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Structural complexity and prey availability shape spider communities under retention forestry

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 Abstract Retention forestry is promoted as a conservation-oriented management strategy to sustain forest biodiversity by preserving key structural elements, such as single old trees and deadwood. However, the effectiveness of this approach in conserving the diversity of spiders as generalist predators remains unclear, particularly because the effect of structural elements under retention forestry on spiders may be mediated by its effect on prey availability. We sampled spiders (Araneae) and potential prey (Diptera, Hemiptera, Collembola) in 55 1-hectare plots across mixed temperate forests of the Black Forest, Germany. We used pitfall traps targeting species active on the forest floor. We studied spider abundance, taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity (combined measure of functional and phylogenetic distance) and community composition along gradients of forest structure (canopy cover, proportion of conifers, stand structural complexity, volume of lying deadwood, herb cover and...

Crab spider vision improves their prey capture despite low visual system investment

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Predation of the Sharqiyah Sand Gecko Trigonodactylus sharqiyahensis Metallinou & Carranza, 2013 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) by Perez’s Huntsman Spider Eusparassus perezi (Simon, 1902) (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Oman

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Guest editorial: celebrating the 70th birthday of Hisham K. El-Hennawy – Egypt’s arachnologist

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Advancing the systematics of Araneae: ultraconserved elements phylogenomics demonstrates the non-monophyly of Miturgidae Simon, 1886 and supports the Familial Rank of Systariidae Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001

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New and interesting spiders (Arthropoda, Araneae) from Vashlovani National Park and Chachuna Managed Reserve (Georgia). Part II

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It's Complicated: How Sex, Family, and Season Affect Growth of a Sexually Size Dimorphic Spider

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Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider

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Tarantula–Reptile Interaction: Lizard Predation Events by Species of Brachypelma and Amazonius (Araneae: Theraphosidae)

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A remarkable new species of the genus Chilobrachys Karsch, 1892(Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Yunnan, China

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Structural determinants of the scorpion venom peptide Uy234 reveal a membrane-disruptive mechanism in bacterial ESKAPE pathogens

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A new species of the mygalomorph spider genus Euagrus Ausserer (Araneae: Euagridae) from central Mexico and new records of E. gus Coyle from Tlaxcala

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On the first Subandean species of Myrmecium Latreille, 1824 (Araneae, Corinnidae) from the Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador

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A reassessment of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, as a misidentified Leiurus sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

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Ninetine spiders in Brazilian Caatinga and Cerrado: revision of Kambiwa and description of Sertana gen. nov. (Araneae, Pholcidae), with analyses of predicted range shifts due to climate change

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DNA barcoding of scorpions from Kosovo, with the first record of Alpiscorpius dinaricus (Di Caporiacco) (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae)

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Five new species and one new record of armored spiders (Araneae, Tetrablemmidae) from Thailand

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On the validity of Glabropelmatidae Raven, 1985 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae): a replacement name for Melloinidae Perafán, Montes de Oca and Pérez-Miles, 2025

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Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Spider-Pathogenic Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) from the Lancang–Mekong Biodiversity Hotspot: Four New Species and Five New National Records

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Comparing Spider Sampling Methods in a Eucalypt Forest in Wet and Dry Conditions

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Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production

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