Behaviour and Ecology of Neotropical Spiders : Contributions of Studies from the Neotropical Region

Within the last few decades, arachnology in the Neotropical region has experienced a great development filling the knowledge gap in one of the most diverse regions of the world. Nevertheless, large geographical areas remain poorly sampled, especially within the Amazon, and new genera and species have been continuously discovered, even in urban areas. In congruence with the recent improvements in research, several aspects of the ecology, behaviour and natural history of spiders, such as interactions with other predators and parasitoids, social interactions, dispersal patterns, habitat requirements, mating behaviors, among others, are being carefully investigated. These recent contributions incorporate substantial information on the preexisting knowledge on these subjects every year. Our main objective with this book is to present a summary on these new researches and on the currently knowledge on the main subjects involved in the general theme, emphasizing the contribution of the rich fauna of the Neotropical region to the research of behaviour and ecology of the spiders. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Curves, Maps and Hotspots: The Diversity and Distribution of Araneomorph Spiders in the Neotropics (Adalberto J. Santos, Antonio D. Brescovit, Márcia de Oliveira-Tomasi, Philip Russo, Ubirajara Oliveira)....Pages 1-28 Behavior and Biology of Mygalomorphae (Fernando Pérez-Miles, Carlos Perafán)....Pages 29-54 Neotropical Arachnological Collections: Basic Tools for the Development of Spider Research (Antonio D. Brescovit, Oscar Francke, Álvaro Laborda, Griselda Montiel Parra, Cristina Scioscia, Miguel Simó et al.)....Pages 55-84 Habitat Selection and Dispersal (Dinesh Rao)....Pages 85-108 Dispersal Strategies, Genetic Diversity, and Distribution of Two Wolf Spiders (Araneae, Lycosidae): Potential Bio-Indicators of Ecosystem Health of Coastal Dune Habitats of South America (Leticia Bidegaray-Batista, Miquel Arnedo, Ana Carlozzi, Carolina Jorge, Patricio Pliscoff, Rodrigo Postiglioni et al.)....Pages 109-135 Webs: Diversity, Structure and Function (Sean J. Blamires, Shichang Zhang, I-Min Tso)....Pages 137-164 Spider–Plant Interactions: An Ecological Approach (João Vasconcellos-Neto, Yuri Fanchini Messas, Hebert da Silva Souza, German Antonio Villanueva-Bonila, Gustavo Quevedo Romero)....Pages 165-214 Spiders as Plant Partners: Complementing Ant Services to Plants with Extrafloral Nectaries (Kleber Del-Claro, Vanessa Stefani, Larissa Nahas, Helena Maura Torezan-Silingardi)....Pages 215-226 Foraging Strategies of Cursorial and Ambush Spiders (Rodrigo H. Willemart, Mariángeles Lacava)....Pages 227-245 Trophic Niches and Trophic Adaptations of Prey-Specialized Spiders from the Neotropics: A Guide (Stano Pekár, Luis Fernando García, Carmen Viera)....Pages 247-274 Spiders Associated with Agroecosystems: Roles and Perspectives (Marco Antonio Benamú, Mariángeles Lacava, Luis Fernando García, Martín Santana, Carmen Viera)....Pages 275-302 Sexual Selection in Neotropical Spiders: Examples from Selected Groups (Luiz Ernesto Costa-Schmidt, María José Albo, Fedra Bollatti, Franco Cargnelutti, Lucía Calbacho-Rosa, Sofía Copperi et al.)....Pages 303-350 Parental Care and Sociality (Carmen Viera, Ingi Agnarsson)....Pages 351-381 Plasticity and Cognition in Spiders (Hilton F. Japyassú)....Pages 383-396 Anti-Predator Strategies (Felipe M. Gawryszewski)....Pages 397-415 Host Behavioural Manipulation of Spiders by Ichneumonid Wasps (Marcelo O. Gonzaga, Thiago G. Kloss, Jober F. Sobczak)....Pages 417-437 Annotation Within the last few decades, arachnology in the Neotropical region has experienced a great development filling the knowledge gap in one of the most diverse regions of the world. Nevertheless, large geographical areas remain poorly sampled, especially within the Amazon, and new genera and species have been continuously discovered, even in urban areas. In congruence with the recent improvements in research, several aspects of the ecology, behaviour and natural history of spiders, such as interactions with other predators and parasitoids, social interactions, dispersal patterns, habitat requirements, mating behaviors, among others, are being carefully investigated. These recent contributions incorporate substantial information on the preexisting knowledge on these subjects every year. Our main objective with this book is to present asummary on these new researches and on the currently knowledge on the main subjects involved in the general theme, emphasizing the contribution of the rich fauna of the Neotropical region to the research of behaviour and ecology of the spiders