Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil

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  Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil ABSTRACT Aim Beta diversity analyses clarify mechanisms structuring ecological communities, but their multidimensional facets remain poorly explored in arthropods. Here, we quantified taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional beta diversity in scorpions, partitioned these facets into species replacement and richness differences, and evaluated the relative importance of spatial structure and environmental conditions in driving community assembly. Location Northeastern Brazil, South America. Taxon Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Methods Taxonomic beta diversity was estimated using species presence across 70 sites in northeastern Brazil. Phylogenetic turnover was calculated from a multi-locus molecular tree, and functional beta diversity was derived from morphometric and ecological traits. All beta diversity facets were decomposed into replacement and richness-difference component...

Arachnids of the Yoakum Dunes Wildlife Management Area

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Arachnids of the Yoakum Dunes Wildlife Management Area

Abstract

The Yoakum Dunes Wildlife Management Area (YDWMA) was established by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in 2014. No prior surveys of the invertebrate fauna had been undertaken at the WMA. This study conducted a taxonomic survey of the arachnids in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The arachnids were sampled using a combination of pitfall trapping, sweep netting, and general collecting. Eight pitfall arrays were deployed, four in mesquite habitat and four in shinnery oak habitat. The arachnids were sampled for 1-week periods during May-August. Eight samples and eight general collecting samples were also gathered during each sampling period. A total of 28 families, 66 genera, and 101 species of arachnids in five orders were documented. All the species identified represent new records for Cochran County, Texas. A total of 49 species of spiders and two species of Solifugae are the first reports for the Southern High Plains of Texas. Notably, the following three species of spiders: Agyneta fratrella (Chamberlin 1919), Piabuna pallida Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, and Allocosa morelosiana (Gertsch & Davis 1940) are documented in Texas for the first time.

Zechariah Saavedra, W. David Sissom "Arachnids of the Yoakum Dunes Wildlife Management Area," Southwestern Entomologist, 51(2), 657-679, (5 May 2026) https://doi.org/10.3958/059.051.0221