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Deciphering the diet of a wandering spider (Phoneutria boliviensis; Araneae: Ctenidae) by DNA metabarcoding of gut contents
- Source :
- Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 11, Pp 5950-5965 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Arachnids are the most abundant land predators. Despite the importance of their functional roles as predators and the necessity to understand their diet for conservation, the trophic ecology of many arachnid species has not been sufficiently studied. In the case of the wandering spider, Phoneutria boliviensis F. O. Pickard‐Cambridge, 1897, only field and laboratory observational studies on their diet exist. By using a DNA metabarcoding approach, we compared the prey found in the gut content of males and females from three distant Colombian populations of P. boliviensis. By DNA metabarcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), we detected and identified 234 prey items (individual captured by the spider) belonging to 96 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), as prey for this wandering predator. Our results broaden the known diet of P. boliviensis with at least 75 prey taxa not previously registered in fieldwork or laboratory experimental trials. These results suggest that P. boliviensis feeds predominantly on invertebrates (Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera) and opportunistically on small squamates. Intersex and interpopulation differences were also observed. Assuming that prey preference does not vary between populations, these differences are likely associated with a higher local prey availability. Finally, we suggest that DNA metabarcoding can be used for evaluating subtle differences in the diet of distinct populations of P. boliviensis, particularly when predation records in the field cannot be established or quantified using direct observation.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Arachnid
gut content metabarcoding
Prey detection
Zoology
Phoneutria
Biology
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
predator–prey interaction
Predation
03 medical and health sciences
prey detection
Predator
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
QH540-549.5
030304 developmental biology
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Trophic level
0303 health sciences
Spider
Ecology
Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I
Wandering spider
fungi
biology.organism_classification
molecular diet analysis
diet
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20457758
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ecology and Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ab296f167a53225e0334281a5431a1b4