MATRIPHAGY IN THE NEOTROPICAL PSEUDOSCORPION PARATEMNOIDES NIDIFICATOR (BALZAN 1888) (ATEMNIDAE)

We studied the natural history and social behavior of Paratemnoides nidificator (Balzan 1888) in a tropical savanna system. Females were responsible for all nymphal care. We observed, for the first time in pseudoscorpions, the occurrence of matriphagy behavior by the offspring. During conditions of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of arachnology 2005-09, Vol.33 (3), p.873-877
Main Authors: Tizo-Pedroso, Everton, Del-Claro, Kleber
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal cannibalism
Animal nesting
Arachnida
Behavior
cannibalism
Cannibalism (Animals)
Cerrado
Embryos
Female animals
Insect colonies
maternal care
Mothers
Natural history
Nymphs
Parental behavior in animals
Savannas
Short Communications
Social behavior
Social evolution
tropical savanna
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Summary:We studied the natural history and social behavior of Paratemnoides nidificator (Balzan 1888) in a tropical savanna system. Females were responsible for all nymphal care. We observed, for the first time in pseudoscorpions, the occurrence of matriphagy behavior by the offspring. During conditions of food deprivation, the mother went out of the nest and passively awaited the protonymphs' attack, not reacting to the capture nor to the nymphs feeding on her body. We suggest that this extreme form of parental care, matriphagy, can reduce cannibalism among protonymphs and facilitate the evolution of social behavior in pseudoscorpions.
ISSN:0161-8202
1937-2396
DOI:10.1636/S03-61.1