Among the trogulid harvestman Trogulus nepaeformis (Scopoli 1763) collected from sixty localities in Slovenia and northeastern Italy we found many individuals with evidence of old leg injuries. In a few localities, injured individuals accounted for 30% of the total. In non-autotomizing trogulids, in vivo damage to leg articles is characterized by rounded regeneration of the stumps with pseudonormal terminal chaetotaxy, in some cases including a secondary claw. This damage, probably caused by shrews, was considered appropriate for analysis of the regenerational asymmetry, or RA, of legs. In 169 available regenerated specimens, the lengths of preserved articles on the damaged legs were compared to those on the undamaged ones. In the damaged specimens, the range of leg article RA was significantly larger in comparison to undamaged specimens. This is considered to be a direct consequence of the regenerative processes in the leg stumps. The damage was most frequent in 2nd leg, followed by 1st, 3rd and 4th, indicating that such wounds were not stochastic, and probably appeared during the forward motion of the troguli. The stomach contents of 204 shrews were examined and the remains of T. nepaeformis were found in two individuals demonstrating for the first time that shrews do feed on this species.
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Leg damage
predation
regeneration
regenerational asymmetry
shrews