Check list of the Hungarian Salticidae with biogeographical notes

An updated check list of the Hungarian jumping spider fauna is presented. 70, species are recorded from Hungary so far. Four species are new to the Hungarian fauna: Hasarius adansoni, Neon valentulus, Sitticus caricis, Synageles subcingulatus. With 12 original drawings

Coexistence Patterns Between Ants And Spiders In Grassland Habitats

The ecological importance of both ants and spiders is well known, as well as the relationship between certain spiders and ants. The two main strategies ˗ myrmecomorphy (ant-mimicking) and myrmecophagy (ant-eating) ˗ that connect spiders to ants have been mostly studied at the behavioural level. However, less is known about how these relationships manifest at the ecological level by shaping the distribution of populations and assemblages. Our question was how ant-mimicking and ant-eating spiders associate with ant genera as revealed by field co-occurrence patterns. For both spider groups we examined strength and specificity of the association, and how it is affected by ant size and defence strategy. To study spider-ant association patterns we carried out pitfall sampling on the dolomitic Sas Hill located in Budapest, Hungary. Spiders and ants were collected at eight grassland locations by operating five pitfalls/location continuously for two years. To find co-occurrence patterns, two approaches were used: correlation analyses to uncover possible spider-ant pairs, and null-model analyses (C-score) to show negative associations. These alternative statistical methods revealed consistent co-occurrence patterns. Associations were generally broad, not specific to exact ant genera. Ant-eating spiders showed a stronger association with ants. Both ant-mimicking and ant-eating spiders associated more strongly with Formicine ants - species with formic acid or anal gland secretions, and had neutral association with Myrmicine ants - species with stings and cuticle defences

Taxonomical remarks on Cryptodrassus hungaricus (BALOGH, 1935) (Araneae: Gnaphosidae)

Die Gattung Cryptodrassus MILLER, 1943 mit der einzigen bisher beschriebenen Art C. pulchellus MILLER, 1943 galt bis vor kurzem als endemisch für südmährische und slowakische Xerothermstandorte (GAJDOS et al. 1984, BUCHAR 1997a, 1997b). OVTSHARENKO et al. (1994) haben die Eigenständigkeit der Gattung bestätigt und auf die nahen Beziehungen zu Synaphosus PLATNICK & SHADAB, 1980 hingewiesen

Natural enemies partially compensate for warming induced excess herbivory in an organic growth system

Predators can limit prey abundance and/or levels of activity. The magnitudes of these effects are contingent on predator and prey traits that may change with environmental conditions. Aberrant thermal regimes could disrupt pest suppression through asymmetric effects, e.g. heat-sensitive predator vs. heat-tolerant prey. To explore potential effects of warming on suppressing pests and controlling herbivory in a vegetable crop, we performed laboratory experiments exposing an important pest species to two spider predator species at different temperatures. Heat tolerance was characterised by the critical thermal maxima parameter (CTM50) of the cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata), wolf spider (Tigrosa helluo), and nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira). Cucumber beetles and wolf spiders were equally heat tolerant (CTM50 \u3e 40 °C), but nursery web spiders had limited heat tolerance (CTM50 = 34 °C). Inside mesocosms, beetle feeding increased with temperature, wolf spiders were always effective predators, nursery web spiders were less lethal at high temperature (38 °C). Neither spider species reduced herbivory at ambient temperature (22 °C), however, at warm temperature both species reduced herbivory with evidence of a dominant non-consumptive effect. Our experiments highlight the contingent nature of predator-prey interactions and suggest that non-consumptive effects should not be ignored when assessing the impact of temperature change

The effect of forest stand characteristics on spider diversity and species composition in deciduous-coniferous mixed forests

We studied how forest stand characteristics influence spider assemblage richness and composition in a forested region of Hungary. Deciduous-coniferous mixed forests dominate in the O˝rse´g National Park. Thirty-five plots were established and sampled for spiders for three years in 70–110 year-old stands with a continuum of tree species composition. Detailed background information was acquired for stand structure, tree species composition, forest-floor-related variables and spatial position of the plots. The effect of variables was analyzed by nonparametric multiplicative regression on rarefied spider species richness and by redundancy analysis on species composition. The relative importance of variable groups was assessed by variation partitioning. Spider species richness was positively and strongly affected by tree species richness, and the species composition of the spider assemblage was influenced by the proportion of the most important tree species. This study established the importance of tree species composition, but variance partitioning analysis also showed that tree species identity and forest floor variables together explain much of the variation. These findings may guide management and conservation efforts to maintain regional diversity of the spider fauna