Maciej Bartos

University of Lodz · Department of Biodiversity Studies and Bioeducation

The majority of jumping spiders are visual hunters that capture a wide range of prey. While they are known to use specific predatory techniques against different prey, their prey identification mechanisms are poorly understood. A generalist jumping spider, Yllenus arenarius, employs different predatory techniques to capture prey with two different...

The Białowieża Forest is an important biodiversity hotspot on a European scale, and therefore its preservation should have a high priority. However, forest management conducted over a large area of the forest, intensive logging, and elimination of dead trees pose serious threats to many species in the forest. The main aim of this study was to deter...

The new coronavirus began to spread around the world in late 2019. Initially, it was found only in China, but in the following days there were reported cases of infections in other countries. Subsequently, based on taxonomy, phylogeny, and accepted practice, the virus was officially designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR...

The choice of colony size may have profound consequences for individual fitness in colonially breeding birds, but at the same time it may require certain behavioural adaptations. Here, we aimed to examine behavioural divergence of common terns Sterna hirundo nesting in colonies of different size. For this purpose, we promoted establishment of small...

Louse flies are blood-sucking ectoparasites of birds and mammals of veterinary and medical importance. These flies damage host skin and serve as vectors for blood-associated pathogens. Little is known about their phenology, host selection, and prevalence in wild birds. Our study provided a broad-scale assessment of louse flies parasitizing Charadri...

National parks are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in the development of nature-based tourism destinations that promote effective management of natural resources and socioeconomic development. The paper was designed to evaluate the tourism attractiveness and performance of national parks in Vietnam. The tourism performance of 3...

Successful biodiversity conservation is closely linked to the support received from society. Therefore, a better understanding of public preferences for conservation activities facilitates successful conservation efforts. The objective of the study is to determine the preferences of tourists and local residents regarding the proposed conservation p...

The national parks in Vietnam are protected areas in the national system of special-use forests created to protect natural resources and biodiversity. In order to improve the effectiveness of management of national parks, the study assesses some current aspects of conservation and management of natural resources with respect to management plans, fi...

We studied the species richness, diversity, abundance and guild composition of spider assemblages on the hummocks and in the hollows of the alder carr in the Białowieża National Park. We also assessed the effect of vegetation structure and soil humidity on spiders settled in these two microhabitats. The spiders were collected from 10 May until 27 O...

Salticids are known for their complex predatory behaviour, which is based on the analysis of visual information from their prey, but the role of cues used in different predatory tasks is poorly known. We investigated which cues are used to identify the preferred target on the prey's body, examining the reactions of the euryphagous salticid Yllenus...

Decisions made by predators during predatory encounters are often based on multiple factors that may influence the outcome of the encounters. For stalking predators their visibility to the prey and the ability of their prey to escape may be important factors influencing predatory success. Hence they are likely to adapt their predatory behavior when...

Cryptic animals tend to spend most of their lives keeping still. The majority of predators, however, including those cryptically colored, are forced to move in order to find and approach their prey. For such predators visibility may be an important factor influencing predatory behavior. Therefore we can expect differences in the way they approach t...

1. In the Kampinos National Park (Poland), which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, 47 caught per unit effort samples of Chrysididae were collected in 2000–2006. The aim of the study was to identify the factors promoting the diversity of this rarely studied group of parasitic wasps. 2. A total of 722 specimens belonging to 37 species were recorded, inc...

We examined differences in predatory behavior between two age groups (newly hatched spiders vs. spiders over 12 weeks old) of Yllenus arenarius Menge 1868 (Araneae: Salticidae). The spiders hunted three prey taxa (leafhoppers, caterpillars and thrips) for which they possess pre-programmed predatory behavior. The aim of the study was to check the in...

From 2000 to 2006 a total of 52 CPUE samples of spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) were collected in the mosaic landscape of the Kampinos National Park (Poland), which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The hypothesis tested was that both pompilid species richness and abundance is positively associated with spatial heterogeneity. The patterns in sp...

A long-term diet analysis of a polyphagous jumping spider Yllenus arenarius Menge 1868 (13 yr, n  =  321 prey items) was carried out in Central Poland. Due to the spider's long life cycle two cohorts are present for the whole season and for one month three cohorts coexist, which allowed me to investigate whether coexisting spiders feed on similar o...

Predatory behaviour of Yllenus arenarius hunting flies (Diptera) was studied. The general spider's approach and capture was typical for salticids hunting prey that has high ability to escape. Two modes of approach in close proximity of prey were observed. One was typical for the majority of predatory encounters where the spider's velocity was signi...

An unusual silken nest built under the sand surface is described in Yllenus arenarius—a jumping spider inhabiting sandy dunes. In this open habitat, characterized by high temperature and humidity gradients as well as a lack of retreats, the nest probably plays a key role in the survival strategy of Y. arenarius that is numerically dominant among da...

The lifespan of Y. arenarius is about 720 days for males and 750 days for females (maximum 770 days), which makes it the longest lived salticid reported from natural conditions. The juvenile spiders emerge at the beginning of June and mature not before the following August. They mate in autumn and hibernate for the second time. For most of the year...

The hunting behavior of juvenile Yllenus arenarius Menge 1868 in their first week after leaving sub-sand nests was studied. The spiders were tested with prey that can effectively escape (Homoptera) and prey that are not capable of efficient escape (Thysanoptera and larvae of Lepidoptera) in order to assess the complexity of young spider's hunting t...

Generalist predators hunt a wide range of prey that possess various characteristics affecting the predators' hunting success (e.g., size, ability to detect the threat and defend against it, potential for escape). Therefore, it can be expected that the predator should flexibly react to different prey characteristics, hunting them in prey-specific wa...