A New Darwin Wasp (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and New Records of Behavioral Manipulation of the Host Spider Leucauge volupis (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)

Behavioral Modification of Leucauge mariana Induced by an Ichneumonid Spider-Parasitoid, Hymenoepimecis castilloi, in the Colombian Andes

“…However, unlike those of H. tedfordi , the H. castilloi cocoon webs exhibited an irregular structure instead of being planar. Also, the sparse tangle below cocoon web type was previously reported in other species like H. pinheirensis parasitizing L. volupis (Kloss et al 2022 ). However, the two simpler cocoon webs found away from the web aggregates for H. castilloi (Fig.…”

“…The complete lack of adhesive spirals and the increase of lines connected to vegetation in order to reinforce the modified web of L. mariana were observed in all interactions between Leucauge and Hymenoepimecis wasps (Eberhard 2001 ; Sobczak et al 2009 ; Gonzaga et al 2015 ; Pádua et al 2016 ; Santos-Murgas et al 2022 ; Kloss et al 2022 ). We suggest that these features of cocoon webs may promote protection against scavenging arthropods, stability against climate conditions, and flying insect strikes, as previously observed in cocoon webs built by Agelena silvatica Thorell (Araneae: Agelenidae: formerly A. limbata ) (Matsumoto 2009 ), L. volupis (Gonzaga et al 2015 ), and by spiders of genus Cyclosa Menge (Araneae: Araneidae) (Matsumoto and Konishi 2007 ; Takasuka et al 2015 ; Kloss et al 2016 ).…”

“…This genus includes 28 species, which are distributed in low and mid altitudes from tropical Mexico to northern Argentina (Yu et al 2016 ; Pádua et al 2020 ; Pádua 2022 ). Information about host behavior modification was described to 12 species, associated with spiders of the Araneidae and Tetragnathidae families (Eberhard and Gonzaga 2019 ; Gaione-Costa et al 2022 ; Kloss et al 2022 ; Santos-Murgas et al 2022 ), especially of the genus Leucauge White (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) (Eberhard 2000a , b ; Sobczak et al 2009 ; Eberhard 2013 ; Gonzaga et al 2015 ; Pádua et al 2016 ; Gaione-Costa et al 2022 ; Kloss et al 2022 ; Santos-Murgas et al 2022 ).…”

“…Some species of Hymenoepimecis were observed using two host species, such as H. heidyae Gauld, H. japi Sobczak et al, H. bicolor (Brullé), and H. veranii Loffredo & Penteado-Dias (Gonzaga and Sobczak 2007 ; Sobczak et al 2014; Barrantes et al 2018 ; Eberhard and Gonzaga 2019 ; Gonzaga et al 2022 ) as well as two wasp species using the same host, such as H. cameroni Townes and H. pinheirensis Penteado-Dias & Pádua parasitizing L. volupis (Keyserling) (Gaione-Costa et al 2022 ; Kloss et al 2022 ). Cocoon web induced by these species showed variations in their web design, which have been associated with host traits.…”

“…Cocoon web induced by these species showed variations in their web design, which have been associated with host traits. In addition, variations in web design were described among parasitized individuals of host species L. volupis (Keyserling), parasitized by H. pinheirensis Townes wasp (Gonzaga et al 2015 ; Kloss et al 2022 ). The key to understanding the mechanism of manipulation can be associated with the increase of knowledge about interactions of wasps with multiple hosts.…”