Social behavior is rare among arachnids, and “permanent-sociality” is a strategy documented only in a few spider species.
Here we describe the feeding and dispersal behavior of
Paratemnoides nidificator, a Neotropical pseudoscorpion presenting “non-territorial permanent-sociality”. Field and laboratory observations (100 hours
and 200 sessions over four years) and manipulative experiments revealed that
P.
nidificator is a generalist predator that lives in rough bark of trees, in groups of 2 to 175 individuals (42.62 ± 28.27; N=35 colonies;
solitary individuals were never found), including reproductive adults and nymphs. Individuals in groups cooperatively capture
prey four times larger than solitary individuals. Adult hunters share food with siblings. Reproduction in natural conditions
occurs during the hot/wet season, when food availability is high. Prey diversity and abundance seem to be the main factor
limiting reproduction in this species. Phoresy (attachment to a transporter animal) is the basic mode of dispersion in
P.
nidificator. Grouped individuals use large animals as vectors for dispersal, and once established they use the vector as the first food
item of the new colony. However, they can also disperse by colony fission, newly documented herein for this taxon. The elaborate,
cooperative behavior in
P.
nidificator is unique among pseudoscorpions and represents an excellent model for studies on the evolution of sociality in invertebrates.
Keywords: Arachnida - social behavior - cooperation - cooperative prey capture - phoresy
Received 10 August 2006; revised 17 November 2006; accepted 23 January 2007.