Spiders from the Island of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil: Part III: Gnaphosidae (Araneae: Arachnida)

Abstract

The female of Zimiromus hortenciae Buckup & Brescovit, 1993 is described for the first time and Trachyzelotes kulczynskii (Bösemberg, 1902), a species introduced from Europe, is recorded for the first time on the island of Fernando de Noronha, state of Pernambuco. The latter, along with T. lyonneti (Audouim, 1826) recorded from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is the second species of this genus to be reported from Brazil. The spiders were collected with pitfall traps in five points of the island. Ecological data showed that Gnaphosidae was the fifth best sampled spider family, with 179 specimens, belonging to two species, T. kulczynskii and Z. hortenciae. Trachyzelotes kulczynskii was the most abundant with 118 adults while Z. hortenciae was represented by only 21 adults. Both species were collected during the dry and wet seasons but T. kulczynskii was more abundant during the wet season while Z. hortenciae was more abundant during the dry season. The male:female ratio for the dry season was similar for both species but in the wet season it was three times higher for T. kulczynskii.

Spider Diversity on the Oceanic Island of Fernando De Noronha, Brazil, and Implications for Species Conservation

“…This inventory revealed several new species, some of which have now been described ( Ruiz et al 2007 ; Brescovit et al 2008 ; Rodrigues et al 2008 ) or are under description. Prior to this study, only two species had been registered in Fernando de Noronha Island, Cheiracanthium inclusum ( Bonaldo and Brescovit 1992 ) and Umnara pydanieli ( Brescovit 1997 ).…”

“…One of the most severe impacts affecting arthropod populations on islands comes from non-native species, as extinctions attributed to alien species invasion have been documented ( Miller and Eldredge 1996 ). Despite the protected status of Fernando de Noronha, domestic and international tourism grow rapidly, and this may be followed by the introduction of exotic invertebrate species ( Freitas and Vasconcelos 2008 ). It is notable that from the five most abundant species, four are indisputably non-native (e.g., Trachyzelotes kalczynskii (Bösenberg) (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), B. cubana).…”

Spiders of Fernando de Noronha Island. Part I: Linyphiidae

“…This inventory revealed several new species, some of which have now been described (Ruiz et al 2007;Brescovit et al 2008;Rodrigues et al 2008) or are under description. Prior to this study, only two species had been registered in Fernando de Noronha Island, Cheiracanthium inclusum (Bonaldo and Brescovit 1992) and Umuara pydanieli (Brescovit 1997).…”