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Caves share unique conditions that have led to convergent adaptations of cave-dwelling animals. In addition, local factors act as filters on regional species-pools to shape the assemblage composition of local caves. Surveys of 35 Levantine caves, distributed along a climate gradient from the mesic in the north of Israel to hyper-arid areas in the south of Israel, were conducted to test the effect of cave characteristics, location, climate, bat presence, and guano level on the spider assemblage. We found 62 spider species and assigned four species as troglobites, 28 as troglophiles, and 30 as accidentals. Precipitation, elevation, latitude, minimum temperature, and guano levels significantly affected the composition of cave-dwelling spider assemblages. Caves situated in the Mediterranean region had higher species richness and abundance, as well as more troglobite and troglophile arachnids. These discoveries contribute to the knowledge of the local arachnofauna and are important for the conservation of cave ecosystems. By comparing spider assemblages of Levantine caves to European caves, we identified gaps in the taxonomic research, focusing our efforts on spider families that may have additional cryptic or yet to be described cave-dwelling spider species. Our faunistic surveys are crucial stages for understanding the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms of arachnid speciation in Levantine caves.
Efrat Gavish-Regev; Shlomi Aharon; Igor Armiach Steinpress; Merav Seifan; Yael Lubin. A Primer on Spider Assemblages in Levantine Caves: The Neglected Subterranean Habitats of the Levant—A Biodiversity Mine. Diversity 2021, 13, 179 .
AMA StyleEfrat Gavish-Regev, Shlomi Aharon, Igor Armiach Steinpress, Merav Seifan, Yael Lubin. A Primer on Spider Assemblages in Levantine Caves: The Neglected Subterranean Habitats of the Levant—A Biodiversity Mine. Diversity. 2021; 13 (5):179.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEfrat Gavish-Regev; Shlomi Aharon; Igor Armiach Steinpress; Merav Seifan; Yael Lubin. 2021. "A Primer on Spider Assemblages in Levantine Caves: The Neglected Subterranean Habitats of the Levant—A Biodiversity Mine." Diversity 13, no. 5: 179.
Long-branch attraction is a systematic artifact that results in erroneous groupings of fast-evolving taxa. The combination of short, deep internodes in tandem with long-branch attraction artifacts has produced empirically intractable parts of the Tree of Life. One such group is the arthropod subphylum Chelicerata, whose backbone phylogeny has remained unstable despite improvements in phylogenetic methods and genome-scale data sets. Pseudoscorpion placement is particularly variable across data sets and analytical frameworks, with this group either clustering with other long-branch orders or with Arachnopulmonata (scorpions and tetrapulmonates). To surmount long-branch attraction, we investigated the effect of taxonomic sampling via sequential deletion of basally branching pseudoscorpion superfamilies, as well as varying gene occupancy thresholds in supermatrices. We show that concatenated supermatrices and coalescent-based summary species tree approaches support a sister group relationship of pseudoscorpions and scorpions, when more of the basally branching taxa are sampled. Matrix completeness had demonstrably less influence on tree topology. As an external arbiter of phylogenetic placement, we leveraged the recent discovery of an ancient genome duplication in the common ancestor of Arachnopulmonata as a litmus test for competing hypotheses of pseudoscorpion relationships. We generated a high-quality developmental transcriptome and the first genome for pseudoscorpions to assess the incidence of arachnopulmonate-specific duplications (e.g., homeobox genes and miRNAs). Our results support the inclusion of pseudoscorpions in Arachnopulmonata (new definition), as the sister group of scorpions. Panscorpiones (new name) is proposed for the clade uniting Scorpiones and Pseudoscorpiones.
Andrew Z Ontano; Guilherme Gainett; Shlomi Aharon; Jesús A Ballesteros; Ligia R Benavides; Kevin F Corbett; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Mark S Harvey; Scott Monsma; Carlos E Santibáñez-López; Emily V W Setton; Jakob T Zehms; Jeanne A Zeh; David W Zeh; Prashant P Sharma. Taxonomic Sampling and Rare Genomic Changes Overcome Long-Branch Attraction in the Phylogenetic Placement of Pseudoscorpions. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2021, 38, 2446 -2467.
AMA StyleAndrew Z Ontano, Guilherme Gainett, Shlomi Aharon, Jesús A Ballesteros, Ligia R Benavides, Kevin F Corbett, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Mark S Harvey, Scott Monsma, Carlos E Santibáñez-López, Emily V W Setton, Jakob T Zehms, Jeanne A Zeh, David W Zeh, Prashant P Sharma. Taxonomic Sampling and Rare Genomic Changes Overcome Long-Branch Attraction in the Phylogenetic Placement of Pseudoscorpions. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 2021; 38 (6):2446-2467.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndrew Z Ontano; Guilherme Gainett; Shlomi Aharon; Jesús A Ballesteros; Ligia R Benavides; Kevin F Corbett; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Mark S Harvey; Scott Monsma; Carlos E Santibáñez-López; Emily V W Setton; Jakob T Zehms; Jeanne A Zeh; David W Zeh; Prashant P Sharma. 2021. "Taxonomic Sampling and Rare Genomic Changes Overcome Long-Branch Attraction in the Phylogenetic Placement of Pseudoscorpions." Molecular Biology and Evolution 38, no. 6: 2446-2467.
Evippinae (Araneae, Lycosidae) is a subfamily of old-world lycosids, comprising six genera and 67 species, most of them typically found in xeric habitats. Although Israel is located between the two distribution-centers of the subfamily, Africa and central Asia, only two species of the genus Evippa Simon, 1882, namely E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) and E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871), and a doubtful record of Xerolycosa nemoralis (Westring, 1861) were reported previously. Here we describe a new species: Evippa amitaii sp. nov., and re-describe and report a new record for Israel of E. onager (Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979). Additionally, the genus Evippomma Roewer, 1959 is recorded for the first time from the Middle East, with a description of the previously unknown female of Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992. We discuss the possible vicariance of Evippa arenaria and E. praelongipes. We suggest that the dispersal of E. arenaria along the coastal plain is blocked by the Yarqon river valley. We suggest competition with a similar species (Pardosa subsordidatula (Strand, 1915)) as a factor affecting the seasonal activity of E. arenaria. Additionally, we present a partial molecular phylogeny of Evippinae, to clarify the placement of E. onager, a species with an unusual morphology.
Igor Armiach Steinpress; Mark Alderweireldt; Mira Cohen; Ariel Chipman; Efrat Gavish-Regev. Synopsis of the Evippinae (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with description of a new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 2021, 733, 87–124 -87–124.
AMA StyleIgor Armiach Steinpress, Mark Alderweireldt, Mira Cohen, Ariel Chipman, Efrat Gavish-Regev. Synopsis of the Evippinae (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with description of a new species. European Journal of Taxonomy. 2021; 733 ():87–124-87–124.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIgor Armiach Steinpress; Mark Alderweireldt; Mira Cohen; Ariel Chipman; Efrat Gavish-Regev. 2021. "Synopsis of the Evippinae (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with description of a new species." European Journal of Taxonomy 733, no. : 87–124-87–124.
Arachnids are important components of cave ecosystems and display many examples of troglomorphisms, such as blindness, depigmentation, and elongate appendages. Little is known about how the eyes of arachnids are specified genetically, let alone the mechanisms for eye reduction and loss in troglomorphic arachnids. Additionally, paralogy of Retinal Determination Gene Network (RDGN) homologs in spiders has convoluted functional inferences extrapolated from single-copy homologs in pancrustacean models. Here, we investigated a sister species pair of Israeli cave whip spiders (Arachnopulmonata, Amblypygi, Charinus) of which one species has reduced eyes. We generated the first embryonic transcriptomes for Amblypygi, and discovered that several RDGN homologs exhibit duplications. We show that paralogy of RDGN homologs is systemic across arachnopulmonates (arachnid orders that bear book lungs), rather than being a spider-specific phenomenon. A differential gene expression (DGE) analysis comparing the expression of RDGN genes in field-collected embryos of both species identified candidate RDGN genes involved in the formation and reduction of eyes in whip spiders. To ground bioinformatic inference of expression patterns with functional experiments, we interrogated the function of three candidate RDGN genes identified from DGE in a spider, using RNAi in the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. We provide functional evidence that one of these paralogs, sine oculis/Six1 A (soA), is necessary for the development of all arachnid eye types. Our results support the conservation of at least one RDGN component across Arthropoda and establish a framework for investigating the role of gene duplications in arachnid eye diversity.
Guilherme Gainett; Jesús A. Ballesteros; Charlotte R. Kanzler; Jakob T. Zehms; John M. Zern; Shlomi Aharon; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. How spiders make their eyes: Systemic paralogy and function of retinal determination network homologs in arachnids. 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleGuilherme Gainett, Jesús A. Ballesteros, Charlotte R. Kanzler, Jakob T. Zehms, John M. Zern, Shlomi Aharon, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Prashant P. Sharma. How spiders make their eyes: Systemic paralogy and function of retinal determination network homologs in arachnids. . 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGuilherme Gainett; Jesús A. Ballesteros; Charlotte R. Kanzler; Jakob T. Zehms; John M. Zern; Shlomi Aharon; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. 2020. "How spiders make their eyes: Systemic paralogy and function of retinal determination network homologs in arachnids." , no. : 1.
Trees host a large share of the global arthropod diversity. Several methodologies have been described to sample arthropods from trees, ranging from active sampling techniques (e.g., visual searching, beating, or shaking the branches) to passive sampling devices. The majority of these collection techniques are destructive, and do not specifically target the tree trunk arthropod fauna. Here, we describe an alternative sampling method called trunk refugia (TR). TR are cylindrical shelters made of corrugated cardboard that can be secured to trees using string, and can remain exposed for varying time periods. These refugia are inexpensive, easy to use, and suitable to monitor a diverse array of insects and arachnids. Moreover, TR are nonlethal sampling tools, and allow collecting live individuals for behavioral studies or for rearing.
Ibrahim N A Salman; Marco Ferrante; Daniella Möller; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Yael Lubin. Trunk Refugia: A Simple, Inexpensive Method for Sampling Tree Trunk Arthropods. Journal of Insect Science 2020, 20, 1 .
AMA StyleIbrahim N A Salman, Marco Ferrante, Daniella Möller, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Yael Lubin. Trunk Refugia: A Simple, Inexpensive Method for Sampling Tree Trunk Arthropods. Journal of Insect Science. 2020; 20 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIbrahim N A Salman; Marco Ferrante; Daniella Möller; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Yael Lubin. 2020. "Trunk Refugia: A Simple, Inexpensive Method for Sampling Tree Trunk Arthropods." Journal of Insect Science 20, no. 2: 1.
The miniaturized arachnid order Palpigradi has ambiguous phylogenetic affinities owing to its odd combination of plesiomorphic and derived morphological traits. This lineage has never been sampled in phylogenomic datasets because of the small body size and fragility of most species, a sampling gap of immediate concern to recent disputes over arachnid monophyly. To redress this gap, we sampled a population of the cave-inhabiting species Eukoenenia spelaea from Slovakia and inferred its placement in the phylogeny of Chelicerata using dense phylogenomic matrices of up to 1450 loci, drawn from high-quality transcriptomic libraries and complete genomes. The complete matrix included exemplars of all extant orders of Chelicerata. Analyses of the complete matrix recovered palpigrades as the sister group of the long-branch order Parasitiformes (ticks) with high support. However, sequential deletion of long-branch taxa revealed that the position of palpigrades is prone to topological instability. Phylogenomic subsampling approaches that maximized taxon or dataset completeness recovered palpigrades as the sister group of camel spiders (Solifugae), with modest support. While this relationship is congruent with the location and architecture of the coxal glands, a long-forgotten character system that opens in the pedipalpal segments only in palpigrades and solifuges, we show that nodal support values in concatenated supermatrices can mask high levels of underlying topological conflict in the placement of the enigmatic Palpigradi.
Jesús A. Ballesteros; Carlos E. Santibáñez López; Ľubomír Kováč; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. Ordered phylogenomic subsampling enables diagnosis of systematic errors in the placement of the enigmatic arachnid order Palpigradi. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2019, 286, 20192426 .
AMA StyleJesús A. Ballesteros, Carlos E. Santibáñez López, Ľubomír Kováč, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Prashant P. Sharma. Ordered phylogenomic subsampling enables diagnosis of systematic errors in the placement of the enigmatic arachnid order Palpigradi. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2019; 286 (1917):20192426.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJesús A. Ballesteros; Carlos E. Santibáñez López; Ľubomír Kováč; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. 2019. "Ordered phylogenomic subsampling enables diagnosis of systematic errors in the placement of the enigmatic arachnid order Palpigradi." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286, no. 1917: 20192426.
Caves are excellent model systems to study the effects of abiotic factors on species distributions due to their selective conditions. Different ecological factors have been shown to affect species distribution depending on the scale of analysis, whether regional or local. The interplay between local and regional factors in explaining the spatial distribution of cave-dwelling organisms is poorly understood. Using the troglophilic subterranean spider Artema nephilit (Araneae: Pholcidae) as a model organism, we investigated whether similar environmental predictors drive the species distribution at these two spatial scales. At the local scale, we monitored the abundance of the spiders and measured relevant environmental features in 33 caves along the Jordan Rift Valley. We then extended the analysis to a regional scale, investigating the drivers of the distribution using species distribution models. We found that similar ecological factors determined the distribution at both local and regional scales for A. nephilit. At a local scale, the species was found to preferentially occupy the outermost, illuminated, and warmer sectors of caves. Similarly, mean annual temperature, annual temperature range, and solar radiation were the most important drivers of its regional distribution. By investigating these two spatial scales simultaneously, we showed that it was possible to achieve an in-depth understanding of the environmental conditions that governs subterranean species distribution.
Stefano Mammola; Shlomi Aharon; Merav Seifan; Yael Lubin; Efrat Gavish-Regev. Exploring the Interplay Between Local and Regional Drivers of Distribution of a Subterranean Organism. Diversity 2019, 11, 119 .
AMA StyleStefano Mammola, Shlomi Aharon, Merav Seifan, Yael Lubin, Efrat Gavish-Regev. Exploring the Interplay Between Local and Regional Drivers of Distribution of a Subterranean Organism. Diversity. 2019; 11 (8):119.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStefano Mammola; Shlomi Aharon; Merav Seifan; Yael Lubin; Efrat Gavish-Regev. 2019. "Exploring the Interplay Between Local and Regional Drivers of Distribution of a Subterranean Organism." Diversity 11, no. 8: 119.
Spiders are effective biological control agents in some agroecosystems. Their ability to control pest insects depends on their species diversity and abundance, which can be affected by environmental variables at different spatial scales. We investigated the effects of climatic gradient, landscape properties and local variables on spider diversity and abundance in pomegranate orchards. Spiders were sampled twice during the pomegranate growing season in 2015 in 12 orchards along the rainfall gradient in Israel. We examined whether spider diversity and abundance are explained by rainfall gradient, insect abundance and habitat structure within the orchard, or the landscape composition surrounding each orchard. Spider diversity and abundance were unrelated to rainfall or habitat structure, but were positively associated with agricultural landscape evenness and its interaction with insect abundance. We propose a novel hypothesis, the agricultural landscape evenness hypothesis, predicting that diversity will increase with greater evenness in the percentage of area occupied by different habitats surrounding the crop. These results point to the potential importance of a diversity of habitat types surrounding a crop field in promoting natural enemy abundance and diversity.
Ibrahim N. A. Salman; Efrat Gavish-Regev; David Saltz; Yael Lubin. The agricultural landscape matters: spider diversity and abundance in pomegranate orchards as a case study. Entomophaga 2019, 64, 583 -593.
AMA StyleIbrahim N. A. Salman, Efrat Gavish-Regev, David Saltz, Yael Lubin. The agricultural landscape matters: spider diversity and abundance in pomegranate orchards as a case study. Entomophaga. 2019; 64 (5):583-593.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIbrahim N. A. Salman; Efrat Gavish-Regev; David Saltz; Yael Lubin. 2019. "The agricultural landscape matters: spider diversity and abundance in pomegranate orchards as a case study." Entomophaga 64, no. 5: 583-593.
Citizen science biodiversity monitoring projects are becoming very common. It is generally accepted that these joint projects, of scientists and the public, have a positive effect on biodiversity and conservation education programs as well as on policy-makers opinion Ganzevoort et al. (2017). Yet, there is still a debate on the quality of the data collected in citizen science monitoring schemes, and especially on the benefits to high-quality research. Here, I present an example of how collection-based research and involvement of the public (non-taxonomists) in taxonomical education, i.e., advanced citizen science, can enhance research on scorpion diversity in Israel. Furthermore, the process of public involvement in monitoring and especially the prerequisites needed for this process, contributed to high-quality research, that in turn is enhancing biodiversity science. Considering this, I will discuss the basic stages required for successful public engagement in high-quality biodiversity research and monitoring schemes.
Efrat Gavish-Regev. The Role of Natural History Collections in Public Engagement for Enhancing Biodiversity Research. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 2019, 3, e37782 .
AMA StyleEfrat Gavish-Regev. The Role of Natural History Collections in Public Engagement for Enhancing Biodiversity Research. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards. 2019; 3 ():e37782.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEfrat Gavish-Regev. 2019. "The Role of Natural History Collections in Public Engagement for Enhancing Biodiversity Research." Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 3, no. : e37782.
Because of its ability to expedite specimen identification and species delineation, the barcode index number (BIN) system presents a powerful tool to characterize hyperdiverse invertebrate groups such as the Acari (mites). However, the congruence between BINs and morphologically recognized species has seen limited testing in this taxon. We therefore apply this method towards the development of a barcode reference library for soil, poultry litter, and nest dwelling mites in the Western Palearctic. Through analysis of over 600 specimens, we provide DNA barcode coverage for 35 described species and 70 molecular taxonomic units (BINs). Nearly 80% of the species were accurately identified through this method, but just 60% perfectly matched (1:1) with BINs. High intraspecific divergences were found in 34% of the species examined and likely reflect cryptic diversity, highlighting the need for revision in these taxa. These findings provide a valuable resource for integrative pest management, but also highlight the importance of integrating morphological and molecular methods for fine-scale taxonomic resolution in poorly-known invertebrate lineages.
Monica R. Young; María L. Moraza; Eddie Ueckermann; Dieter Heylen; Lisa F. Baardsen; Jose Francisco Lima-Barbero; Shira Gal; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Yuval Gottlieb; Lise Roy; Eitan Recht; Marine El Adouzi; Eric Palevsky. Linking morphological and molecular taxonomy for the identification of poultry house, soil, and nest dwelling mites in the Western Palearctic. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 5784 .
AMA StyleMonica R. Young, María L. Moraza, Eddie Ueckermann, Dieter Heylen, Lisa F. Baardsen, Jose Francisco Lima-Barbero, Shira Gal, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Yuval Gottlieb, Lise Roy, Eitan Recht, Marine El Adouzi, Eric Palevsky. Linking morphological and molecular taxonomy for the identification of poultry house, soil, and nest dwelling mites in the Western Palearctic. Scientific Reports. 2019; 9 (1):5784.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonica R. Young; María L. Moraza; Eddie Ueckermann; Dieter Heylen; Lisa F. Baardsen; Jose Francisco Lima-Barbero; Shira Gal; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Yuval Gottlieb; Lise Roy; Eitan Recht; Marine El Adouzi; Eric Palevsky. 2019. "Linking morphological and molecular taxonomy for the identification of poultry house, soil, and nest dwelling mites in the Western Palearctic." Scientific Reports 9, no. 1: 5784.
After tumultuous revisions to the family-level systematics of Laniatores (the armored harvestmen), the basally branching family Phalangodidae presently bears a disjunct and irregular distribution, attributed to the fragmentation of Pangea. One of the curious lineages assigned to Phalangodidae is the monotypic Israeli genus Haasus, the only Laniatores species that occurs in Israel, and whose presence in the Levant has been inferred to result from biogeographic connectivity with Eurasia. Recent surveys of Israeli caves have also yielded a new troglobitic morphospecies of Haasus. Here, we describe this new species as Haasus naasane sp. nov. So as to test the biogeographic affinity of Haasus, we sequenced DNA from both species and RNA from Haasus naasane sp. nov., to assess their phylogenetic placement. Our results showed that the new species is clearly closely related to Haasus judaeus, but Haasus itself is unambiguously nested within the largely Afrotropical family Pyramidopidae. In addition, the Japanese ‘phalangodid’ Proscotolemon sauteri was recovered as nested within the Southeast Asian family Petrobunidae. Phylogenomic placement of Haasus naasane sp. nov. in a 1550-locus matrix indicates that Pyramidopidae has an unstable position in the tree of Laniatores, with alternative partitioning of the matrix recovering high nodal support for mutually exclusive tree topologies. Exploration of phylogenetic signal showed the cause of this instability to be a considerable conflict between partitions, suggesting that the basal phylogeny of Laniatores may not yet be stable to addition of taxa. We transfer Haasus to Pyramidopidae (new familial assignment). Additionally, we transfer Proscotolemon to the family Petrobunidae (new familial assignment). Future studies on basal Laniatores phylogeny should emphasise the investigation of small-bodied and obscure groups that superficially resemble Phalangodidae.
Shlomi Aharon; Jesus A. Ballesteros; Audrey R. Crawford; Keyton Friske; Guilherme Gainett; Boaz Langford; Carlos E. Santibáñez-López; Shemesh Ya'Aran; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. The anatomy of an unstable node: a Levantine relict precipitates phylogenomic dissolution of higher-level relationships of the armoured harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores). Invertebrate Systematics 2019, 33, 697 -717.
AMA StyleShlomi Aharon, Jesus A. Ballesteros, Audrey R. Crawford, Keyton Friske, Guilherme Gainett, Boaz Langford, Carlos E. Santibáñez-López, Shemesh Ya'Aran, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Prashant P. Sharma. The anatomy of an unstable node: a Levantine relict precipitates phylogenomic dissolution of higher-level relationships of the armoured harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores). Invertebrate Systematics. 2019; 33 (5):697-717.
Chicago/Turabian StyleShlomi Aharon; Jesus A. Ballesteros; Audrey R. Crawford; Keyton Friske; Guilherme Gainett; Boaz Langford; Carlos E. Santibáñez-López; Shemesh Ya'Aran; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Prashant P. Sharma. 2019. "The anatomy of an unstable node: a Levantine relict precipitates phylogenomic dissolution of higher-level relationships of the armoured harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores)." Invertebrate Systematics 33, no. 5: 697-717.
Conservation of natural habitats within agroecosystems often enhances the abundance and species diversity of arthropod natural enemies, but does not necessarily improve the biological control of crop pests. Differences in habitat use between some natural enemies (favoring natural areas) and pests (aggregating on the crop plants), were proposed to underlie low pest control in spite of high abundance of beneficials. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the habitat use of important vineyard pests (European grapevine moths and vine mealybugs) and of natural enemies (parasitoid wasps and spiders), and compared natural enemy communities across habitats. Arthropods were sampled in five vineyards (from vines and from herbaceous vegetation), and from adjacent natural habitats, using pheromone traps, visual searches and vacuuming. European grapevine moth and mealybug populations were highest inside the vineyards, furthest away from natural habitats. The proportion of natural enemies out of all arthropods was highest in the natural habitats. Parasitoid diversity was highest in natural habitats, intermediate on herbaceous vegetation within vineyards, and lowest on vines, and their abundance was higher on herbaceous vegetation than on vines. The parasitoids' distribution between natural and agricultural habitats varied among morpho-species, and their community composition differed among habitats and sampling dates. Spiders were less common than parasitoids (2.9% vs. 14.4% out of all suction-sampled arthropods, respectively), yet similarly distributed. As hypothesized, natural enemies associated with herbaceous vegetation more strongly than did grape pests, and their community composition differed between natural habitats and vineyards. To support the full diversity of beneficial arthropods, non-crop herbaceous vegetation both around and within vineyards should be conserved.
Idan Shapira; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Rakefet Sharon; Ally R. Harari; Miriam Kishinevsky; Tamar Keasar. Habitat use by crop pests and natural enemies in a Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystem. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 2018, 267, 109 -118.
AMA StyleIdan Shapira, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Rakefet Sharon, Ally R. Harari, Miriam Kishinevsky, Tamar Keasar. Habitat use by crop pests and natural enemies in a Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystem. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 2018; 267 ():109-118.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIdan Shapira; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Rakefet Sharon; Ally R. Harari; Miriam Kishinevsky; Tamar Keasar. 2018. "Habitat use by crop pests and natural enemies in a Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystem." Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 267, no. : 109-118.
A new species of Charinus is described from Israel and new localities for C. ioanniticus are reported. Charinus israelensis sp. nov. is a cave dwelling species with extremely small median eyes, no median tubercle and reduced lateral eyes. It is similar to C. ioanniticus, which occurs in nearby areas, but can be differentiated by the shape of the carapace, the number of pedipalp spines and the development of the eyes. A detailed comparison is made between the two species, including pictures, drawings and scanning electron micrographs. Charinus ioanniticus is reported here from several new localities in Israel and Turkey. Identification keys to the Charinus species groups and to the species of the bengalensis group are provided.
Gustavo S. Miranda; Shlomi Aharon; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Alessandro P.L. Giupponi; Gil Wizen. A new species of Charinus Simon, 1892 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae) from Israel and new records of C. ioanniticus (Kritscher, 1959). European Journal of Taxonomy 2016, 1 .
AMA StyleGustavo S. Miranda, Shlomi Aharon, Efrat Gavish-Regev, Alessandro P.L. Giupponi, Gil Wizen. A new species of Charinus Simon, 1892 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae) from Israel and new records of C. ioanniticus (Kritscher, 1959). European Journal of Taxonomy. 2016; (234):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGustavo S. Miranda; Shlomi Aharon; Efrat Gavish-Regev; Alessandro P.L. Giupponi; Gil Wizen. 2016. "A new species of Charinus Simon, 1892 (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Charinidae) from Israel and new records of C. ioanniticus (Kritscher, 1959)." European Journal of Taxonomy , no. 234: 1.