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Many problems for a solo mother: maternal care efficiency of the ghost spider of new genus Eldar (Araneae: Anyphaenidae, Anyphaeninae) against new species Pseudogaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae)

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Abstract

Parental care in nature can present itself in different forms and vary in intensities and strategies, being maternal care one of the widely observed patterns in animals. In spiders, parental investment is carried out mainly by females. Despite this, newly hatched eggs can still be targets of a series of natural enemies. In a remnant of Atlantic Forest in Brazil, females of the spider Eldar galadrielae sp. nov., family Anyphaenidae, build nests at the forest’s edge by folding plant leaves. However, information about the plants chosen for nest, the importance of maternal care by females in offspring survival, and predators are completely unknown. In this study, we (1) presented new information about the nest built by females of Eldar galadrielae sp. nov.; (2) compared the predation rate on eggs of the spider Eldar galadrielae in nests with and without the presence of the female; (3) provided morphological descriptions and distribution maps to the genus Eldar gen. nov. as well as presenting; and (4) the described Pseudogaurax vasconcellosi sp. nov. as the predator of the spider eggs. This is the first report on an interaction between Pseudogaurax flies and Anyphaenidae spiders. Our results support predation rates higher in female-less Eldar galadrielae sp. nov. nests. Although egg consumption was 100% in nests attacked by flies, overall nest predation rate was low, as flies were only recorded in three of the 12 nests that maintained female care, indicating that active protection of egg sacs by females can increase the offspring’s chances of survival.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Beatriz Mauricio from Laboratório de Biologia Estrutural e Funcional of Instituto Butantan for help with SEM images and for all curators of the collections by allowing access to specimens.

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento (FUNCAP) under Grant 150272/2023–5 to GAVB; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) under Grant 88887.597583/2021–00 to GAVB; and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under Grant 2023/15885–0 to LFMO; São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under Grant 2022/12588–1 to ADB, and Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico under Grant 303903/2019–8 to ADB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla

  2. Laboratório de Coleções Zoológicas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando Moura de Oliveira & Antonio Domingos Brescovit

  3. Museum Für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany

    Paula Raile Riccardi

  4. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla & João Vasconcellos-Neto

  5. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Lílian de Andrade Santiago

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Villanueva-Bonilla, G.A., de Oliveira, L.F.M., Brescovit, A.D. et al. Many problems for a solo mother: maternal care efficiency of the ghost spider of new genus Eldar (Araneae: Anyphaenidae, Anyphaeninae) against new species Pseudogaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae). Sci Nat 112, 33 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-025-01982-4

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