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Abstract
Ricinuleids are considered one of the most enigmatic and neglected arachnid orders. The low diversity and poor local abundance of several species, makes the study of most aspects related to biology and behavior of this group very difficult. Most of the current knowledge related to ricinuleid biology relies on anecdotal observations. So far, no published studies exist that describe in detail ricinuleid behavior. Here we present the behavioral repertory of a ricinuleid, the Neotropical speciesCryptocellus narino. Eighteen individuals (six males, six females and six immatures) were examined under laboratory conditions to describe and quantify their behavioral repertory and its variation along the day. The behavioral repertory in males exhibited a higher number of behavioral acts when compared to females and immatures. The most frequent behavioral categories were “resting”, “exploring” and “feeding”. “Resting” was the most common behavior during the photophase, while “feeding” and “exploring” were the most common during scotophase, suggesting this species is predominantly nocturnal. This study also provides behaviors previously not known for this group as well as a description of the daily schedule. We expect this work will become a baseline study for further research on ricinuleid ethology.
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Acknowledgments
We are indebted to Hno. Antidio Bolívar and Hno. Eduardo Bartolomé for providing permits in their locality to sample the ricinuleids. Tim Meehan, Stano Pekár and Fernando Casanoves significantly improved the statistical analysis. Diana Rojas provided us great help with R programming. We also thank to Alexánder Sabogal, Carmen Viera, Glauco Machado and Patricia Torres for previous discussions and suggestions about this research. Two anonymous reviewers provided very useful comments to improve the manuscript. We want to dedicate this research to the memory of Luís O. Hernández for all his great support and contributions during this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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L. F. García
Present address: Centro Universitario Regional Este, Universidad de la República, Simón del Pino 1132, Treinta y Tres, Uruguay
Authors and Affiliations
Laboratorio de Ecología del Comportamiento, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia, 3318, Montevideo, Uruguay
L. F. García
Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 30#35S-3, Bogotá, DC, Colombia
E. Torrado-León
Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Greifswald, Kuhstrasse 30, 17489, Greifswald, Germany
G. Talarico
Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (CONICET-UNC) & Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva & Evolución, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsifeld 299, Córdoba, Argentina
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Correspondence toL. F. García.
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García, L.F., Torrado-León, E., Talarico, G.et al. First Characterization of the Behavioral Repertory in a Ricinuleid:Cryptocellus narino Platnick & Paz 1979 (Arachnida, Ricinulei, Ricinoididae).J Insect Behav28, 447–459 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-015-9517-1
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