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Colony distribution of the social spiderAnelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae) in French Guiana

Répartition des colonies d'une araignée socialeAnelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae)

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Summary

Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae) is a social neotropical spider which occupies the rain-forests of South America. Each colony counts one to several nests connected by silk threads. Thousands of individuals of both sexes, as well as immatures, may inhabit, repair and clean a single web and cooperate in prey capture, while the females alone monitor egg-sacs and young individuals.

In French Guiana,Anelosimus eximius colonies were found along roads and rivers in primary and secondary forests. The colonies were mapped along two laterite roads, and their type of distribution was analyzed as well as the relation between the size of the colony and the distance to its nearest neighbour.

We found one hundred colonies along the two roads. Analysis of nearest neighbour distances (Goodness of fit test) shows an aggregative distribution of the colonies along these two roads. Furthermore, it was found that colonies form “colony complexes” — a large colony (five or more nests) surrounded by small colonies — althought isolated colonies were also found.

These results are discussed by referring to the different modes of colony foundation known in this spider species.

Resume

Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae) est une araignée sociale qui occupe les forêts tropicales humides d'Amérique du Sud. Elle vit en groupes pouvant compter plusieurs milliers d'individus des deux sexes et de toutes classes d'âge. Chaque colonie compte de un à plusieurs nids reliés par des structures soyeuses. Un nid se compose d'une nappe de soie en forme de hamac, surmontée d'un réseau de fils accrochés aux structures végétales.

En Guyane française, nous n'avons trouvé ces colonies que le long des fleuves et des pistes, mais pas à l'intérieur de la forêt. Certains mécanismes de la dispersion des colonies sont connus, mais il n'y a pas à l'heure actuelle, de données sur la distribution des colonies dans leur biotope. Dans cet article, à partir de la cartographie de populations de colonies de cette espèce, nous avons analysé leur type de distribution et essayé de voir dans quelle mesure les données sur la dispersion permettaient de comprendre ces distributions.

L'analyse des distances au plus proche voisin pour chaque colonie (Goodness of fit test) séparément pour chaque population, a montré que dans les deux cas, la distribution est de type agrégatif. En fait les colonies sont regroupées en complexes (comprenant jusqu'à 25 colonies) constitués d'une à 5 grandes colonies (ayant plus de 5 nids) entourées par un certain nombre de petites. Néanmoins, en dehors de ces complexes, nous avons trouvé des colonies isolées, séparées de plusieurs centaines de mètres, voire plusieurs km de toute autre colonie.

En conclusion, nous avons essayé d'expliquer comment à partir des modes de dispersion connus, nous pouvions avoir une telle distribution des colonies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie du Comportement, Université de Nancy I, B. B. 239, F 54506, Vandœuvre-les-Nancy Cedex

    A. Pasquet & B. Krafft

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  1. A. Pasquet
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  2. B. Krafft
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Pasquet, A., Krafft, B. Colony distribution of the social spiderAnelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae) in French Guiana. Ins. Soc 36, 173–182 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02226302

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