BIONOMIC AND REPRODUCTIVE ASPECTS OF Ctenus medius 787 NATURAL HISTORY OF Ctenus medius KEYSERLING, 1891 (ARANEAE, CTENIDAE) II: LIFE CYCLE AND ASPECTS OF REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS FOLLY-RAMOS, E.,1, 2, 3 ALMEIDA, C. E.,1, 3 CARMO-SILVA, M.1 and COSTA, J.3 1Núcleo Avançado de Estudos sobre Artrópodes Peçonhentos e Vetores, Museu de Ciências, Centro Universitário de Barra Mansa, Barra Mansa, RJ, Brazil 2Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, UFRRJ, RJ, Brazil 3Núcleo de Informatização, Coleção Entomológica, Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Correspondence to: Carlos Eduardo Almeida, Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Pavilhão Carlos Chagas, 4o andar, Av. Brasil, 4365, Manguinhos, C. P. 926, CEP 21045-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, e-mail:
[email protected] Received August 14, 2001 – Accepted November 12, 2001 – Distributed November 30, 2002 (With 3 figures) ABSTRACT Ctenus medius Keyserling, 1891 is a wandering spider common in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. It has been the subject of few studies. Thus, this work aims to elucidate aspects of its natural history, such as the life cycle and reproductive behavior of this species, through laboratory and field obser- vations. Two females with egg sacs were observed in the laboratory and one was observed in field (Barra Mansa, 22º32’S and 44º10’W) until the emergence of the spiderlings. For observation of the immature stage development, a portion of the spiderlings from the same hatch were taken to the laboratory and watched until sexual maturity. In the field, the period between the oviposition and the emergence of spiderlings was of 36 days.