First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region

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  First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region Abstract Thaumasia Perty, 1833 are opportunistic spiders that inhabit the Neotropical region. This study reports a spider of the genus Thaumasia preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) in semiarid region of Brazil. A spider of the genus Thaumasia was observed moving rapidly from the fountain's water surface to capture an individual of P. canadensis . After successfully capturing the wasp, Thaumasia sp. was observed partially perched on the wall of the fountain, with the prey still on the water surface and trapped by its chelicerae. The pedipalps and chelicerae of Thaumasia sp. manipulated the head of P. canadensis , which stopped moving shortly after being captured, probably because of the action of the spider's venom. The study records a wasp in the diet of Thaumasia based on the ca...

Spider webs as reservoirs of culturable fungal diversity: evidence from orb-weaving Cyclosa mulmeinensis spider in Thai rice agroecosystems

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Spider webs as reservoirs of culturable fungal diversity: evidence from orb-weaving Cyclosa mulmeinensis spider in Thai rice agroecosystems

Abstract

Spider webs are increasingly recognised as passive environmental collectors; however, fungi remain amongst the least explored biological components associated with spider silk, particularly when examined using culture-based and taxonomically resolved approaches. In this study, we present a proof-of-concept investigation of culturable fungal diversity associated with two-dimensional, debris-decorated orb webs, constructed by the orb-weaving spider Cyclosa mulmeinensis in rice agroecosystems in Thailand. Using a standardised field-to-laboratory isolation workflow combined with genus-appropriate multilocus phylogenetic analyses, decorated orb webs were sampled as individual units from rice agroecosystems in Thailand and fungi were isolated via dilution plating on potato dextrose agar supplemented with chloramphenicol. A total of 112 fungal isolates were recovered, grouped into 45 colony morphotypes and resolved into 23 taxa across six genera: Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Penicillium and Talaromyces. Taxonomic placement was inferred primarily from multilocus phylogenetic analyses, with morphological characteristics used as supporting evidence. Notably, several isolates formed well-supported lineages within Cladosporium and Talaromyces that could not be assigned to any described species, indicating the presence of potentially undescribed taxa. These findings demonstrate that spider webs can serve as a low-impact, non-destructive substrate for accessing viable fungal diversity in agricultural ecosystems. This approach enables reproducible culture-based recovery of taxonomically informative fungal lineages and highlights the potential of spider web sampling as a complementary tool for biodiversity assessment and environmental monitoring.

Into T, Petcharad B, Boonyuen N, Chanklan R, Pannanusorn S, Mongkolsamrit S, Kobmoo N, Nuankaew S, Kwanthong P (2026) Spider webs as reservoirs of culturable fungal diversity: evidence from orb-weaving Cyclosa mulmeinensis spider in Thai rice agroecosystems. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e187035. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.14.e187035