Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
@6eyes8legs.bsky.social
480 followers 360 following 25 posts
researcher at Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 〰️ spider nerd 〰️ taxonomy, systematics, biogeography 〰️ he/him 〰️ ENG/ESP/PT
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Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Bugs to make you go “Ooooh!” 😲🤩
sabs.bsky.social
a question for bug enthusiasts: are there any other examples of bugs doing crazy body horror (body envy!??!) stuff like this? www.science.org/content/arti...
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it
www.science.org
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Also with a nice biogeographic history, including a dispersal event from South America to Australia via Antarctica around ~40 million years ago:
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Beautiful work by Ortiz et al. on the phylogenomics of zodariid spiders. Nice way of summarizing topological conflict among datasets and analyses!

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Monjaraz-Ruedas et al. on genetic diversity of several mygalomorph species. Body size and ecological niche do not predict genetic diversity or structure, because ALL species are highly structured and isolated by distance. Mygals don't like moving...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Graph showing that different mygalomorph species all have high FST values, irrespective of their size and type of ecology.
Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Nice paper by Lima et al. on the origins of the endemic birds of the Caatinga dry forests. They have been arriving since 12 million years ago, mostly from nearby dry/open areas (niche conservatism!). Interestingly, the most threatened birds are generally the older endemics... doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Loxosceles galianoa, una nueva especie de araña del noroeste árido argentino. Bautizada en honor a María Elena Galiano, es pariente cercana de L. laeta, pero vive en ambientes naturales. En el artículo, también discutimos la evolución de la genitalia femenina en Loxosceles.

doi.org/10.1071/IS24...
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
I guess it depends on what you consider a "fossil". some of those frozen and mummified remains are considered fossils if they are more than 10,000 years old.
Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
luizacaires.bsky.social
Papais em forma: aracnídeo macho que cuida da prole anuncia “boa saúde” para atrair fêmea

Experimentos em campo com opiliões mostram que a emissão de anúncios sexuais é tão importante quanto a condição física para o sucesso reprodutivo da espécie

jornal.usp.br/ciencias/ara...
Um opilião, que se assemelha a uma aranha de pernas longas, está sobre uma folha próximo aos ovos
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
I have not seen details of the dire wolf story, but ancient DNA recovered from fossils is actually common, and scientists have successfully sequenced enormous DNA chunks from a number of extinct species, including complete genomes of a few. so DNA of fossil material does exist.
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Aspidolasius branicki, the cat-face spider
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
female spider genitalia seen in a scanning electron microscope
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
black & gold Oxyopes from Entre Ríos, Argentina
A male spider of the genus Oxyopes in a plain, white background. It has a high carapace and eight eyes, and eight short and spiny legs. The spider is black and is covered in golden, shiny feathery hairs.
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
No, I use a regular camera lucida attached to a microscope!
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
The process of drawing a spider male genitalia for taxonomic description. ~2:30 hours in total (only the filling; the lines in the camera lucida might have taken an additional hour or so).
14 panels showing the process of a drawing from start to end; the first show only the empty lines, and the drawing becomes progressively filled and more detailed. the last panel shows the genitalia with all its features, including pointed ends, a laminate conductor and a coiled embolus.
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Su nombre, elegido por voto popular, honra a Rita Schiapelli, pionera en aracnología, celebrando su colaboración con Berta Gerschman de Pikelin, a quien el género fue dedicado.

El artículo se puede leer gratuitamente desde la web del MACN:

revista.macn.gob.ar/ojs/index.ph...
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Con gente del MACN, CEPAVE y Uruguay, recién describimos la araña Pikelinia schiapelliae (Filistatidae), hallada en arenales de Argentina y Uruguay. Muy simpática!

(foto 1 por Damián Hagopián)
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
Actinopus cordobensis, a trapdoor spider from Argentina.
Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
kekeflipnote.bsky.social
Moomin discovered that there is no toxicity over Bluesky.
Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
nice finding!! definitely Synotaxus, the chicken-wire spider.
Reposted by Dr. Ivan Magalhaes
crevicedwelling.bsky.social
this was one of my favorite finds in Costa Rica: a mysterious glassy spider with a strange, delicate web. seems to be genus Synotaxus, but I can’t find much else about these little jewels or how they live
under a fluffy white cloud of silk hiding a few white eggs, there’s a translucent pale green spider with a cone-shaped body, the pointy top of which is light yellow instead. the legs of the spider are very slender and long another such spider sits under a leaf, with its web hanging below; it’s hard to see the strands closer up, the web is easier to see: many horizontal parallel lines, connected by vertical strands beaded with several droplets(?), making a very orderly but delicate net-like web.
6eyes8legs.bsky.social
que fotaça!! esse ataque da aranha é para enrolar a presa super rápido usando uma glândula de seda modificada que só essa família tem.

as "bisnaguinhas de confeiteiro" finas são por onde saem os fios de seda comuns, e as grossas são por onde sai uma substância pegajosa que usam pra enrolar a presa