Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 7 No. 3: June 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-06-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.3.13
Page range: 435-442
Abstract views: 95
PDF downloaded: 4

Spider-ant predation in Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber

Doctorado en Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, CP 62209, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México; Departamento de Zoología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 11340, Ciudad de México, México; Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Escuela de Estudios Superiores del Jicarero, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, CP 62909, Morelos, México
Doctorado en Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, CP 62209, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México; Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Escuela de Estudios Superiores del Jicarero, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, CP 62909, Morelos, México
Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Escuela de Estudios Superiores del Jicarero, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, CP 62909, Morelos, México
Departamento de Zoología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 11340, Ciudad de México, México
Ant Azteca palaeoecology Clubionidae

Abstract

Predator-prey interactions have played a pivotal role in the evolutionary history of both predators and prey. Nevertheless, due to spatiotemporal limitations in fossilization, evidence of such interactions is rarely preserved in the fossil record. This report documents the predatory activity of a clubionid sac spider (Araneae: Clubionidae) on an odorous ant (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae: Azteca) preserved in Mexican amber. The fossil material comes from the upper strata of the Simojovel Formation located in Chiapas, Mexico. Its recent dating places it within the temporal confines of the late Oligocene and early Miocene, ca. 24 Mya. This is a direct evidence of spider trapping and feeding behaviour resembling modern habits found in the geological past. The predator-prey interaction in the fossil record provides compelling evidence of biological diversity regarding taxonomic composition and spatial heterogeneity in a tropical and subtropical environment in which these species coexisted.

References

  1. Abrams, P.A. (2000) The evolution of predator-prey interactions: theory and evidence. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 31, 79–105. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.31.1.79
  2. Allison, R.C. (1967) The Cenozoic stratigraphy of Chiapas, Mexico, with discussions of the classification of the Turritellidae and selected Mexican representatives. [Ph.D. dissertation], University of California, Berkeley, 468 pp.
  3. Arroyo-Sánchez, D.K., Víctor, J., Córdova-Tabares, V.M., Hernández-Damian, A.L. & Estrada-Ruiz, E. (2023) Entomopathogenic fungi (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) on a termite (Blattodea: Mastotermitidae) trapped in Miocene amber from Chiapas, Mexico. Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2291769
  4. Boeing, W.J. (2010) Defensive avoidance. In: Breed, M.D. & Moore, J. (Eds), Encyclopedia of animal behavior. Vol 1. Elsevier, pp. 476–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-045337-8.00331-4
  5. Boucot, A.J. & Poinar, G.O. (2010) Fossil behavior compendium. CRC Press, Boca Raton Fl, 363 pp. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781439810590
  6. Córdova-Tabares, V.M. & Riquelme, F. (2023) Annotated catalog of Arachnida in the fossil record of Mexico. Southwest Entomology, 48 (3), 605–628. https://doi.org/10.3958/059.048.0312
  7. Córdova-Tabares, V., Riquelme, F., Villegas-Guzmán, G., Víctor, J. & Estrada-Ruiz, E. (2024) A phoretic pseudoscorpion (Pseudoscorpiones: Cheliferidae: Hysterochelifer) from the Mexican amber. Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2336980
  8. Cushing, P.E. (2012) Spider-ant associations: an updated review of myrmecomorphy, myrmecophily, and myrmecophagy in Spiders. Psyche a Journal of Entomology, 2012, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/151989
  9. Dankittipakul, P. & Singtripop, T. (2008) Spiders of the Clubiona corticalis group from Thailand, with descriptions of three new species (Araneae: Clubionidae). Zoological Studies, 47 (5), 644–656.
  10. Dunlop, J.A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. (2023) A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives. In: World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, Available from: http://wsc.nmbe.ch (accessed 24 April 2024)
  11. Forel, A. (1878) Études myrmécologiques en 1878 (première partie) avec l’anatomie du gésier des fourmis. Bulletin de la Société vaudoise des sciences naturelles, 15, 337–392
  12. Frost, S.H. & Lagenheim, R.L. (1974) Cenozoic reef biofacies, Tertiary larger foraminifera and scleractinian corals from Chiapas, Mexico. Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, 388 pp.
  13. García-Villafuerte, M. (2018) Un posible caso de depredación preservado en ámbar de Chiapas, México: una araña (Araneae: Theridiidae) y su presa, una mosca (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). Revista Ibérica Aracnología, 33, 55–62.
  14. García-Villafuerte, M.A., Carbot-Chanona, G., Rivera-Velázquez, G., Pineda-Diez de Bonilla, E. & Matamoros, W.A. (2022) The first record of genus Phycosoma (Araneae: Theridiidae) from the lower Miocene Mexican amber, with the description of a new species. Journal of Paleontology, 96 (6), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2022.44
  15. Graham, A. (1999) Studies in Neotropical paleobotany. xiii. an Oligo‐Miocene palynoflora from Simojovel (Chiapas, Mexico). American Journal of Botany, 86 (1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/2656951
  16. Kowalewski, M. (2002) The fossil record of predation: an overview of analytical methods. The Paleontological Society Papers, 8, 3–42. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1089332600001030
  17. Langenheim, J.H. (2003) Plant resins: chemistry, evolution, ecology and ethnobotany. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 586 pp.
  18. Longino, J.T. (2007) A taxonomic review of the genus Azteca in Costa Rica and a global revision of the Aurita group. Zootaxa, 1491 (1), 1–63. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1491.1.1
  19. Nudds, J. & Selden, P. (2008) Fossil-Lagerstätten. Geology Today, 24 (4), 153–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2008.00679.x
  20. Penney, D. (2008) Dominican amber spiders: a comparative palaeontological-neontological approach to identification, faunistics, ecology and biogeography. Siri Scientific Press, 176 pp.
  21. Perrilliat, M., Vega, F. & Coutiño, M. (2010) Miocene mollusks from the Simojovel area in Chiapas, Southwestern Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 30, 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2010.04.005
  22. Petrunkevitch, A. (1963) Chiapas amber spiders. University of California Publications in Entomology, 31, 1–40.
  23. Petrunkevitch, A. (1971) Chiapas amber spiders, ii. University of California Publications in Entomology, 63, 1–44.
  24. Pindell, J., Villagomez, D., Molina, G.R., Beltran, A., Stockli, D.F. & Wildman, M. (2023) Late Cretaceous–Miocene depositional evolution of Chiapas, Mexico: A foreland controlled by collision of Greater Antilles arc and the subsequent relative migration of the Chortís Block. Gondwana Research, 113, 116–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.10.016
  25. Poinar, G.O. Jr. & Brown, A.E. (2002) Hymenaea mexicana sp. nov. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) from Mexican amber indicates old world connections. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 139, 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2002.00053.x
  26. Richman, D.B. & Ubick, D. (2017) Clubionidae. In: Ubick, D., Paquin, P., Cushing, P.E. & Roth, V. (Eds), Spiders of North America: an identification manual. 2nd edition. American Arachnological Society, Keene, pp. 89–90.
  27. Richter, A., Keller, R.A., Rosumek, F.B., Economo, E.P., Garcia, F.H. & Beutel, R.G. (2019) The cephalic anatomy of workers of the ant species Wasmannia affinis (Formicidae: Hymenoptera: Insecta) and its evolutionary implications. Arthropod structure & Development, 49, 26–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2019.02.002
  28. Richter, A., Garcia, F.H., Keller, R.A., Billen, J., Economo, E.P. & Beutel, R.G. (2020) Comparative analysis of worker head anatomy of Formica and Brachyponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, 78 (1), 133–170. https://doi.org/10.26049/ASP78-1-2020-06
  29. Riquelme, F., Alvarado-Ortega, J., Ramos Arias, M., Le Dez, I., Lee-Whiting, T.A. & Ruvalcaba-Sil, L. (2013a) A fossil stemmiulid millipede (Diplopoda: Stemmiulida) from the Miocene amber of Simojovel, Chiapas, México. Historical Biology, 26, 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2013.778843
  30. Riquelme, F., Northrup, P., Ruvalcaba-Sil, J.L., Stojanoff, V., Siddons, D.P. & Alvarado-Ortega, J. (2013b) Insights into molecular chemistry of Chiapas amber using infrared light microscopy, pixe/rbs, and sulfur K-edge xanes spectroscopy. Applied Physics A, 116 (1), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-8185-2
  31. Riquelme, F., Ruvalcaba-Sil, J.L., Alvarado-Ortega, J., Estrada-Ruiz, E., Galicia-Chávez, M., Porras-Múzquiz, H., Stojanoff, V., Siddons, D.P. & Miller, L. (2014) Amber from México: Coahuilite, Simojovelite and Bacalite. MRS Proceedings, 1618, 169–180. https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2014.466
  32. Riquelme, F. & Menéndez-Acuña, M. (2017) Miocene spider Maevia eureka nov. sp. (Araneae: Salticidae). PeerJ, 5, e3614. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3614
  33. Riquelme, F., Méndez-Acuña, M. & Yoval-Martínez, I. (2021) Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from Miocene Mexican amber. Palaeodiversity, 14, 5–13. https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v14.a2
  34. Riquelme, F., Ortega-Flores, B., Estrada-Ruiz, E. & Córdova-Tabares, V. (2024) Zircon U-Pb ages of the Chiapas amber-Lagerstätte (Mexico: Chiapas: Simojovel). SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4778409
  35. Rohlf, F.J. (2013) the tpsDig program, ver. 2.17. The Stony Book University, Stony Brook, NewYork.
  36. Saturnino, R. & Bonaldo, A.B. (2015) Taxonomic review of the new world spider genus Elaver O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898 (Araneae, Clubionidae). Zootaxa, 4045 (1), 1–119. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4045.1.1
  37. Seilacher, A., Reif, W-e. & Westphal, F. (1985) Sedimentological, ecological and temporal patterns of fossil Lagerstätten. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 311 (1148), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1985.0134
  38. Shattuck, S.O. (1992) Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 21, 1–181.
  39. Simon, E. (1878) Les arachnides de France. Tome quatrième, contenant la famille des Drassidae. Roret, Paris, 334 pp.
  40. Varela-Hernández, F., Riquelme, F. & Guerrero, R.J. (2023) A Miocene ant species of the genus Forelius Emery, 1888 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) from Mexico. Palaeontologia Electronica, 26 (3), a36. https://doi.org/10.26879/1294
  41. Wagner, W.A. (1887) Copulationsorgane des Männchens als criterium für die Systematik der Spinnen. Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae, 22, 3–132.
  42. World Spider Catalog (2024) World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, Available from: http://wsc.nmbe.ch (accessed 25 April 2024).
  43. Wunderlich, J. (2004) Fossil spiders in amber and copal. conclusions, revisions, new taxa and family diagnoses of fossils and extant taxa. Beiträge zur Araneologie, 3, 1–1908.