Topic
Latrodectus pallidus
About: Latrodectus pallidus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6 publications have been published within this topic receiving 98 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Different behavioural characters of the investigated webs support the view that L. revivensis represents a species different from L. mactans tredecimguttatus, and indicate that their behavioural characters are more distinct than the morphological ones.
Abstract: The web structure and the web spinning process of Latrodectus tredecimguttatus Rossi, Latrodectus pallidus Cambridge and Latrodectus revivensis Shulov have been investigated, particular attention being given to the structure of their catching webs.
The webs of Latrodectus represent a further development of the web-type of Archaeranea tepidariorum. The specific characters of the investigated webs concern the middle layer of their three-layer webs, where more or less regular structures appear.
In the middle layer of L. tredecimguttatus web paths of hexagonal meshes appear.
In the web of L. pallidus and L. revivensis more or less regular radially arranged catching platforms appear, connected with the distant retreat by a long bridge-web.
The lower layer of vertical threads, with viscid droplets on their far ends is spread-out in L. tredecimguttatus and consists of short threads as distinct from the concentrated bundle of high threads in the two other species.
Since L. pallidus and L. revivensis appear usually among vegetation, their restricted catching webs seem to be adaptive adjustment to the biotope.
The concentration of the catching webs brings about improvement as regards prey detection.
The differences in the web structure of L. tredecimguttatus and L. revivensis indicate that their behavioural characters are more distinct than the morphological ones. The different behavioural characters support the view that L. revivensis represents a species different from L. mactans tredecimguttatus.
42 citations
TL;DR: The 12,000 spiders used in the investigations belonged to the species L. mactans, and three species of this genus ought to be considered as fundamental species: L. pallidus, L. hystrix and L. geometricus.
Abstract: Accidents caused by the bite of spiders of the genus Latrodectus have been known since olden times (22), being rather frequent in the United States, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina (Latrodectus mactans); Australia and New Zealand (Latrodectus hasseltii); Italy, Spain and Russia (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus); South Africa (Latrodectus indistinctus) and Madagascar (Latrodectus menavodi). In Argentina we have recorded hundreds of cases (Latrodectus mactans).
Eight species of this genus have been described: Latrodectus pallidus (Cambridge, 1872); L. hystrix (Simon, 1889); L. tredecimguttatus (Rossi, 1770); L. geometricus (Koch, 1841); L. foliatus (Mello Leitao, 1940); L. concinnus (Cambridge, 1905); L. indistinctus (Cambridge, 1905) and L. mactans (Fabricius, 1775). L. pallidus, L. hystrix, L. geometricus and L. mactans ought to be considered as fundamental species (11). The 12,000 spiders used in our investigations belonged to the species L. mactans (Gerschman and Schiapelli). We also experimented with L. geometricus.
11 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Adult males normally do not feed, have extremely high extrinsic mortality rates during mate search, and mate only once, hence they are less likely to benefit from increased lifespan in terms of future reproductive success, so they are not expected to respond to dietary restriction by increased lifespan.
Abstract: Question: Do web-building spider males respond to dietary restriction by increased lifespan, as is observed in many other organisms? Hypothesis: Adult males normally do not feed, have extremely high extrinsic mortality rates during mate search, and mate only once, hence they are less likely to benefit from increased lifespan in terms of future reproductive success. Accordingly, they are not expected to respond to dietary restriction by increased lifespan. Organism: Adult white widow spider (Latrodectus pallidus) males. Methods: Virgin adult males were kept on a low diet or fed ad libitum. Longevity of males was recorded. Results: As opposed to our predictions we found that food-restricted male spiders survived longer than males that fed ad libitum.
10 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Toxic components of the Latrodectus pallidus spider venom were isolated and characterized, and their high structural homology with previously studiedalpha-latrotoxin and alpha-latroinsectotoxin from L. mactans tredecimguttatus was found.
Abstract: Toxic components of the Latrodectus pallidus spider venom were isolated and characterized. The venom was shown to contain a toxin specific for mammals and at least one insectospecific toxin. Partial amino acid sequences of both toxins were determined, and their high structural homology with previously studied alpha-latrotoxin and alpha-latroinsectotoxin from L. mactans tredecimguttatus was found.
1 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2006 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 |
| 1986 | 1 |
| 1965 | 1 |
| 1943 | 1 |