Past geological and climatological processes shape extant biodiversity. In the Hawaiian Islands, these processes have provided the physical environment for a number of extensive adaptive radiations. Yet, single species that occur throughout the islands provide some of the best cases for understanding how species respond to the shifting dynamics of the islands in the context of colonization hist...

An annotated checklist of identified oribatid mites from Cuba, including 16 species, 9 genera and 4 families, is provided. Three new species, Prototritia triangularibus Niedbała sp. nov. (Protoplophoridae), Hoplophthiracarus vinalesensis Niedbała sp. nov. and Protophthiracarus paratripartitus Niedbała sp. nov. (both Steganacaridae), are described from leaf litter. Three species of the subgenus ...

The impact of daily temperature variations on arthropod life history remains woefully understudied compared to the large body of research that has been carried out on the effects of constant temperatures. However, diurnal varying temperature regimes more commonly represent the environment in which most organisms thrive. Such varying temperature regimes have been demonstrated to substantially af...

The diversity, abundance, spatial distribution, and phenology of the mygalomorph spider community in the "Ernesto Tornquist" Strict Nature Reserve were analyzed in this study. Located in southwestern Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Reserve is representative of the Ventania system, which is a sigmoidal mountain belt 180 km in length. This exceptional hilly ecosystem is home for many endemic species...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180658.].

Functional and numerical responses of the predatory mite, Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to the red spider mite, Oligonychus coffeae Nietner (Acari: Tetranychidae), infesting tea were determined in a laboratory on leaf discs. Prey consumption increased with increases in temperature and prey density. Handling time decreased and successful attack rate increased with increa...

Many cryptic species have been discovered in various taxonomic groups based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and mating experiments. Some sympatric cryptic species share equivalent resources, which contradicts the competitive exclusion principle. Two major theories have been proposed to explain the apparent lack of competitive exclusion, i.e. niche-based coexistence and neutral model, but a c...

Predator-experienced individuals often change their predation avoidance response when they re-encounter the same predators or their cues. Recent reports show that behavioural change sometimes occurs even before the re-encounter. To function as an adaptive strategy in the wild, such prospective experience-induced behaviour should change flexibly in response to changing situations. We assessed fl...

A study in spider mites confirms predictions that males and females come into conflict over optimal sex allocation when local mate competition affects sex allocation in haplodiploid species.

ITTAI HERRMANN†, MICHAEL BERENSTEIN‡, AMIT SADE§, ARNON KARNIELI∗†, DAVID J. BONFIL¶ and PHYLLIS G. WEINTRAUB| †The Remote Sensing Laboratory, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker, Israel ‡The Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel §Biobee Ltd., Sde Eliyahu, Israel ¶F...