Abstract
Los gusanos de terciopelo (Onychophora) son antiguos depredadores de origen cámbrico que ocasionalmente consumen arañas cténidas. Aquí informamos el caso contrario: arañas (Ctenus spp.) alimentándose de gusanos onicóforos (Epiperipatus spp.) en Colombia y Costa Rica. Aparentemente las presas no lograron expulsar su red defensiva y la eficacia del veneno de araña sugiere que los nervios y músculos de los onicóforos son bioquímicamente equivalentes a los de los insectos.
Highlights
RESUMEN: Papeles invertidos: arañas depredadoras de gusanos de terciopelo neotropicales (Epiperipatus spp.; Onychophora: Peripatidae)
Velvet worms are ancient predators with Cambrian origins that occasionally prey on Ctenid spiders
The worms could not expel their defensive adhesive, and the efficacy of the spider venom suggests that onychophoran nerves and muscles are biochemically equivalent to those of insects
Summary
RESUMEN: Papeles invertidos: arañas depredadoras de gusanos de terciopelo neotropicales (Epiperipatus spp.; Onychophora: Peripatidae). ABSTRACT: Velvet worms are ancient predators with Cambrian origins that occasionally prey on Ctenid spiders. We report the opposite case: wolf spiders (Ctenus spp.) feeding on Epiperipatus spp. in Colombia and Costa Rica.
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