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Publications

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2013

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Agnarsson I, Avilés L, Maddison WP. 2013. Loss of genetic variability in social spiders: genetic and phylogenetic consequences of population subdivision and inbreeding. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26: 27-37 Access

Peng P, Blamires SJ, Agnarsson I, Lin HC, Tso I-M. 2013. A colour-mediated mutualism between two arthropod predators. Current Biology 23: 1-5.

Agnarsson I, Coddington JA, Kuntner M. 2013. Systematics – progress in the study of spider diversity and evolution. In: Spider Research in the 21st Century (Ed. Penney D). In press.

Agnarsson I, Gregorič M, Blackledge TA, Kuntner M. 2013. Phylogenetic placement of Psechridae and the convergent origin of orb-like spider webs. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12007 Request PDF

Gregorič M, Kiesbüy HC, Quiñones Lebrón SG, Rozman A, Agnarsson I, Kuntner A. 2013. Optimal foraging, not biogenetic law, predicts spider orb web allometry. Naturwissenschaften. OnlineEarly

2012
Agnarsson I, Kuntner M. 2012. The Generation of a Biodiversity Hotspot: Biogeography and Phylogeography of the Western Indian Ocean Islands. In Kesara Anamthawat-Jonsson (Ed.): Current Topics in Phylogenetics and Phylogeography of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems. Rijeka: In Tech Publishers, pp. 33-82. ISBN 978-953-51-0217-5. Access

Blackledge TA, Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2012. Biomaterial evolution parallels behavioral innovation in the origin of orb-like spider webs. Scientific Reports 2: 833. Access

Grinsted L, Agnarsson I, Bilde T. 2012. Mixed-species colonies of theridiid spiders show extended maternal care and interspecific brood adoption. Naturwissenschaften­­­­ 99: 1021-1030 DOI 10.1007/s00114-012-0983-4 Download PDF

García-Espinoza F, Martínez MT, Sánchez FJ, Yusseff-Vanegas SZ. 2012. Desarrollo larval y requerimientos calóricos de Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) durante primavera y verano en Torreón, Coahuila.  Acta Zoológica Mexicana 28 (1) xxx-xxx (in press).

Agnarsson I. 2012. Systematics of new subsocial and solitary Australasian Anelosimus species (Araneae, Theridiidae). Invertebrate Systematics 26: 1-16. Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 2012. A new phylogeny of Anelosimus and the placement and behavior of Anelosimus vierae n. sp. from Uruguay (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Arachnology 40: 78-84 Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, Blackledge TA. Darwin’s bark spider. 2012. In: McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. V. 11. New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 52-54 Download PDF


2011
Blackledge TA, Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2011. The form and function of spider orb webs: evolution from silk to ecosystems. Advances in Insect Physiology 41: 175-262 Request PDF

Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2011. Biogeography and diversification of hermit spiders on Indian Ocean islands (Nephilidae: Nephilengys). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59: 477-488 Request PDF

Gregorič M, Agnarsson I, Blackledge TA, Kuntner M. 2011. How did the spider cross the river? Behavioral adaptations for river-bridging webs in Caerostris darwini (Araneae: Araneidae). PLoS One 6(10): e26847. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026847 Download PDF

Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2011. Phylogeography of a successful aerial disperser: the golden orb spider Nephila on Indian Ocean islands. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11: 119 Download PDF

May-Collado LJ, Agnarsson I. 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of conservation priorities for aquatic mammals and their terrestrial relatives. PLoS One 6(7): 1-10, e22562. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022562 Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Zambrana-Torrelio CM, Flores Saldaña NP, May-Collado LJ. 2011. A time-calibrated species-level phylogeny of bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia). PLoS Currents: Tree of Life. Version 44. 2011 Jan 4 [revised 2011 Feb 4]. Available from: http://currents.plos.org/treeoflife/article/a-time-calibrated-species-level-3chrbtx927cxs-5/.

Vélez-Zuazo X, Agnarsson I. 2011. Shark tales: A molecular species level phylogeny of sharks (Selachimorpha, Chondrichthyes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58: 207-217 Request PDF

Kuntner M, May-Collado L, Agnarsson I. 2011. Phylogeny and conservation priorities of afrotherian mammals (Afrotheria, Mammalia). Zoologica Scripta 40: 1-15. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, Blackledge TA. Darwin’s bark spider. 2011. In: McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. V. 11. New York, McGraw-Hill. In press.

Agnarsson I. 2011. Habitat patch size and isolation as predictors of occupancy and number of Argyrodine spider kleptoparasites in Nephila webs. Naturwissenschaften 98: 163-167 Download PDF

Sobrero R, May-Collado LJ, Agnarsson I, Hernández CE. 2011. Expensive brains: ‘brainy’ rodents have higher metabolic rate. Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience 3(2): 1-12 Download PDF

Gregorič M, Agnarsson I, Blackledge TA, Kuntner M. 2011. Darwin's bark spider: Giant prey in giant orb webs (Caerostris darwini, Araneae: Araneidae)? Journal of Arachnology 39: 287-295 Download PDF

Sensenig A, Agnarsson I, Blackledge TA. 2011. Adult spiders use tougher silk: Ontogenetic changes in web architecture and silk biomechanics in the orb-weaving spider Neoscona arabesca. Journal of Zoology 284: 28-38 Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 2011. Spiders of the Nakanai Mountains, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. In: Rapid biological assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments (Richards J and Gamui BK, eds.). RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60: 182-185 Request PDF

Agnarsson I. 2011. Spiders of the Muller Range, Papua New Guinea. In: Rapid biological assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments (Richards J and Gamui BK, eds.). RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60: 70-74 Request PDF


2010    
Agnarsson I, Avilés L, Maddison WP. 2010. Complete separation along matrilines in a social spider metapopulation inferred from hypervariable mitochondrial DNA region. Molecular Ecology 19: 3052-3063. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, May-Collado LJ. 2010. Dogs, cats, and kin: a molecular species-level phylogeny of Carnivora. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 726–745. Request PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, Coddington J, Blackledge TA. 2010. Shifting continents, not behaviours: independent colonization of solitary and subsocial Anelosimus spider lineages on Madagascar (Araneae, Theridiidae). Zoologica Scripta 39: 75-87. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, Blackledge TA. 2010. Bioprospecting finds the toughest biological material: extraordinary silk from a giant riverine orb. PLoS One 5(9): 1-9. Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 2010. The utility of ITS2 in spider phylogenetics: notes on prior work and an example from Anelosimus. Journal of Arachnology 38: 377-382. Download PDF

Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2010. Web gigantism in Darwin's bark spider, a new species from Madagascar (Araneidae: Caerostris). Journal of Arachnology 38: 346-356. Download PDF

Martén-Rodríguez S, Fenster CB, Agnarsson I, Skog LE, Zimmer EA. 2010. Evolutionary breakdown of pollination specialization in a Caribbean plant radiation. New Phytologist 188: 403-417. Download PDF

Sensenig A, Agnarsson I, Blackledge TA. 2010. Behavioral and biomaterial coevolution in spider orb webs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1839-1856 *Cover. Download PDF

Sensenig A, Agnarsson I, Gondek T, Blackledge TA. 2010. Webs in vitro and in vivo: Spiders alter their orb web spinning behavior in the laboratory. Journal of Arachnology 38: 183-191. Download PDF 


2009  
Agnarsson I, Blackledge T. 2009. Can a spider web be too sticky? Tensile mechanics constrain the evolution of capture spiral stickiness in orb weaving spiders. Journal of Zoology 277: 134-140. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Boutry C, Wong S-C, Baji A, Dhinojwala A, Sensenig AT, Blackledge TA. 2009. Rate dependent supercontraction of spider dragline silk. Zoology 112: 325-331 *Cover. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Dhinojwala A, Sahni V, Blackledge TA. 2009. Spider silk as a novel high performance biomimetic muscle driven by humidity. Journal of Experimental Biology 212: 1990-1994 *Cover. Download PDF

Blackledge TA, Boutry C, Wong S-C, Baji A, Dhinojwala A, Sahni V, Agnarsson I. 2009. How super is supercontraction? Permanent versus cyclic responses to humidity in spider dragline silk. Journal of Experimental Biology 212: 1981-1989 *Cover. Download PDF

Blackledge T, Coddington JA, Agnarsson I. 2009. Fecundity increase supports adaptive radiation hypothesis in spider web evolution. Communicative & Integrative Biology 2(6): 1-5 *Cover. Download PDF

Blackledge TA, Coddington J, Scharff N, Szuts T, Wenzel J, Hayashi C, Agnarsson I. 2009. Reconstructing web evolution and spider diversification in the molecular era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 5229-5234. Download PDF

Coddington JA, Agnarsson I, Miller J, Kuntner M, Hormiga G. 2009. Undersampling bias: the null hypothesis for singleton species in tropical arthropod biodiversity surveys. Journal of Animal Ecology 78: 573–584. Download PDF

Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2009. Phylogeny accurately predicts behavior in Indian Ocean Clitaetra spiders (Araneae: Nephilidae) Invertebrate Systematics 23: 193-204. Download PDF

Kuntner M, Gregorič M, Agnarsson I. 2009. Spider eunuch phenomenon induced by aggressiveness from rival male or mated female. Journal of Arachnology 37: 266-271. Download PDF 


2008  
Agnarsson I, Boutry C, Blackledge T. 2008. Spider silk aging: initial improvement in a high performance material followed by slow degradation. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology 309A: 494-504. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Coddington JA. 2008. Quantitative tests of primary homology. Cladistics 24: 51-61. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, May-Collado L. 2008. The phylogeny of Cetartiodactyla: the importance of dense taxon sampling, missing data, and the remarkable promise of Cytochrome b to provide reliablespecies-level phylogenies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 964-985. Request PDF 

Agnarsson I, Miller J. 2008. Is ACCTRAN better than DELTRAN? Cladistics 24: 1032-1038. Download article  

Eberhard WG, Agnarsson I, Levi HW. 2008. Web forms and phylogeny of theridiid spider (Araneae: Theridiidae): chaos from order? Systematics and Biodiversity 6: 415-475. Download PDF


2007   
Agnarsson I, Coddington JA, Knoflach B. 2007. Morphology and evolution of cobweb spider male genitalia (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Arachnology 35: 334-395 Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Coddington JA, May-Collado LJ. 2007. Elongated pedicillate setae – a putative sensory system and synapomorphy of spiders. Journal of Arachnology 35: 411-426.  Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M. 2007. Taxonomy in a changing world: seeking solutions for a science in crisis. Systematic Biology 56: 531-539. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Maddison WP, Avilés L. 2007. The phylogeny of the social Anelosimus spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae) inferred from six molecular loci and morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43: 833-851. Request PDF

Arnedo MA, Agnarsson I, Gillespie RG. 2007. Molecular insights into the phylogenetic structure of the spider genus Theridion (Araneae, Theridiidae) and the origin of the Hawaiian Theridion-like fauna. Zoologica Scripta 36: 337-352. Download PDF

Avilés L, Agnarsson I, Salazar P, Purcell J, Iturralde G, Yip E, Powers KS, Bukowski T. 2007. Altitudinal pattern of sociality in the spider genus Anelosimus and the biology of a new mid-elevation social species in Ecuador. American Naturalist 170: 783-792. Download PDF

May-Collado LJ, Agnarsson I, Wartzok D. 2007b. A phylogenetic review of tonal sound production in whales. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7: 136. Download PDF

May-Collado LJ, Agnarsson I, Wartzok D. 2007. Reexamining the relationship between body size and tonal signal frequency in whales: a comparative approach using a novel phylogeny. Marine Mammal Science 121: 1203-1212. Download PDF


2006  
Agnarsson I. 2006a. Asymmetric female genitalia and other remarkable morphology in a new genus of cobweb spiders (Theridiidae, Araneae) from Madagascar. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 87: 211-232. Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 2006b. A revision of the New World eximius group of Anelosimus (Araneae, Theridiidae) and a phylogenetic analysis using worldwide exemplars. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 146: 453-593. Download PDF 

Agnarsson I. 2006c. Phylogenetic placement of Echinotheridion (Araneae: Theridiidae) - do male sexual organ removal, emasculation, and sexual cannibalism in Echinotheridion and Tidarren represent evolutionary replicas? Invertebrate Systematics 20: 415-429. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Avilés L, Coddington JA, Maddison WP. 2006. Social theridiid spiders – repeated origins of an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution 60: 2342-2351. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Barrantes G, May-Collado L. 2006. Notes on the biology of Anelosimus pacificus Levi, 1963 (Theridiidae, Araneae) - evidence for an evolutionary reversal to a less social state. Journal of Natural History 40: 2681-2687. Download PDF

Agnarsson I, Coddington JA. 2006. Notes on web and web plasticity and description of the male of Achaearanea heiroglyphica (Mello-Leitão) (Theridiidae, Araneae). Journal of Arachnology 34: 638-641. Download PDF  

Agnarsson I, Zhang JX. 2006. New species of Anelosimus (Theridiidae, Araneae) from Southeast Asia and Africa, with notes on sociality and color polymorphism. Zootaxa 1147: 1-34. Request PDF

Avilés L, Maddison WP, Agnarsson I. 2006. Theridion nigroannulatum - an independently-derived highly social spider with explosive colony proliferation and a female size dimorphism. Biotropica 38: 743-753. Download PDF 

Coddington JA, Agnarsson I. 2006. Subsociality in Helvibis thorelli (Theridiinae, Theridiidae, Araneae) from French Guiana. Journal of Arachnology 34: 642-645. Download PDF 

Kuntner M, Agnarsson I. 2006. Are the Linnean and Phylogenetic Nomenclatural Systems Combinable? Recommendations for Biological Nomenclature. Systematic Biology 55: 774-784. Download PDF

May-Collado L, Agnarsson I, 2006. Cytochrome b and Bayesian inference of whale phylogeny. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 38: 344-354. Download PDF


2005  
Agnarsson I. 2005. A revision and phylogenetic analysis of the American ethicus and rupununi groups of Anelosimus (Araneae, Theridiidae). Zoologica Scripta 34: 389–413. Download PDF  

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M. 2005. Madagascar: an Unexpected Hotspot of Social Anelosimus Spider Diversity (Araneae: Theridiidae). Systematic Entomology 30: 575-592. Download PDF

Miller JA, Agnarsson I. 2005. A redescription of Chrysso nigriceps (Araneae, Theridiidae) with evidence for maternal care. Journal of Arachnology 33: 711-717. Download PDF


2004  
Agnarsson I. 2004. Morphological phylogeny of cobweb spiders and their relatives (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141: 447-626. Download PDF

Arnedo MA, Coddington J, Agnarsson I, Gillespie RG. 2004. From a comb to a tree: Phylogenetic relationships of the comb-footed spiders (Araneae, Theridiidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31: 225-245. Download PDF


2003  
Agnarsson I. 2003a. Spider webs as habitat patches - The distribution of kleptoparasites (Argyrodes, Theridiidae) among host webs (Nephila, Tetragnathidae). Journal of Arachnology 31: 344-349. Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 2003b. The phylogenetic placement and circumscription of the genus Synotaxus (Araneae: Synotaxidae) with a description of a new species from Guyana, and notes on theridioid phylogeny. Invertebrate Systematics 17: 719-734 Download PDF

Ingólfsson A, Agnarsson I. 2003. Amphipods and isopods in the rocky intertidal: Dispersal and movements during high tide. Marine Biology 143: 859-866. Download PDF 


2002  
Agnarsson I. 2002. Sharing a web - on the relation of sociality and kleptoparasitism in theridiid spiders (Theridiidae, Araneae). Journal of Arachnology 30: 181-188. Download PDF 

Whitehouse M, Agnarsson I, Miyashita T, Smith D, Cangialosi K, Masumoto T, Li D, Henaut Y. 2002. Argyrodes: Phylogeny, sociality and interspecific interactions - a report on the Argyrodes symposium, Badplaas 2001. Journal of Arachnology 30: 238-245. Download PDF


1996-2000  
Agnarsson I. 2000. Adansonia is a Baobab tree not a theridiid spider. Journal of Arachnology 28: 351-352. Download PDF

Ingolfsson A, Agnarsson I. 1999. Anonyx sarsi: a major unrecognized scavenger and predator in the intertidal zone. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 79: 1127-1128. Download PDF

Agnarsson I. 1998. Icelandic harvestmen and pseudoscorpions. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar 35: 36 pages, 19 figures. Contact author for reprints  

Agnarsson I. 1996. Icelandic spiders. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar 31: 175 pages, 169 figures. Download PDF

Interactive Key  
Agnarsson I. 2003a. Interactive Key to the World Genera of Cobweb Spiders (Theridiidae), version 1.0 beta. George Washington University, online at http://www.gwu.edu/~spiders/keys.htm    

Report
May-Collado LJ, Agnarsson I, Palacios JD, Taubitz E, Wartzok D. 2007. The status of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population of Bocas del Toro, Panama: Preliminary results based on a three year ongoing study. Online at: http://www.fundacionketo.org/PDF/IRLJMC-KETOBocas.pdf
There is no greater high than discovery