Mantispa minuta Fabricius (Neuroptera : Mantispidae) on egg sacs of the orb-weaver spider Parawixia bistriata (Araneidae) in forests of Eucalyptus grandis in Brazil

This is the first report of the interaction between the two entomophagous agents Mantispa minuta Fabricius (Mantispidae) and Parawixia bistriata Rengger, an orb-weaver spider (Araneidae). From egg sacs kept in the laboratory we observed the emergence of adult neuropterans followed by the emergence of a high number of spiderlings. This association illustrates the interactions among the invertebrate predators coexisting in Eucalyptus plantations managed without chemical treatment, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Maternal care in a neotropical jumping spider (Salticidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

On the development of the brown spider Loxosceles gaucho Gertsch (Araneae, Sicariidae): the nympho-imaginal period

Observations of the developmental biology of Loxosceles gaucho Gertsch, 1967, the brown spider of southeastern Brazil are scarce. The present study reports the method of individualized rearing of 18 populations of L. gaucho, kept in laboratory under varied diet conditions, and characterizes their nympho-imaginal period as well as factors related to their reproduction. Females built the first egg sac about 20 days after copulation and nymphs hatched 40 days after the laying date. Average offspring was 61.3 spiderlings and females usually built three to four successive egg sacs in a period of five to seven months. First nymphs initiated their predatory activity between the 5th and 8th days after hatching and the majority reached adulthood within six moults (range of five to eight) in approximately 15 to 17 months (male) and 15.5 to 18 months (female). The average sex ratio equaled 1.0:1.7 (male:female). The wide individual variability of this species intermoult intervals is herewith expressed by the intermoult rate, which was fairly uniform for both intra and interpopulations and gives a relevant aspect for a general idea of the life cycles of spiders.

Mating behaviour, nympho-imaginal development and description of a new Mesabolivar species (Araneae: Pholcidae) from the Brazilian dry forest

A new species of Mesabolivar is described from Brazilian forests: Mesabolivar delclaroi. The mating behaviour, postembryonic development, number of egg sacs and eggs, birth rate, number of instars, developmental time until adulthood, sex ratio and size of cephalothorax (per instar) were recorded. The sexual behaviour was described and categorized into four steps: courtship, pre-copulation, copulation and post-copulation. After hatching, individuals presented five instars until maturity. The mean number of eggs (42 +/- 16.6) and live births (31.5 +/- 3.4) of the first egg sac were significantly greater than that of a second one (23.8 +/- 3.8, and 19.25 +/- 3.9, respectively). The developmental time from birth to adulthood (130.8 +/- 9.6 days) did not differ significantly between egg sacs produced (128.61 +/- 11.1). The size of the cephalothorax did not differ among adults or between sexes. The sex ratio revealed a shift in favour of females (4: 3).

Mesozooplankton size data from the fjord branch Kapisigdlit located in the Godthaabsfjord system, West Greenland, 2010

Sampling was conducted from March 24 to August 5 2010, in the fjord branch Kapisigdlit located in the inner part of the Godthåbsfjord system, West Greenland. The vessel "Lille Masik" was used during all cruises except on June 17-18 where sampling was done from RV Dana (National Institute for Aquatic Resources, Denmark). A total of 15 cruises (of 1-2 days duration) 7-10 days apart was carried out along a transect composed of 6 stations (St.), spanning the length of the 26 km long fjord branch. St. 1 was located at the mouth of the fjord branch and St. 6 was located at the end of the fjord branch, in the middle of a shallower inner creek . St. 1-4 was covering deeper parts of the fjord, and St. 5 was located on the slope leading up to the shallow inner creek. Mesozooplankton was sampled by vertical net tows using a Hydrobios Multinet (type Mini) equipped with a flow meter and 50 µm mesh nets or a WP-2 net 50 µm mesh size equipped with a non-filtering cod-end. Sampling was conducted at various times of day at the different stations. The nets were hauled with a speed of 0.2-0.3 m s**-1 from 100, 75 and 50 m depth to the surface at St. 2 + 4, 5 and 6, respectively. The content was immediately preserved in buffered formalin (4% final concentration). All samples were analyzed in the Plankton sorting and identification center in Szczecin (www.nmfri.gdynia.pl). Samples containing high numbers of zooplankton were split into subsamples. All copepods and other zooplankton were identified down to lowest possible taxonomic level (approx. 400 per sample), length measured and counted. Copepods were sorted into development stages (nauplii stage 1 - copepodite stage 6) using morphological features and sizes, and up to 10 individuals of each stage was length measured.