A new species of the genus Charinus Simon, 1892 is described from caves in the Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. This is the first record of the genus for the state. This paper presents a map of the Charinus species distribution in Brazil with new records and a map of potential distribution of the genus in South and Central Americas. An updated key for Charinus species from Brazil is also presented.
A new species of the genus Charinus Simon 1892 from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described. Charinus jihaossu sp. n. is morphologically close to C. mysticus Giupponi & Kury 2002 and shows both a marked secondary sexual dimorphism in the pedipalps and an interesting polymorphism in the spines of the distitarsus. The new species is endangered because it inhabits a region highly impacted by mining activities.
Moderate dietary restriction often prolongs life in laboratory animals, and this response has been interpreted as an adaptive strategy that promotes survival during famine. However, dietary restriction can also increase frailty, and it therefore remains unclear whether restricted diets prolong life under stressful conditions like those experienced by wild animals. We manipulated adult dietary protein of Drosophila melanogaster across a gradient of ambient temperature. We found that protein restriction increased longevity of both sexes at benign ambient temperatures (25-27°C), but failed to extend or even reduced longevity of flies maintained in cold (21-23°C) or hot (29°C) conditions. Protein restriction also generally reduced reproductive performance, and did not consistently enhance performance of F1, F2 or F3 descendants. Our results challenge the long-held idea that extended longevity of diet-restricted laboratory animals represents an adaptive survival strategy in natural populations, and suggest instead that this response is an artefact of benign laboratory conditions.
Moderate dietary restriction often prolongs life in laboratory animals, and this response has been interpreted as an adaptive strategy that promotes survival during famine. However, dietary restriction can also increase frailty, and it therefore remains unclear whether restricted diets prolong life under stressful conditions like those experienced by wild animals.
We manipulated adult dietary protein of Drosophila melanogaster across a gradient of ambient temperature, and examined effects on survival. To test for trade‐offs, we also quantified reproduction, and performance of F1, F2 and F3 descendants.
We found that protein restriction increased longevity of one or both sexes at benign ambient temperatures (25°C and 27°C), but failed to extend longevity of flies maintained in cold (21°C and 23°C) or hot (29°C) conditions. Instead, in females, protein restriction resulted in strongly elevated mortality at cold temperatures. Protein restriction also generally reduced reproductive performance, and did not consistently enhance performance of F1, F2 or F3 descendants.
Taken together, our results challenge the long‐held idea that extended longevity of diet‐restricted laboratory animals represents an adaptive survival strategy in natural populations. Our findings suggest instead that this response is an artefact of benign laboratory conditions, and that DR‐induced life extension might not be achieved in the more stressful conditions experienced in the wild.
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Two new species of the genus Charinus are described from caves of Brazil: Charinus spelaeus sp. n., the fourth described species of the genus for the state of Minas Gerais, and Charinus santanensis sp. n., the sixth described species of the genus for the state of Bahia. Charinus spelaeus sp. n. has reduced median and lateral eyes, and is the sixth troglobitic Charinus described for Brazil. We present here an updated key and a distribution map for all the Brazilian species of Charinus.
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