Ecology and Behaviour of Spiders ― Contributions from the Neotropical Region

Within the last few decades, arachnology in the Neotropical region has experienced a great development filling the knowledge gap in one of the most diverse regions of the world. Nevertheless, large geographical areas remain poorly sampled, especially within the Amazon, and new genera and species have been continuously discovered, even in urban areas. In congruence with the recent improvements in research, several aspects of the ecology, behaviour and natural history of spiders, such as interactions with other predators and parasitoids, social interactions, dispersal patterns, habitat requirements, mating behaviors, among others, are being carefully investigated. These recent contributions incorporate substantial information on the preexisting knowledge on these subjects every year. Our main objective with this book is to present a summary on these new researches and on the currently knowledge on the main subjects involved in the general theme, emphasizing the contribution of the rich fauna of the Neotropical region to the research of behaviour and ecology of the spiders.

Carmen Viera is Professor and Director of Department of Animal Biology of Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica and Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology of Instituto de Investigaciones Biologicas Clemente Estable, Uruguay founded by her in 2008. She is researcher in the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI) Professor of Entomology of Facultad de Ciencias and Coordinator of Zoology in Post-graduation Program (PEDECIBA). She has experience in behavioral ecology and sociobiology.

Marcelo O. Gonzaga is professor at Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, since 2008. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (1996), and his master’s and doctorate at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1999, 2004). He had a post-doctoral fellowship in Universidade Estadual de Campinas (2006) and developed a project in the Program “Young Researches Awards” of FAPESP in Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos (2007-2008). He was the coordinator of the Post-graduation Program in Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources of Universidade Federal de Uberlandia (2012-2014). He has experience in behavioral ecology, acting mainly in the following subjects: spider webs construction and variation, sociobiology, host behavioral manipulation by parasitoids, parental care in spiders.