Taucare-Ríos Andrés, Bizama Gustavo, Bustamante Ramiro O
Programa de Doctorado en Ecología y Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile (
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile (
Environ Entomol. 2016 Dec;45(6):1379-1385. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvw118. Epub 2016 Sep 17.
The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus C. L. Koch, 1841, is a large spider of the family Theridiidae that belongs to a genus of medical interest owing to its potent neurotoxic venom, which causes severe pain in humans. In America, this alien spider has been found in virtually all countries in the region, mainly associated with human dwellings, but also in agricultural sectors. However, the invasive process and potential distribution of this invasive species across the American continent are completely unknown. In this context, using a combination of both global and regional niche models, it is possible to hypothesize the invasive phase of the species as well as the geographic space where these different phases occur. By comparing the global and regional niches of L. geometricus, we examined its invasive process and potential distribution across the American continent. This work is an innovative approach to understanding the invasion of the brown widow spider in this area and the ecological processes that underlie this invasion. In this context, the global and regional niche comparison constitutes an appropriate tool to account for the complexities of the invasive process, generating different hypotheses amenable to being tested in future studies.
褐寡妇蜘蛛，即间斑寇蛛（Latrodectus geometricus C. L. Koch，1841），是球蛛科的一种大型蜘蛛。由于其具有强大的神经毒性毒液，会给人类带来剧痛，该蜘蛛所属的属具有医学研究价值。在美国，这种外来蜘蛛几乎在该地区的所有国家都有发现，主要出现在人类住所附近，但在农业区域也有发现。然而，这种入侵物种在美洲大陆的入侵过程和潜在分布情况完全未知。在此背景下，通过结合全球和区域生态位模型，可以推测该物种的入侵阶段以及这些不同阶段发生的地理空间。通过比较间斑寇蛛的全球和区域生态位，我们研究了其在美洲大陆的入侵过程和潜在分布。这项工作是理解褐寡妇蜘蛛在该地区入侵情况以及这种入侵背后生态过程的一种创新方法。在此背景下，全球和区域生态位比较是一个合适的工具，可用于解释入侵过程的复杂性，提出不同假设以便在未来研究中进行检验。
