—Mass-action models of predator-prey interactions assume that predators encounter prey according to their relative densities as scaled by functional responses, although models seldom specify critical natural history and behavioral mechanisms that ensure that encounters actually occur. As a case study of this assumption, we assess the hypothesis that daily and seasonal activity and microhabitat ...

Terrestrial predators have been shown to aggregate along stream margins during periods when the emergence of adult aquatic insects is high. Such aggregation may be especially evident when terrestrial surroundings are relatively unproductive, and there are steep productivity gradients across riparia. In tropical forests, however, the productivity of inland terrestrial habitats may decrease the r...

This catalogue lists 1,084 species of spiders (three identified to genus only) in 311 genera from 53 families currently recorded from Texas and is based on the "Bibliography of Texas Spiders" published by Bea Vogel in 1970. The online list of species can be found at http://pecanspiders.tamu.edu/spidersoftexas.htm. Many taxonomic revisions have since been published, particularly in the families ...

Many species of the orb-web spider genus Cyclosa often adorn their webs with decorations of prey remains, egg sacs and/or plant detritus, termed ;detritus decorations'. These detritus decorations have been hypothesised to camouflage the spider from predators or prey and thus reduce predation risk or increase foraging success. In the present study, we tested these two alternative hypotheses simu...

How has the environment at the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme influenced your work? We develop and use high resolution, dynamic, quantitative readouts of behavior. This is a real strength at the institute and strongly resonates with me due to the approach I developed while working on the cell biology of trachea morphogenesis. For me, biology is about regulating dynamic processes and if you...

References 1. Buss, L.W. (1987). The Evolution of Individuality (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press). 2. Bonner, J.T. (1967). The Cellular Slime Molds, Second Edition (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press). 3. Buss, L.W. (1982). Somatic cell parasitism and the evolution of somatic tissue compatibility. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 5337–5341. 4. Kessin, R.H. (2001)....

While published data on fungal and rickettsial infections of spiders give the impression of a wide range of hosts infected by particular agents, field collections of trapdoor spiders from East Asia reveal a clear distinction: representatives of Mesothelae were infected by rickettsiae, while specimens of the genus Latouchia (Mygalomorphae, Ctenizidae) were found to be infected by the hyphomycete...

1. Predation risk to insects is often sizeor stage-selective and usually decreases as prey grow. Any factor, such as food quality, that accelerates developmental and growth rates is likely to reduce the period over which prey are susceptible to size-dependent predation. 2. Using field experiments, several hypotheses that assess growth, development, and egg production rates of the rangeland gras...

Hemoscorpius lepturus is the most medically important scorpion in Iran. The clinical signs of H. lepturus envenomation are remarkably similar to those reported for brown spiders, including dermonecrosis, hematuria, renal failure and even death. The lethality and toxicity of brown spiders' venom have been attributed to its phospholipase D activity. This study aims to identify a phospholipase D w...

The evolution of specialized tissues with novel functions, such as the silk synthesizing glands in spiders, is likely an influential driver of adaptive success. Large-scale gene duplication events and subsequent paralog divergence are thought to be required for generating evolutionary novelty. Such an event has been proposed for spiders, but not tested. We de novo assembled transcriptomes from ...