Publication details
Evolution of ant-eating specialization in the basal lineage of Zodariidae (Araneae): the trophic ecology of South American Leprolochus birabeni Mello-Leitao
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/bly034 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/bly034 |
| Keywords | Araneae; specialist;Zodariidae |
| Description | Most spiders are euryphagous predators. However, there are also a few species with a stenophagous diet, foraging on only a single prey taxon. This strategy could have resulted from ecological opportunity or from evolutionary specialization, which is typical for phylogenetically advanced species. In Zodariidae, myrmecophagy is considered a derived trophic strategy. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the trophic ecology of Leprolochus birabeni (Zodariidae), whose rather basal position in the phylogeny predicts euryphagy. |
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