Huntsman spiders of the family Sparassidae are found throughout Brazil. While adults can grow to large sizes, with a leg span of up to six inches, juvenile spiders are only a few millimeters long. This may explain why the new species, which grew from the necks of young huntsman spiders in the archives of an institute in Brazil, remained undiscovered for so long.
It was only through careful analysis that researchers from the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, noticed that one young Hunter in their zoological collection was carrying some unwanted cargo.
They realized that the spider was “wearing” a ring of spheres around its neck, like a lumpy decoration. Now the research team has published a paper showing that this “necklace” was made from the larvae of an entirely new species.
The article was published in the magazine International Journal of Acarology.
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Parasites do not spare spiders
Spiders, like many animals, become victims of parasitic predators. These parasites can be scary—some parasitic fungi become infected. spiders in zombies interfering with their nervous system, while others just want a free meal. Spider mite larvae, similar to representatives of the genus Araneothrombium, they grow fat on fluids secreted from the bodies of spiders.
This genus was first described from Costa Rica in 2017. Spider mites are difficult to detect as adults.
“It is not uncommon for this group of mites to recognize many species of parasites only through their larvae, since as adults they become free-living predators, living in the soil and feeding on small insects and even other mites, making them very difficult to detect,” said Ricardo Bassini-Silva, researcher and curator of the Acarological Collection at the Butantan Institute, who co-authored the paper, in the paper. press release.
Despite the country's extensive spider ecology, only one spider mite has previously been discovered in Brazil. These early ticks Charletonia rock, belonged to a completely different family.
Studying a parasitic spider under a microscope
Researchers have named the new species Araneothrombium brasiliensis and used light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to study the samples in detail. The ticks were about half a millimeter long and were filled with lymph, the fluid that flows through spiders'bodies.
These were attached around the spiders' heads so they could access the stipe, the area between the spiders' cephalothorax, where the Hunter has two rows of four eyes, and their abdomen.
“This is the most vulnerable area of the spider because other parts have a lot of chitin, which forms an exoskeleton that is difficult for the mite fangs to penetrate,” Bassini-Silva said. Spider mites have burrowed into very young spiders, which may be more vulnerable to parasites.
Bassini-Silva and his team found a parasite-infested spiders in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in the municipality of Pinheiral. The spiders were discovered near a network of caves and grottoes, in the same place where Bassini-Silva and his colleagues had previously found them. Charletonia Rocky samples.
They published this earlier discovery in 2022 in the journal International Journal of Acarology. Charletonia Rocky not only parasitizes spiders, but also targets at least two different orders of insects, suggesting that other animals may also be targeted by the insects. Araneothrombium brasiliensis.
“However, Brazil has more than 3,000 species of spiders and has enormous potential for the discovery of new parasitic mites,” Bassini-Silva said. The discovery of a tick in Brazil suggests that these species may be present, hidden throughout. spiders'neck, in many other tropical countries.
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