Araneae of Canada

A new species of Alopecosa (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Canada: a morphological description supported by DNA barcoding of 19 congeners.

A new species, Alopecosa koponeni sp. n., is described from the Arctic part of Manitoba. Individuals of A. koponeni most resemble those of A. pictilis (Emerton, 1885), but are smaller than the latter and differ in the epiginum and in colour pattern in both sexes. DNA barcode results show an interspecific distance of 0.93 between A. koponeni sp. n. and A. pictilis, a shallow genetic divergence t...

Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Israel.

This checklist records 631 spider species and subspecies belonging to 49 families in Israel. Species distributions are given in both generalised (by main geographic areas of the country) and detailed (by localities) form. Twenty-seven records are considered as doubtful and another ten are based on misidentifications. A historical survey is provided. Each record is presented in its original comb...

‘Rectangular orb’ webs of Synotaxus (Araneae: Theridiidae)

Defaecation behaviour of Argiope aurantia (Araneae: Araneidae)

We examined the defaecation behaviour of Argiope aurantia both in natural situations and in a greenhouse. The spiders defaecated more frequently at night than during the day. The nightly pattern of defaecation was not related to time of feeding. A. aurantia displayed at least two distinct behaviours related to defaecation, one of which involved leaving the web. These results are discussed in re...

Rapd Profiling of Spider (araneae) Dna

We present protocols and conditions for specimen storage, DNA extraction and storage, and the subsequent RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) profiling of spiders . Three common UK species, Lepthyphantes tenuis (Blackwall 1852), Enoplognatha ovata (Clerk 1757) and Clubiona reclusa (Cambridge 1863), members of the Linyphiidae, Theridiidae and Clubionidae respectively, were chosen to serve as ...