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1 August 2012 Gregarious behavior of two species of Neotropical harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)
Marie-Claire Chelini, Rodrigo H. Willemart, Pedro Gnaspini
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Abstract

We present the first record and description of the gregarious behavior of the Neotropical harvestmen Serracutisoma proximum (Mello-Leitão 1922) and Serracutisoma spelaeum (Mello-Leitão 1933) (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae: Goniosomatinae) (DaSilva & Gnaspini 2010). We followed and described the pattern of these aggregations over a period of 17 months in a cave in southeastern Brazil. Individuals of the two species aggregated with both conspecifics and heterospecifics during the non-reproductive season (i.e., from October to March, the cool and dry season). Aggregations contained up to 81 individuals, usually with a female-biased adult sex ratio. Multispecific aggregations were usually composed mainly of representatives of one of the two species, suggesting that although these species also aggregate with heterospecifics, there is a preference for aggregating with conspecifics. This study provides novel information on the social behavior of harvestmen, specifically regarding the composition of multispecific aggregations.

Marie-Claire Chelini, Rodrigo H. Willemart, and Pedro Gnaspini "Gregarious behavior of two species of Neotropical harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)," The Journal of Arachnology 40(2), 256-258, (1 August 2012). https://doi.org/10.1636/Hi11-12.1
Received: 14 February 2011; Published: 1 August 2012
KEYWORDS
aggregations
Goniosomatinae
Serracutisoma proximum
Serracutisoma spelaeum
social behavior
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