Download free PDF

Abstract

New records of the spider Chibchea salta Huber 2000 (Araneae, Pholcidae) from northwestern Argentina are provided, and the potential range of this species is modeled. Two presence-only methods, Maxent and Bioclim, were run using 19 bioclimatic parameters at a resolution of 30 arc seconds. The climatic profile of C. salta is described, and the relative importance of the bioclimatic variables is explored. Temperature variables proved to be more decisive to the final range shape. The range predicted with Maxent is slightly larger than with Bioclim, but the latter appears to be more sensitive to the record set bias. Both methods performed well, resulting in predictive ranges consistent with the yungas ecoregion. These results provide an initial insight into the bioclimatic tolerance of C. salta, and by identifying potential areas with no records, such as the sierras on the Salta-Jujuy border, they also help in identifying sites for future sampling efforts.

Keywords: Bioclim, bioclimatic profile, ecological niche modeling, Maxent, presence-only, Yungas Ecoregion

Abbreviations: AUC, area under curve; bc, bioclimatic variable; GIS, Geographical Information Systems

Correspondence: ^a grubio@conicet.gov.ar, ^b* lacosta@com.uncor.edu, *Corresponding author

Editor: Jay Rosenheim was editor of this paper

Received: 17 February 2010 | Accepted: 20 May 2010 | Published: 21 April 2011

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 54

Rubio GD, Acosta LE. 2011. Geographical distribution of the space-weaving spider, Chibchea salta, from northwestern Argentina: New records and bioclimatic modeling. Journal of Insect Science 11:54 available online: insectscience.org/11.54