ABSTRACT sexual season is restricted to almost two months (end of February to mid-April), corresp... more ABSTRACT sexual season is restricted to almost two months (end of February to mid-April), corresponding to late summer and early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002). Males of both species are mainly nocturnal but show diurnal activity during stormy days in the sexual period (Pérez-Miles et al. 2005); also, mass occurrences of walking males can be observed in this period (Pérez-Miles & Costa 1995). Male courtship of both species is basically similar and mainly includes seismic signals reaching more than 1 m (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002; Quirici & Costa 2005, 2007). They are mainly body vibrations caused by spasmodic contractions of the third legs (Baruffaldi et al. 2008; Baruf-faldi et al. 2013), but also palpal drumming, which consits of slow, alternate, palpal movements. In A. suina palpal drumming predominates, while in E. weijenberghi it is body vibrations (Quirici & Costa 2005). Female behaviours against substrate); rejection of the male by body movements like a piston, and other rejections such as attacks. Couple clasping allows adopting the copulation position: the male places his tibial apophyses clasping the female's open fangs, and then raises the female's body to insert the palpal organ (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002). Considering that both species share similar characteristics, we expected strong isolation barriers between them. Since natural encounters between these species can easily occur (Pérez-Miles et al. 2005), early (precopulatory) saving biological costs. However, preliminary observations (Baruffaldi et al. 2008) showed that female silk threads sexual responses in the female. Hence, to elucidate when reproductive isolation barriers occur, and which they are, encounters under laboratory conditions. Summary Strong reproductive barriers are expected between similar species that co-occur in time and space. We experimentally analysed sexual interactions between the theraphosids Acanthoscurria suina and Eupalaestrus weijenberghi which met female cues. Furthermore, A. suina females seemed to be more courtship. Although precopulatory confusion occurred, no reproductive barriers operate.
A new species of Hapalopus Ausserer, 1875 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae) from Bolivia is... more A new species of Hapalopus Ausserer, 1875 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae) from Bolivia is described and illustrated, based in males and females.
Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females l... more Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March) and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions, totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation, body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find differenc...
Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis are neglected endemic protozoan diseases recognized as public he... more Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis are neglected endemic protozoan diseases recognized as public health problems by the World Health Organization. These diseases affect millions of people around the world however, efficient and low-cost treatments are not available. Different steroid molecules with antimicrobial and antiparasitic activity were isolated from diverse organisms (ticks, plants, fungi). These molecules have complex structures that make de novo synthesis extremely difficult. In this work, we designed new and simpler compounds with antiparasitic potential inspired in natural steroids and synthesized a series of nineteen steroidal arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines. We explored their biological activity against Leishmania infantum, Leishmania amazonensis, and Trypanosoma cruzi in vitro and in vivo. We also assayed their genotoxicity and acute toxicity in vitro and in mice. The best compound, a steroidal thiosemicarbazone compound 8 (ID_1260) was active in vitro (IC50...
A series of fifty arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines was evaluated against Leishmania in... more A series of fifty arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines was evaluated against Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis. Furthermore, new simplified thiazolidenehydrazine derivatives were evaluated against Trypanosoma cruzi. The cytotoxicity of the active compounds on non-infected fibroblasts or macrophages was established in vitro to evaluate the selectivity of their anti-parasitic effects. Seven thiazolidenehydrazine derivatives and ten arylideneketones had good activity against the three parasites. The IC50 values for T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. ranged from 90 nM-25 µM. Eight compounds had multi-trypanocidal activity against T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. (the etiological agents of cutaneous and visceral forms). The selectivity of these active compounds was better than the three reference drugs: benznidazole, glucantime and miltefosine. They also had low toxicity when tested in vivo on zebrafish. Trying to understand the mechanism of action of these compounds, two poss...
Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females
... more Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females
live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational
sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and
remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are
able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the
mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in
each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March)
and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions,
totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation,
body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find
differences in female behaviors as call or rejection. Courtship intensity was lower in May. This
decrease could reflect male decadence and/or lower female receptivity. Unexpectedly, females
preferred to lose their annual reproductive chance than mate with a poor quality male.
ABSTRACT sexual season is restricted to almost two months (end of February to mid-April), corresp... more ABSTRACT sexual season is restricted to almost two months (end of February to mid-April), corresponding to late summer and early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002). Males of both species are mainly nocturnal but show diurnal activity during stormy days in the sexual period (Pérez-Miles et al. 2005); also, mass occurrences of walking males can be observed in this period (Pérez-Miles & Costa 1995). Male courtship of both species is basically similar and mainly includes seismic signals reaching more than 1 m (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002; Quirici & Costa 2005, 2007). They are mainly body vibrations caused by spasmodic contractions of the third legs (Baruffaldi et al. 2008; Baruf-faldi et al. 2013), but also palpal drumming, which consits of slow, alternate, palpal movements. In A. suina palpal drumming predominates, while in E. weijenberghi it is body vibrations (Quirici & Costa 2005). Female behaviours against substrate); rejection of the male by body movements like a piston, and other rejections such as attacks. Couple clasping allows adopting the copulation position: the male places his tibial apophyses clasping the female's open fangs, and then raises the female's body to insert the palpal organ (Costa & Pérez-Miles 2002). Considering that both species share similar characteristics, we expected strong isolation barriers between them. Since natural encounters between these species can easily occur (Pérez-Miles et al. 2005), early (precopulatory) saving biological costs. However, preliminary observations (Baruffaldi et al. 2008) showed that female silk threads sexual responses in the female. Hence, to elucidate when reproductive isolation barriers occur, and which they are, encounters under laboratory conditions. Summary Strong reproductive barriers are expected between similar species that co-occur in time and space. We experimentally analysed sexual interactions between the theraphosids Acanthoscurria suina and Eupalaestrus weijenberghi which met female cues. Furthermore, A. suina females seemed to be more courtship. Although precopulatory confusion occurred, no reproductive barriers operate.
A new species of Hapalopus Ausserer, 1875 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae) from Bolivia is... more A new species of Hapalopus Ausserer, 1875 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae) from Bolivia is described and illustrated, based in males and females.
Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females l... more Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March) and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions, totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation, body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find differenc...
Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis are neglected endemic protozoan diseases recognized as public he... more Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis are neglected endemic protozoan diseases recognized as public health problems by the World Health Organization. These diseases affect millions of people around the world however, efficient and low-cost treatments are not available. Different steroid molecules with antimicrobial and antiparasitic activity were isolated from diverse organisms (ticks, plants, fungi). These molecules have complex structures that make de novo synthesis extremely difficult. In this work, we designed new and simpler compounds with antiparasitic potential inspired in natural steroids and synthesized a series of nineteen steroidal arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines. We explored their biological activity against Leishmania infantum, Leishmania amazonensis, and Trypanosoma cruzi in vitro and in vivo. We also assayed their genotoxicity and acute toxicity in vitro and in mice. The best compound, a steroidal thiosemicarbazone compound 8 (ID_1260) was active in vitro (IC50...
A series of fifty arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines was evaluated against Leishmania in... more A series of fifty arylideneketones and thiazolidenehydrazines was evaluated against Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis. Furthermore, new simplified thiazolidenehydrazine derivatives were evaluated against Trypanosoma cruzi. The cytotoxicity of the active compounds on non-infected fibroblasts or macrophages was established in vitro to evaluate the selectivity of their anti-parasitic effects. Seven thiazolidenehydrazine derivatives and ten arylideneketones had good activity against the three parasites. The IC50 values for T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. ranged from 90 nM-25 µM. Eight compounds had multi-trypanocidal activity against T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. (the etiological agents of cutaneous and visceral forms). The selectivity of these active compounds was better than the three reference drugs: benznidazole, glucantime and miltefosine. They also had low toxicity when tested in vivo on zebrafish. Trying to understand the mechanism of action of these compounds, two poss...
Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females
... more Adult males of Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell 1894) live only for few months, while females
live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational
sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and
remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are
able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the
mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in
each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March)
and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions,
totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation,
body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find
differences in female behaviors as call or rejection. Courtship intensity was lower in May. This
decrease could reflect male decadence and/or lower female receptivity. Unexpectedly, females
preferred to lose their annual reproductive chance than mate with a poor quality male.
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live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational
sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and
remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are
able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the
mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in
each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March)
and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions,
totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation,
body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find
differences in female behaviors as call or rejection. Courtship intensity was lower in May. This
decrease could reflect male decadence and/or lower female receptivity. Unexpectedly, females
preferred to lose their annual reproductive chance than mate with a poor quality male.
live many years and continue molting and growing. Hence, there is a strong female-biased operational
sex-ratio. While males move massively during the brief mating season, females are sedentary and
remain inside their burrows, which are sometimes very close to each other. We tested if males are
able to select females according to their body size and if selectivity of both sexes varies along the
mating season. We exposed 5 males to 5 pairs of females of different sizes that occupied a burrow in
each of two joined terraria. We performed two series of experiments: one at the beginning (March)
and other at the end (May) of the mating season. Threesome combinations varied without repetitions,
totalizing 25 trials on each series. We did not find differences in male behaviors: initial orientation,
body vibration, palpal drumming and mating attempts regarding female size. We did not find
differences in female behaviors as call or rejection. Courtship intensity was lower in May. This
decrease could reflect male decadence and/or lower female receptivity. Unexpectedly, females
preferred to lose their annual reproductive chance than mate with a poor quality male.