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Zodariellum asiaticum (Tyschchenko 1970) is an ant-eating spider from Central Asia. Using five syntopically occurring ant species, namely Cataglyphis aenescens, Formica cunicularia (both Formicinae), Messor aralocaspius, Tetramorium caespitum (both Myrmicinae), and Tapinoma erraticum (Dolichoderinae) in a laboratory study of preycapture behavior, I evaluated capture frequency, attack latency, number of attacks, and paralysis latency. Although spiders captured all five ant species, capture efficiency varied when spiders were tested with the different ant species, being highest when the spiders were tested with F. cunicularia. I concluded that small juvenile Z. asiaticum probably adapt to feed primarily on species of small dolichoderine and myrmicine ants and that large juvenile and the adult Z. asiaticum adapt to feed primarily on large formicine ants.
Citation
Pekár S. (2009): Capture efficiency of an ant-eating spider, Zodariellum asiaticum (Araneae: Zodariidae), from Kazakhstan. J. Arachnol. 37: 388–381.Gallery
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