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On the Abundance and Ecology of Ricinulei (Arachnida) from Central Amazonia, Brazil

1989; BioOne; Volume: 97; Linguagem: Inglês

1937-2361

Joachim Adis, Liangwan. Cai, José Wellington de Morais, José Maria Gomes Rodrigues,

Turtle Biology and Conservation

-Ricinuleids from primary and secondary dryland forest soils in the region of Manaus represented two species: (1) Cryptocellus becki with 94 specimens, mostly juveniles, maximum abundance 38 ind./M2, and predominantly obtained during the dry season and (2) Cryptocellus adisi with 17 specimens, mostly juveniles, up to 10 ind JM2, and more frequent during the dry season. These sympatric species appear to be separated in their mutual habitat by spatial differences, with C. becki inhabiting mostly the organic soil layer and the smaller C. adisi the mineral subsoil. C. becki showed no distinct reproductive period and its first stage of development occurred throughout the year. Neotropical ricinuleids are litter and soil inhabitants of dryland forests in Central Amazonia (Morais, 1985; Rodrigues, 1986). They have not been found in caves (Karmann, 1986; Adis, unpubl.) or in inundation forests along rivers in the Amazon Basin (Adis, 1981). A comparison of the abundance and ecology of Cryptocellus becki Platnick and Shadab (1977) and C. adisi Platnick (1988) from primary and secondary dryland forest sites in the region of Manaus is now possible, as the taxonomic evaluation has been completed. STUDY AREA AND METHODS Ricinuleids were collected between 1982 and 1983 in the course of ecological studies on Central Amazonian arthropods from two previously investigated and fully described forest types, all within 30 km of Manaus: (1) in a primary dryland forest (terra firme forest) at Reserva Florestal A. Ducke (2?55'S, 59?59'W) on the Manaus Itacoatiara highway (AM-010 at km 26), study area of Adis and Schubart (1984), Adis et al. (1984), Morais (1985), Penny and Arias (1982) and others; (2) in a cut but unburned secondary dryland forest (capoeira forest) adjacent to an inundation forest at Rio Taruma Mirim (03?02'S, 60?17'W), a tributary of the Rio Negro, study area of Adis and Schubart (1984) and Rodrigues (1986). Both forest types were subject to a rainy season (December-May: average precipitation 1,550 mm) and a dry season (June-November: average precipitation 550 mm; cf. Ribeiro and Adis, 1984). This content downloaded from 207.46.13.101 on Sun, 09 Oct 2016 06:09:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 134 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Vol. 97(2)