain sight: four new species of Nemesia (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from the Córdoba Province of Spain Abstract A taxonomic revision of the species of Nemesia Audouin, 1826, distributed in the vicinity of Córdoba City, southern Spain, is presented. Four new species are described: Nemesia morana sp. nov. (female), N. kodama sp. nov. (male and female), N. rosae sp. nov. (male and female), and N. tamajoni sp. nov. (male and female). These species are distinguished by distinct morphological characters, including the shape of the spermathecae, palpal bulbs, and spinnerets, as well as by burrow architecture. Fieldwork was conducted across two of the three major habitat types in the region—the humid, forested mountains of Sierra Morena and the croplands and riparian forests of the Guadalquivir Valley—while the third, the “campiña”, which is mainly composed of agricultural landscapes, remains poorly explored. Sampling methods included pitfall trapping and the direct e...

Sex-specific but not urbanisation-related behavioural differences in a wolf spider, Pardosa alacris

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Source of the photo: 
http://wiki.spinnen-forum.de/index.php?title=Pardosa_alacris

Sex-specific but not urbanisation-related behavioural differences in a wolf spider, Pardosa alacris

Abstract

Urbanisation, one of the main driving forces of the decline in arthropod diversity, is a global environmental problem. Urbanisation causes changes to the size, connectivity, structure, and environmental parameters of their natural habitat. Due to a host of novel conditions and situations, high exploratory and risk-taking behaviours are beneficial traits to cope with urban environments. Therefore, we hypothesised that urban spiders should display more exploratory and risk-taking behaviour than their rural conspecifics. We tested 253 individuals of a widespread, forest-associated ground-dwelling wolf spider species, Pardosa alacris, sampled from rural and urban forest sites during their peak activity period, for their locomotory activity, exploratory and risk-taking behaviour by six frequently used behavioural measures. Combining the studied behavioural measures into composite scores using redundancy analysis, we identified two composite variables, the activity-exploration-boldness and the risk-taking behavioural ones. Behaviour measured by the composite activity-exploration-boldness score was significantly repeatable, but not the composite risk-taking behavioural one. There were no urbanisation-related differences in the composite behavioural scores, suggesting that higher exploratory or risk-taking behaviour may not yield fitness benefits in this generalist predator. We found, however, significant sex-specific differences in the composite activity-exploration-boldness behavioural scores. The higher activity, exploratory and boldness in males than females may be explained by their different life-history strategies and sex-specific selective pressures.

Magura, T., Horváth, R., Mizser, S., Tóth, M., Kozma, F. S., & Lövei, G. L. (2026). Sex-specific but not urbanisation-related behavioural differences in a wolf spider, Pardosa alacris. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41239-2