TY - JOUR
T1 - Breaking the cliché
T2 - sex reversal in size dimorphism and mobility in South American Allocosinae (Lycosidae) spiders
AU - Aisenberg, Anita
AU - Bollatti, Fedra
AU - Oviedo-Diego, Mariela
AU - Albín, Andrea
AU - Alves Días, Marcelo
AU - Arnedo, Miquel A.
AU - Brescovit, Antonio D.
AU - Casacuberta, Marcelo
AU - Cavassa, Diego
AU - Gonnet, Verónica
AU - Izquierdo, Matías
AU - Laborda, Álvaro
AU - Piacentini, Luis N.
AU - Pliscoff, Patricio
AU - Postiglioni, Rodrigo
AU - Simó, Miguel
AU - Texeira, Renato A.
AU - Bidegaray-Batista, Leticia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Linnean Society of London.
PY - 2023/10/1
Y1 - 2023/10/1
N2 - Typically, females and males are expected to have characteristic sexual strategies and patterns of size dimorphism, but these generalizations are subject to exceptions. The occurrence of atypical cases has been related to species or populations from environments under strong physical, ecological and/or social constraints. Allocosa marindia and Allocosa senex are two coastal spiders (Lycosidae: Allocosinae) with reversal in sex roles and sexual size dimorphism. Males are larger than females, and females are the mobile sex that initiates courtship. It is unclear whether the occurrence of non-typical sexual traits in Allocosinae spiders is correlated with coastal habitats. Our aim was to study sexual size dimorphism and surface mobility in Allocosinae spiders from different habitats throughout South America. We revised specimens from scientific collections and performed 3-day samplings to collect individuals and determine nocturnal surface mobility. We analysed a total of 1071 Allocosinae adult individuals from 18 species and/ or morphotypes. Our results revealed new species inhabiting coastal habitats with reversal in sexual size dimorphism and higher nocturnal surface activity in females; however, not all coastal species shared those characteristics. Future studies will focus on studying other ecological, physiological and/or phylogenetic factors that could be shaping the origin and maintenance of sex role reversal in Allocosinae.
AB - Typically, females and males are expected to have characteristic sexual strategies and patterns of size dimorphism, but these generalizations are subject to exceptions. The occurrence of atypical cases has been related to species or populations from environments under strong physical, ecological and/or social constraints. Allocosa marindia and Allocosa senex are two coastal spiders (Lycosidae: Allocosinae) with reversal in sex roles and sexual size dimorphism. Males are larger than females, and females are the mobile sex that initiates courtship. It is unclear whether the occurrence of non-typical sexual traits in Allocosinae spiders is correlated with coastal habitats. Our aim was to study sexual size dimorphism and surface mobility in Allocosinae spiders from different habitats throughout South America. We revised specimens from scientific collections and performed 3-day samplings to collect individuals and determine nocturnal surface mobility. We analysed a total of 1071 Allocosinae adult individuals from 18 species and/ or morphotypes. Our results revealed new species inhabiting coastal habitats with reversal in sexual size dimorphism and higher nocturnal surface activity in females; however, not all coastal species shared those characteristics. Future studies will focus on studying other ecological, physiological and/or phylogenetic factors that could be shaping the origin and maintenance of sex role reversal in Allocosinae.
KW - activity patterns
KW - sex role reversal
KW - sex traits
KW - sexual dimorphism
KW - wolf spiders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174724413&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/biolinnean/blad058
DO - 10.1093/biolinnean/blad058
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174724413
SN - 0024-4066
VL - 140
SP - 224
EP - 239
JO - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
JF - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
IS - 2
ER -
