''Gluvia dorsalis'' is a species of arachnid and one of the species referred to as the Iberian solifuge, being the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of genus ''Gluvia'', which is endemic to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

Description

''Gluvia dorsalis'' is a solifuge, a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

arachnid. The species was originally described as the "galeode dorsale"; ''

Galeodes ''Galeodes'' is a genus of solifuges or sun spiders. The nearly 200 species in this genus are found in northern Africa, southeastern Europe and Asia. Like other solifuges, they are mainly nocturnal and found in arid habitats. They often have lo ...

dorsalis'', possessing a length of "d'un demi-

pouce The traditional French units of measurement prior to metrication were established under Charlemagne during the Carolingian Renaissance. Based on contemporary Byzantine and ancient Roman measures, the system established some consistency across ...

" and found in the southernmost part of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was the only valid species of its genus for over 200 years, until '' Gluvia brunnea'' was described in 2024. The two species can be distinguished by color, with ''G. dorsalis'' possessing yellow areas on its

palp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...

s and legs, while ''G. brunnea'' has a completely brown dorsal region. ''G. dorsalis eyes are very close-set, being "as small as half the length of the eyes". The species also lacks a hypertrophied

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

("hair") on the coxa (first leg segment) present on ''G. brunnea''. Further diagnostic characters are exclusive to the adult males, being characters of the

flagellum A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

mucron A mucron is an attachment organelle found in archigregarines—an order of epicellular parasitic Conoidasida.Simdyanov TG, Guillou L, Diakin AY, Mikhailov KV, Schrével J, Aleoshin VV. (2017) A new view on the morphology and phylogeny of eugregari ...

of the fixed finger, and most notably, a

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are ...

-like row of bristles on the ventral part of the fourth

tergite A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The Anatomical terms of location#Anterior ...

of the

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma ( cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects ...

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

"). The species displays some

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

; males have narrower propeltidia, wider

malleoli A malleolus is the bony prominence on each side of the human ankle. Each leg is supported by two bones, the tibia on the inner side (medial) of the leg and the fibula on the outer side (lateral) of the leg. The medial malleolus is the promine ...

, and dense spines on the

sclerotized Sclerosis (also sclerosus in the Latin names of a few disorders) is a hardening of tissue and other anatomical features. It may refer to: * Sclerosis (medicine), a hardening of tissue * in zoology, a process which forms sclerites, a hardened exo ...

(hardest) parts of their body, while females are larger-bodied.

Biology

''Gluvia dorsalis'' strongly prefers open areas, such as pseudo-

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

s, and slopes with some low-growing

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

as cover, showing a marked preference of

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

biomes. Only 6% of solifuges collected in the study were found in forested areas. The species is active from late May to early November; periods with lower amounts of precipitation and higher average temperatures. Like many solifuges, it is strictly Nocturnality, nocturnal, taking shelter in crevices or within debris during daytime. Females and juveniles were observed to excavate burrows. These solifuges mainly consume arthropods, preferring species without Anti-predator adaptation, self-defence means such as Chemical defense#Terrestrial arthropods, chemical use. Various ants (''Tapinoma'' & ''Messor, Messor sp.''), and spiders are their preferred wild prey, with cannibalism also being observed.

Life cycle

The species' sex ratio is highly skewed towards females. Reproduction occurs at the beginning of summer; they are seasonal breeders. On average, they lay their eggs 11 days after mating, laying a Clutch (eggs), clutch of 47-163 eggs in a burrow, with the females Semelparity and iteroparity, dying around a week after laying. The eggs hatch around 60 days after being laid in a laboratory setting; it is presumed that they developed twice as fast in the wild due to higher ambient temperatures. ''G. dorsalis'' is thought to be a wiktionary:biennial, biennial species, overwintering a few times before maturing, with a longevity of ~700 days.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4402103 Solifugae Arachnids of Europe Arachnids described in 1817