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Morphology of putative chemosensory setae in males of the spider genus Ariadna Audouin (Araneae, Synspermiata, Segestriidae)

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Abstract

Chemoreception in spiders plays an important role in prey detection, conspecific recognition and recognizing chemical cues in the environment. Sexually dimorphic structures often suggest a role in mating and there are not many papers describing sexual dimorphism in chemosensory setae in spiders. In this study, we present the first detailed morphological description of scopulate putative chemosensory setae in the palpal tarsi (cymbium) and in the distal segments of the legs of adult males of seven species of the spider genus Ariadna (Segestriidae) [A. araucana Grismado, A. boliviana Simon, A. corticola Lawrence, A. maxima (Nicolet), Ariadna sp. 1 (AUS), Ariadna sp. 2 (AFR-CONT), Ariadna sp. 3 (AFR-MAD)]. Our results show three different grouping configurations of five morphologically different types of scopulate setae (types a–e). This is the first detailed description of this type of setae on legs of a Synspermiata spider contributing to the knowledge of the morphology of different types of sensilla in this group of spiders. Our findings show that the scopulated setae of Ariadna do not seem to be homologous to the pseudoscopula of Mesothelae and Mygalomorphae. We also discuss how our findings relate to previous hypotheses of female sex pheromone detection and support during copulation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) to AMG (2013/20008-6) and ADB (2011/50689-0), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) to ADB (301776/2004-0). To the curators and museums for the loan of specimens studied. Also, to Dr. Rodrigo Hirata Willemart and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript. To Beatriz Maurício, from the Laboratório de Biologia Celular, Instituto Butantan, for helping with the SEM photos.

Funding

This study was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (AMG-2013/20008-6; ADB-2011/50689-0) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (ADB-301776/2004-0).

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  1. Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, Brazil

    André Marsola Giroti

  2. Laboratório Especial de Coleções Zoológicas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, 05503- 900, Brazil

    André Marsola Giroti & Antonio Domingos Brescovit

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  1. André Marsola Giroti
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Correspondence to André Marsola Giroti.

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André Marsola Giroti and Antonio Domingos Brescovit received research grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). Antonio Domingos Brescovit received research grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with live animals performed by any of the authors. The study was based only on dead specimens deposited in zoological collections.

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Giroti, A.M., Brescovit, A.D. Morphology of putative chemosensory setae in males of the spider genus Ariadna Audouin (Araneae, Synspermiata, Segestriidae). Zoomorphology 138, 249–263 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-019-00442-8

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