Breaking the cliché: Sex reversal in size dimorphism and mobility in South American Allocosinae (Lycosidae) spiders

AISENBERG, ANITA; BOLLATTI, FEDRA; OVIEDO DIEGO, MARIELA; ALBIN, ANDREA; ALVES-DÍAS, MARCELO; ARNEDO, MIQUEL; BRESCOVIT, ANTONIO; CASACUBERTA, MARCELO; CAVASSA, DIEGO; GONNET, VERONICA; IZQUIERDO, MATÍAS; LABORDA, ALVARO; PIACENTINI, LUIS; PLISCOFF, PATRICIO; POSTIGLIONI, RODRIGO; SIMÓ, MIGUEL; TEXEIRA, RENATO; BIDEGARAY-BATISTA, LETICIA

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

0024-4066

Though typically females and males are expected to have characteristic sexual strategies andsize dimorphism patterns, these generalizations are subject to exceptions. The occurrence of these atypical cases has been related with species or populations from stressful environments,under strong physical, ecological and/or social constraints. Allocosa marindia and A. senex aretwo coastal spiders (Allocosinae, Lycosidae) with reversal in sex roles and sexual sizedimorphism. Males are larger than females, and females are the mobile sex that initiatescourtship. It is unclear whether the occurrence of non-typical sexual traits in Allocosinae spidersis correlated with stressful coastal habitats. Our aim was to study sexual size dimorphism andsurface mobility in Allocosinae spiders from different habitats along South America. Werevised specimens from scientific collections and performed 3-day samplings to collectindividuals and determine nocturnal surface mobility. We analyzed a total of 1071 Allocosinae inhabiting coastal habitats with reversal in sexual size dimorphism and higher nocturnal surfaceactivity in females; however, not all coastal species shared those characteristics. Future studieswill focus on studying other ecological, physiological and/or phylogenetical factors that couldbe shaping the origin and maintenance of sex role reversal in Allocosinae.