Geographic patterns in the distribution of social systems in terrestrial arthropods.

The role of ecology in the evolution and maintenance of arthropod sociality has received increasing research attention in recent years. In some organisms, such as halictine bees, polistine wasps, and social spiders, researchers are investigating the environmental factors that may contribute to high levels of variation in the degree of sociality exhibited both among and within species. Within lineages that include only eusocial members, such as ants and termites, studies focus more on identifying extrinsic factors that may contribute to the dramatic variation in colony size, number of queens, and division of labour that is evident across these species. In this review, I propose a comparative approach that seeks to identify environmental factors that may have a common influence across such divergent social arthropod groups. I suggest that seeking common biogeographic patterns in the distribution of social systems or key social traits may help us to identify ecological factors that play a common role in shaping the evolution of sociality across different organisms. I first review previous studies of social gradients that form along latitudinal and altitudinal axes. Within families and within species, many organisms show an increasing degree of sociality at lower latitudes and altitudes. In a smaller number of cases, organisms form larger groups or found nests cooperatively at higher latitudes and altitudes. I then describe several environmental factors that vary consistently along such gradients, including climate variables and abundance of predators, and outline their proposed role in the social systems of terrestrial arthropods. Finally, I map distributions of a social trait against several climatic factors in five case studies to demonstrate how future comparative studies could inform empirical research.

The combination of social and personal contexts affects dominance hierarchy development in shore crabs, Carcinus maenas

Many animals that live in groups maintain competitive relationships, yet avoid continual fighting, by forming dominance hierarchies. We compare predictions of stochastic, individual-based models with empirical experimental evidence using shore crabs to test competing hypotheses regarding hierarchy development. The models test (1) what information individuals use when deciding to fight or retreat, (2) how past experience affects current resource-holding potential, and (3) how individuals deal with changes to the social environment. First, we conclude that crabs assess only their own state and not their opponent's when deciding to fight or retreat. Second, willingness to enter, and performance in, aggressive contests are influenced by previous contest outcomes. Winning increases the likelihood of both fighting and winning future interactions, while losing has the opposite effect. Third, when groups with established dominance hierarchies dissolve and new groups form, individuals reassess their ranks, showing no memory of previous rank or group affiliation. With every change in group composition, individuals fight for their new ranks. This iterative process carries over as groups dissolve and form, which has important implications for the relationship between ability and hierarchy rank. We conclude that dominance hierarchies emerge through an interaction of individual and social factors, and discuss these findings in terms of an underlying mechanism. Overall, our results are consistent with crabs using a cumulative assessment strategy iterated across changes in group composition, in which aggression is constrained by an absolute threshold in energy spent and damage received while fighting.

L'altra cara del progrés. Estudi multidimensional sobre les conseqüències de les activitats d'explotació intensiva sobre l'ecosistema del manglar i les activitats econòmiques tradicionals a la comunitat de Cumbe, Brasil

La localitat de Cumbe és una comunitat tradicional que es troba al tram baix del riu Jaguaribe situat a l’estat de Ceará (Brasil) i que ha viscut centenars d’anys a partir de les pràctiques extractives que es porten a terme a l’ecosistema del manglar. Fa 20 anys va aparèixer a la regió una nova economia basada en l’explotació intensiva. L’aqüicultura destinada a la cria de gamba està causant danys severs a l’ecosistema del manglar i perjudicant greument la font d’ingressos de moltes famílies, amenaçant la continuïtat de l’economia local i deteriorant la qualitat de vida de les persones que s’hi dediquen. A partir de l’observació personal i la immersió en aquesta societat s’ha detectat que l’economia tradicional està infravalorada pel govern i per les persones que donen suport a l’aqüicultura. Per aquest motiu s’han creat una sèrie d’indicadors, a partir de les activitats extractives del cranc, que posin en valor aquesta economia tradicional envers la nova economia emergent.

Sex allocation and sex-dependent selection for body size in Trypoxylon rogenhoferi Kohl (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)

Two populations of the wasp Trypoxylon rogenhoferi Kohl, 1884 from São Carlos and Luís Antônio, State of São Paulo, Brazil, were observed and sampled from May 1999 to February 2001 using trap-nests. This mass-provisioning wasp was used to test some aspects of optimal sex allocation theory. Both populations fit all the predictions of the models of Green and Brockmann and Grafen. Maternal provisions determined the size of each offspring, and females allocated well-stocked brood cells to daughters, the sex that benefits most being large. This strategy resulted in a difference in size between the sexes. In São Carlos, female weight at emergence was 1.18 times that of males, in Luís Antônio this value was 1.13. The brood cell volume was correlated with both wing length and weight at emergence in both sexes, and the chance that a given brood cell contained a male offspring decreased with increased brood cell volume. In T. rogenhoferi female body size was related to fitness. Larger females were able to collect more mass of spiders per day, the spiders they captured were heavier, and they provisioned more brood cells per day. They also produced larger daughters. For males, no relationship between body size and fitness was found, but the data were scarce. Since the patterns of provisioning were variable among different females in both study sites, it is possible that the females not follow a unique strategy for sex allocation. The sex ratio and/or investment ratio in the São Carlos population was female-biased and in Luís Antônio, male-biased. In spite of the influence of trap-nests diameters on male production in Luís Antônio, there is some evidence that in São Carlos population the local availability of prey and/or lower rate of parasitism may be major forces in determining the observed sex ratio, but further studies are necessary to verify such hypothesis.

Nesting biology of the trap-nesting Neotropical wasp Trypoxylo n(Trypargilum) aurifrons Shuckard (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae)

The present study was carried out in three localities of the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Araras (Dec/03-Dec/06), São Carlos (Nov/04-Nov/06) and Rifaina (Jul/04-Dec/06). Trap-nests were distributed among sites in the sampling areas and were collected every 35 days. Data from 295 nests indicate that T. aurifrons is a multivoltine species, with higher rates of nest building and cell production in the warm, rainy season. The trap-nests used by the females ranged from 117 to 467 mm in length and 3.1 to 16.6 mm in diameter. All nests showed deep plugs and a vestibular cell was found in 37% of the complete nests. The number of cells per nest ranged from one to 12. Females were larger than males, emerged from longer cells and their cocoons were significantly larger. A secondary 1:1 sex ratio was found in Araras and Rifaina. No correlation was observed between the diameter of the trap-nest and sex ratio. Males were usually oviposited in the first brood cells. Male and female developmental time from egg to adult was longer in the cold, dry season. Trypoxylon aurifrons provisioned their nests mainly with orb-spiders from the family Araneidae. The most important mortality factor was the death of immature forms, probably due to development failure. The most important parasitoid was Melittobia sp.

Foraging by Polybia (Trichothorax) ignobilis (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) on flies at animal carcasses

Proteins for brood nutrition of social wasps are obtained from many prey, including insects (even bees and other wasps), spiders and bits of decaying meat. After being captured and killed, prey are reduced to a shapeless mass and distributed to the brood. Little is known about the foraging activity, especially on this group. Herein we describe the sequence of foraging behaviours of the social wasp Polybia (Trichothorax) ignobilis for hunting flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae and Muscidae) over pig carcasses. To our knowledge, there are few scientific descriptions of prey foraging behaviour on this species.

First remarks on the nesting biology of Hypodynerus andeus (Packard) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) in the Azapa valley, northern Chile

First remarks on the nesting biology of Hypodynerus andeus (Packard) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) in the Azapa valley, northern Chile. Some aspects about the nesting biology of the potter wasp Hypodynerus andeus (Packard, 1869) are reported for the first time. Observations were carried out at the Azapa valley, coastal desert of northern Chile. A total of sixty nests were collected and examined, each composed by 1-14 cells, most of them found attached to concrete lamp posts. The only preys recorded in the cells were Geometridae (Lepidoptera) caterpillars and the presence of the parasitoid Anthrax sp. (Diptera, Bombyliidae) was also recorded. A number of arthropods belonging to different groups, mainly spiders, were found occupying empty nests.

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): first host record and new occurrence to Brazil

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): first host record and new occurrence to Brazil. The species of the genus Hymenoepimecis occur only in Neotropical region, being recognized for using as their hosts spiders which build orbicular webs. That wasp was described occurring only in the Guyana. This work expands the geographical distribution of the species to Brazil and records the spider Araneus omnicolor (Araneae, Araneidae) as its host. Furthermore, it provides information about the natural history of this interaction.

Distribución, características y procesamiento de la pesquería de centolla Lithodes panamensis.

El área de trabajo comprendió de 7°S a 16°S, en profundidades de 768 a 1506 m y distancia de la costa entre 19 y 44 mn. Se pescaron cuatro especies de centolla: Paralomis longipes (más representativa), Lithodes wiracocha, L. panamensis y Lopholithodes diomedeae. Las tallas en P. longipes variaron entre 69 y 172 mm, en L. wiracocha entre 39 y 145 mm, L. panamensis presentó un rango de 90 a 138 mm. En todos los ejemplares muestreados las hembras presentaron menores tamaños que los machos. Los desembarques mostraron una tendencia ascendente de diciembre a mayo, con mayores valores en abril (28.989 kg) y mayo (28.865 kg). El esfuerzo varió entre 132 y 377 lances por mes, mostrando los máximos valores en enero y mayo.

Monitoreo y marcación de invertebrados marinos, Callao, Perú, 2014

En los alrededores de la isla San Lorenzo, en el 2014, bimensualmente se efectuaron muestreos en siete estaciones, monitoreando a los bivalvos Argopecten purpuratus, Glycymeris ovata y los crustáceos Romaleon polyodon, Cancer coronatus, Cancer porteri y Hepatus chilensis; también, se efectuaron experimentos de marcación y recaptura para determinar tasas de crecimiento en A. purpuratus, G. ovata, Semele spp., Gari solida y Protothaca thaca. A. purpuratus fue más abundante a finales del año, periodo en el que (como en el 2013) se registraron mayores valores de oxígeno a nivel de fondo del mar. R. polyodon presentó tendencia creciente de la talla media y biomasa. C. coronatus fue observado frecuentemente al norte de la isla San Lorenzo con densidades máximas de 10,67 ejemplares.10min. El cangrejo Platymera gaudichaudii fue observado solo en diciembre con densidades medias de 24 ejemplares.10 min de buceo. Se marcaron 7214 ejemplares y recapturaron 2730 ejemplares. G. ovata tuvo el 80% de recaptura y A. purpuratus 24%. Las tasas de crecimiento presentaron tendencias decrecientes a mayores tallas en todas las especies. En G. ovata la tasa de crecimiento fue mayor en ejemplares liberados en La Pampa diferente al comportamiento en Cabinzas; también se observaron diferencias entre las almejas Semele spp. y Gari solida. La abundancia de G. ovata en mayo y setiembre fue de hasta 190 ejemplares y 648,6 g por m². Las mayores densidades se registraron al noroeste de la isla San Lorenzo, mayor incidencia de esta especie estuvo en el substrato formado por conchuela molida. El rendimiento de G. ovata fue mayor en el área La Pampa respecto a Cabinzas, Palomino y Mal Nombre.

Biología reproductiva de Platyxanthus orbignyi "Cangrejo violaceo" procedente de la caleta de Huanchaco - La Libertad durante el 2015

El objetivo es determinar las características reproductivas de Platyxanthus orbignyi “cangrejo violáceo”. La población en estudio estuvo constituida por los ejemplares de Platyxanthus orbignyi “cangrejo violáceo” capturados mediante los caballitos de totora en Huanchaco del Departamento de L a Libertad durante el año 2015. La muestra estuvo constituida por 1477 ejemplares, encontrándose 912 (61.75%) hembras y 565 (38.25%) machos, la proporción sexual global favoreció a las hembras con un valor de 2:1; en la proporción sexual a la talla se observó el predominio de hembras en tallas grandes. La talla de primera madurez sexual en hembras fue de 37 mm y en machos 39 mm. La talla de media de madurez sexual en hembras fue de 61 mm y de machos fue de 59 mm. El estadío de madurez sexual V de los ejemplares hembras predominó en el mes de Marzo con un 32.91% y de machos en el mes de Octubre con un 20.22%. El índice gonadosomático presentó variaciones con tendencias diferentes para cada género. El diámetro de los huevos varió de 466 μm (estadio I) a 575 μm (estadio IV). El porcentaje promedio de atresia fue de 8.52%. La fertilidad promedio, para el estadio IV, fue 105 462 huevos.

Crecimiento de Platyxanthus orbignyi "Cangrejo violaceo" procedente de la caleta de Huanchaco - La Libertad durante el 2015

Esta investigación se realizó para determinar el crecimiento de Platyxanthus orbignyi “cangrejo violáceo” capturados en la caleta de Huanchaco, ubicado en el distrito de Huanchaco, Provincia de Trujillo, Departamento La Libertad, durante el 2015. El objetivo fue determinar el crecimiento de P. orbignyi, la muestra estuvo constituida por 1477 ejemplares procedentes de las capturas que realizan los pescadores artesanales empleando caballitos de totora y trampas denominadas nasas. Estos muestreos fueron mensuales durante el año 2015. La relación entre longitud cefalotorácica (mm) y ancho cefalotorácico (mm) presentó diferencia estadística entre las líneas de regresión de ambos sexos, la relación entre el ancho cefalotorácico (mm) y peso total (g) mostró alometría en el crecimiento de hembras y machos, estadísticamente no se encontró diferencia entre los sexos. Mediante el método de Bhattacharya (1967) modificado por Pauly y Caddy (1985) se establecieron siete estados de muda para las hembras y nueve estados de muda para los machos. Según el criterio de Kurata (1962) se estableció que el crecimiento en ambos sexos es de tipo geométrico retrogresivo. Los parámetros calculados se ajustaron a la ecuación de von Bertalanffy.

A new species of Loxosceles (Araneae, Sicariidae) from Tunisia

A new species of the spider genus Loxosceles, L. mrazig sp. n., found in Tunisia is described and illustrated. The male bulb shows a high degree of morphological similarity to that of L. gaucho from Brazil, but the pro- portions of the palpal segments and the general colouration of the body reveal significant differences between the two species. A distance analysis of the sequences of the mitochondrial gene cox1 reveals that the specimen from Tunisia shows high genetic distance from L. gaucho (more than 20%). The American species L. gaucho and L. laeta form a sister group to the Mediterranean representatives (L. rufescens and the Tunisian specimen). Taxonomy, Araneae, Loxosceles, new species, Tunisia.

Unusual concentration of Early Albian arthropod-bearing amber in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (El Soplao, Cantabria, Spain): Palaeoenvironmental and paleobiological implications.

The El Soplao site is a recently-discovered Early Albian locality of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (northern Spain) that has yielded a number of amber pieces with abundant bioinclusions. The amber-bearing deposit occurs in a non-marine to transitional marine siliciclastic unit (Las Peñosas Formation) that is interleaved within a regressive-transgressive, carbonate-dominated Lower Aptian-Upper Albian marine sequence. The Las Peñosas Formation corresponds to the regressive stage of this sequence and in its turn it splits into two smaller regressive-transgressive cycles. The coal and amber-bearing deposits occur in deltaic-estuarine environments developed during the maximum regressive episodes of these smaller regressive-transgressive cycles. The El Soplao amber shows Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy spectra similar to other Spanish Cretaceous ambers and it is characterized by the profusion of sub-aerial, stalactite-like flows. Well-preserved plant cuticles assigned to the conifer genera Frenelopsis and Mirovia are abundant in the beds associated with amber. Leaves of the ginkgoalean genera Nehvizdya and Pseudotorellia also occur occasionally. Bioinclusions mainly consist of fossil insects of the orders Blattaria, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Raphidioptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, although some spiders and spider webs have been observed as well. Some insects belong to groups scarce in the fossil record, such as a new morphotype of the wasp Archaeromma (of the family Mymarommatidae) and the biting midge Lebanoculicoides (of the monogeneric subfamily Lebanoculicoidinae). This new amber locality constitutes a very significant finding that will contribute to improving the knowledge and comprehension of the Albian non-marine paleoarthropod fauna.

Contribution à l'écologie et la zoogéographie de Micropotamogale lamottei (Mammalia, Tenrecidae)

Eighty eight specimens of the West African Pigmy Otter shrew Micropotamogale lamottei were collected in Western Ivory Coast between 1971 and 1976. Most of the animals had been drowned accidentally bow-nets; four were live-trapped by the author. The Pigmy Otter shrew lives not only in swampy areas, as supposed by other authors, but also in small rivers and forest streams. The species is well adapted to its aquatic environment; it feeds mainly on fresh water crab and fish, swims well, is able to remain submerged for 10 to 15 minutes when alarmed, and grooms itself carefully and regularly. A survey carried out locally shows that the species is relatively common in the mountainous region surrounding Danané and Man, and further west in similar habitats of Liberia and Guinea. Its distribution in the Ivory Coast extends no more than 50 km around Danané-Man core-area. It is thought that living Potamogalinae stem from an early adaptative radiation of the Tenrecidae in continental Africa. Later on, the terrestrial forms were probably eliminated by competing Soricidae and Erinaceidae, their aquatic way of life enabling the Potamogalinae to survive until now.