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Iguarima censoria (Anyphaenidae) spiders unparasitized and parasitized by Gibellula mineira sp. nov.Santos, Mendes-Pereira, Ribeiro & Kloss. 2026 |
Abstract
In tropical forests, there is a high diversity of parasites that use arthropods as resource, particularly arachnids. One of the most frequent groups of spiders’ parasites in tropical forests are fungi of the genus Gibellula, for which a considerable knowledge gap remains in these environments. In this study, we present the description of a new species that infects spiders of the species Iguarima censoria (Anyphaenidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Gibellula mineira sp. nov. We also described the prevalence of the new fungal species in the host spider population and evaluated whether the host size influences their probability of parasitism. Morphological and molecular analyses revealed that G. mineira represents a distinct species forming a clade with 100% support of bootstrap and showing a close phylogenetic relationship with Gibellula aurea. The characteristics that distinguish it from other species of the genus include light brown hyphae, white and slightly larger conidiophores, and thinner phialides. We observed a high prevalence of parasitism in this interaction, reaching 25% of the observed I. censoria population. Furthermore, we noted that the cadavers of parasitized spiders are exclusively attached to the underside of leaves, following the typical pattern observed for Gibellula species. Parasitism is more frequent in smaller I. censoria individuals, which is probably associated with thinner cuticles or higher foraging activity in smaller individuals. We suggested that G. mineira is an important natural enemy of I. censoria, directly influencing the population dynamics of this spider and expanding our knowledge of the ecology and biodiversity of araneopathogenic fungi.
Keywords: Hypocreales, Araneae, Behavioral manipulation, Parasitism, Araneopathogenic fungi
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| Iguarima censoria (Anyphaenidae) spiders unparasitized and parasitized by Gibellula mineira sp. nov. (A) Unparasitized individual foraging in vegetation; (B) Silk retreat built by unparasitized spiders on the leaf lamina; (C) Adult I. censoria individual infected by G. mineira at an early stage of fungal development; (D) G. mineira colony at mature stage of development; (E) I. censoria individual showing newly formed synnemata (white); (F) I. censoria individual showing mature synnemata (light brown); (G) Detail of a white synnema, at the beginning of development, with conidiophores showing chains of conidia; (H) Developed light brown synnema, with dense, white conidiophores. Scale bars: E, G, H = 1 mm. |
Gibellula mineira sp. nov.
Aline dos Santos, Thairine Mendes-Pereira, Camila de Fátima Ferreira Ribeiro and Thiago Gechel Kloss. 2026. The Silent Hunters of Spiders: Discovering A New Gibellula (Ascomycota: Cordycipitaceae) Fungus in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Fungal Biology. 130(3); 101748. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2026.101748
