Together but not intertwined: differences in sexual behavior between two sympatric and synchronized spider species, including one new synonymy (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Tetragnatha)

FRANCO CARGNELUTTI; FEDRA BOLLATTI; MATIAS IZQUIERDO; PEDRO CASTANHEIRA; RENNER LUIZ CERQUEIRA BAPTISTA; GILBERT BARRANTES; AISENBERG, ANITA

JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY

AMER ARACHNOLOGICAL SOC

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2022

0161-8202

Speciesrecognition and reproductive isolation are critical for organisms to preventexpensive and unsuccessful matings. This may be particularly important inclosely related species that coexist synchronously in the same habitat, and forwhich reproductive barriers are not entirely effective. T. argentinensis Mello-Leitão, 1931 and T. nitens (Audouin, 1826). aretwo long-jawed orb weaver spiders whose feeding grounds and reproductivephenology overlap extensively. Since general patterns of sexual behavior observedin the field showed no apparent differences between these two species, we proposed to evaluate the occurrence ofheterospecific mating, and explored the occurrence of potential reproductiveisolation mechanisms between them by analyzing in fine scale mating behaviorson each species and sex. We observed only one heterospecific mating, and littleor no sexual interactions occurred in other crossed trials. We found thatboth species showed similar general mating patterns, however, there are some subtledifferences between them. In T. nitensmales clasped the female´s chelicerae with their own, but the opposite occurredin T. argentinensis. Moreover, malesof T. nitens produced less hematodochalinflations, lower number of flubs, and shorter insertions than males of T. argentinensis. Females of T. argentinensis vibrated their abdomenat a higher rate. Our results indicatethat these sympatric Tetragnathaspecies have successful reproductive isolation that probably occurs throughrecognition mechanisms occurring prior to mating. We provide a short noteon the taxonomic status of T.argentinensis, an update of its distribution, and a new junior synonymy.