First record of a brown widow spider Latrodectus geometricus Koch, 1841 (Araneae, Theridiidae) feeding scorpion (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae) in a Brazilian Atlantic forest

Predation of a scorpion (Scorpiones: Buthidae) by an assassin bug(Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…Predation of scorpions by invertebrates, mainly ants, coleopterans, heteropterans, chilopods, solpugids, other scorpions, and spiders, causes a high rate of mortality among juveniles and smaller species of scorpions (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1960;Williams, 1966;Cloudsley-Thompson, 1977;McCormick and Polis, 1990;Punzo, 1998;Melic, 2000;Moreno-González and Hazzi, 2012;Stevenson and Stohlgren, 2015). Here, we report the first case of scorpion predation by a juvenile assassin bug (Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Harpactorinae, Harpactorini), during a nocturnal collection of scorpions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest; this is the second reported case of scorpion predation in this biome (Lira and Costa, 2014).…”

Primeros registros de depredación intra-gremio de Sicarius thomisoides Walckenaer, 1847 (Araneae: Sicariidae) sobre el escorpión Brachistosternus mattoni (Ojanguren-Affilastro, 2005) (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae) y el solífugo Pseudocleobis sp. (Solifugae: Ammotrechidae) en Chile

“…Por otro lado, las interacciones entre escorpiones y arañas son un poco más comunes y han sido documentados durante décadas (Polis y McCormick 1986;Polis 1990). En la mayoría de los casos estudiados, son los escorpiones los que depredan sobre las arañas; sin embargo, en casos raros las arañas pueden llegar a capturar y alimentarse de escorpiones (Polis y McCormick 1986;Lira y Costa 2014;Faúndez y Albornoz 2017;Magalhães et al 2017). En Sudamérica la mayoría de los casos publicados consideran a la familia Theridiidae (géneros Latrodectus y Steatoda), como los principales depredadores de escorpiones, mientras que en otras familias de arañas es un fenómeno menos frecuente (Lira y Costa 2014;Lira et al 2016;Faúndez y Albornoz 2017).…”

Patterns of the introduction, spread, and impact of the brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae: Theridiidae), in the Americas

“…They are occasionally found on more natural substrate, such as vegetation, but in the majority of these cases the vegetation is a microhabitat associated with urban environments (Brown et al 2008; Vetter et al 2012b). They are generalist predators and consume a wide variety of insects, arachnids, and occasionally much larger prey such as reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals (Lira & Costa 2014; Taucare-Ríos & Canals 2015; Vasava et al 2015; Rocha et al 2017; Luna et al 2020). The venom of brown widow spiders is more toxic in mice, compared to the venom of most congeners, but on average they deliver a smaller amount of venom in their bite, posing a lower risk for human health (McCrone 1964).…”