Ateles belzebuth E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1806
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Atelidae
Ateles
Ateles belzebuth

description: 18.
White-bellied Spider Monkey
Ateles belzebuth
French: Atéle belzébuth / German: WeilRbauch-Klammeraffe / Spanish: Mono arana de vientre amarillo Other common names: Long-haired Spider Monkey, White-bellied Spider Monkey, White-fronted Spider Monkey
Taxonomy. Ateles belzebuth E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1806,
type locality unknown. This species hybridizes with A. chamek in a restricted zone south of the Rio Maranon, between this river and the Rio Ucayali.
Monotypic.
Distribution. Not well known, but includes S Venezuela (upper Orinoco Basin, limited by the Llanos/forest interface to the W and by the left bank of the Rio Caura in the E), NW Brazil (N of the Rio Solimoes as far as the mouth of the Rio Japura, E to the Rio Negro, throughout the region N of the Rio Negro and W of the Rio Branco in Amazonas and Roraimastates), E Colombia (in the piedmont of the Cordillera Oriental as far N as the Rio Upia drainage in Boyaca Department, including the region of Sierra de la Macarena, E Meta Department, and S to the Coehmani rapids of the Rio Caqueta in the SE of Caqueta Department;it is rare W of the Rio Yari and has been seen on the upper Rio Mesay, opposite the mouth of the Rio Pira-Parana on the right bank of the Rio Apaporis, and the lower right bank of the Apaporis), E Ecuador and NE Peru (restricted to the S of the Rio Napo, extending into N Peru between the rios Putumayo and Amazonas, along the left bank of the Rio Ucayali, and including the basins of the rios Napo, Tigre, Maranén, Pastaza, Pacaya, and Samiria, S as far as the Rio Cushabatay, a tributary of the Rio Ucayali).
Descriptive notes. Head-body 46-50 cm,tail 74-81 cm; weight 8-3 kg (males, n = 10) and 7-9 kg (females, n = 16). The White-bellied Spider Monkey is blackish with a contrasting yellowish-white underside, inner surfaces of limbs, backs of thighs, and underside of the tail. The face is hairless and usually dark, and there is a triangular white or golden patch on the forehead in ¢.33% of the population. Infant White-bellied Spider Monkeys have a reddish face and dark fur.
Habitat. Primary montane tropical, subtropical forest, lowland riparian, marsh, and semi-deciduous forest. The White-bellied Spider Monkey is dependent on high primary forest and is generally associated with terra firma clay soils.
Food and Feeding. Feeding ecology of White-bellied Spider Monkeys has been studied at a number of sites in northern Brazil (Ilha de Maraca, Rio Uraricoera), Ecuador (Yasuni National Park), Colombia (Tinigua and Sierra de la Macarena national natural parks), and southern Venezuela (Rio Tawadu,a tributary of the Rio Nichare in the El Caura Forest Reserve). Like all spider monkeys, the White-bellied Spider Monkey is highly frugivorous, feeding largely on the mature soft parts of a wide variety offruits. In the extremely botanically diverse forest in the western Amazon, at Yasuni, they eat fruits of more than 238 species. At Maraca Ecological Station, they fed in more than 468 trees in one year, with just a few (28) contributing more than 1% the feeding records. In these studies, average percentages of fruits (largely ripe fruit) in the diet were 73-92%. Diets are supplemented with mostly young leaves from trees and lianas (particularly in the dry season), flowers, seeds, aerial roots, animal prey (either caterpillars or insects ingested incidentally with fruits), and rotting wood. They occasionally eat soil (geophagy) from termitaria and the ground at mineral licks where they also drink the slightly salty water. Fruits are seasonally abundant; many trees and lianas fruit in the early to middle wet season, and fruits are most scarce in the late wet and early dry season. At Maraca, White-bellied Spider Monkeys travel less in the dry season (October-April), feeding on a relatively small number oftrees for prolonged periods. In the wet season (May-September), with numerous trees in fruit, they range over a larger area, traveling farther and feeding in shorter bouts in a large number oftrees.
Breeding. Births of White-bellied Spider Monkeys appear to be spread throughout the year, which seems to be typical for this genus. Single births are the rule, but twins occasionally occur. A female at Sierra de la Macarena that gave birth to twins was monitored to see how she and her infants fared. She evidently struggled, resting more and feeding and traveling less than females with single infants or no infants. She relied more on flowers and leaves when others were relying on fruits. The twins grew more slowly than a singleton would have, were slower in their social development, and were small for their age. Individuals may live 20 years.
Activity patterns. Activity budgets of White-bellied Spider Monkeys are determined in large part by dispersion, seasonal abundance, and quality of foods in each forest. Activity budgets at Maraca Ecological Station, Yasuni, and Sierra de la Macarena are resting 45-61%, feeding 17-22%, traveling 10-25%, and social and other behaviors 1-3%. At Maraca, White-bellied Spider Monkeys rested less in the wet season (64% in the dry month of November and 32% in July). They traveled more and spent more time feeding (average 22-5% of the day) in the wet season than in the dry season (12%). This might have been related to the fact that they eat less fruit (slow to harvest) and more leaves (quicker to harvest) in the dry season. At Sierra de la Macarena, they spend c.70% oftheir time feeding and traveling in the lower and middle canopy at 12-24 m and c.10% resting and interacting socially in the upper forest canopy at 24-30 m.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Social organization of White-bellied Spider Monkeys has been studied at several sites in Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador. Group sizes are 15-30 individuals, typically with 3-6 adult males and 5-11 adult females. They generally travel and feed in separate subgroups centered on matrilines of each adult female in the subgroup. Malesjoin these subgroups or travel separately, alone or in small groups. Subgroups are fluid in their composition and generally have 2-5 individuals. Sizes of subgroups tend to be larger when fruits are most abundant. Group members come together infrequently. When visiting salt lick sites in Sierra de la Macarena National Natural Park, 1-2 individuals at a time go to the ground to lick soil and drink, while others remain in the trees. It is thought that those in the trees are being vigilant for predators because salt licks are frequently visited by peccaries (Pecari and Tayassu), tapirs (Tapirus), brocket deer (Mazama), and agoutis (Dasyprocta) and are haunts for Jaguars (Panthera onca) and Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) as a result. At other times, the entire group (or at least larger numbers)is seen together when noisily and excitedly confronting neighboring groups. Such intergroup encounters occur at salt licks when they are near the borders of home ranges. The home range size of a group of 19-23 individuals at Maraca was 316 ha. Home range sizes at Sierra de la Macarena vary among different groups and can be as large 388 ha. At Maraca, daily movements during a year averaged 1750 m; they were shorter in the dry season (average 984 m) and longer in the wet season (2160 m). At Yasuni, daily movements varied from 723 m to a record 6039 m (annual average 3311 m). At Sierra de la Macarena and Maraca, male White-bellied Spider Monkeys move more widely within a group’s home range than do females. At Maraca, mean home range size was 140 ha for any particular male in the group and 87-5 ha for females. A group of 30, with five adult males and ten adult females, at Sierra de la Macarena occupied a home range of 163 ha; males had home ranges of 83-93 ha and females 55-66 ha. Home ranges of males overlapped widely (71-87%), whereas home ranges of females overlapped less (39-64%). Males travel more along boundaries of their home ranges, and travel faster and farther when doing so, indicating that they might be monitoring boundaries and also females in their separate home ranges. Males travel in slightly larger subgroups when they are on the home range border. The difference in the home range sizes of the two sexes are related to differences in diet. Males eat more (widely dispersed) fruit, and females eat more leaves (in smaller home ranges and perhaps of necessity requiring a higher protein diet). At Yasuni, a group of 22-17 individuals occupied a home range of 314 ha, and curiously, sizes of individual home ranges of males and females did not differ; both were large at 152 ha for males and 149 ha for females. Females did not appear to have semi-exclusive homes ranges, as has been found in the otherstudies; overlap for both sexes was 80%. Males did not use the boundary area of the home range more than females. Densities of 15-18 ind/km?* were estimated in the Sierra de la Macarena. Researchers at Sierra de la Macarena witnessed predation of an adult male White-bellied Spider Monkey by a Jaguar and a failed attack on an adult female by a Puma (Puma concolor).
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Endangered on The [UCN Red List. The White-bellied Spider Monkey is threatened by deforestation and hunting for its meat, to the point of local extirpation. In south-eastern Colombia, habitat is lost due to forest clearance for coca plantations, accompanied by fumigation that results in defoliation of contiguous forests. In Peru, the White-bellied Spider Monkey has been extirpated over large areas, and remnant populations are subjected to strong hunting pressure in some regions. In Ecuador,it is rare near human settlements, being hunted for food and in demand for pets, but it can be common in undisturbed forests. In the Colombian Amazon, the White-bellied Spider Monkey is considered the most endangered primate,its distribution coinciding with the most heavily colonized parts of the region, yet it remains fairly common within protected areas. It occurs in Pico da Neblina and Serra da Mocidade national parks and a number of ecologicalstations in Brazil; Amacayacu, Cahuinari, Cordillera de los Picachos, Cueva de los Guacharos, La Paya, Sierra de la Macarena, Tinigua, and Serrania de Chiribiquete national natural parks in Colombia; Podocarpus, Sumaco-Napo Galeras, and Yasuni national parks and Cayambe-Coca and Cofan-Bermejo ecological reserves in Ecuador; Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in Peru; and Duida-Marahuaca, Jaua-Sarisarinama, Parima Tapirapeco, Serrania de la Neblina, and Yapacana national parks in Venezuela.
Bibliography. Ahumada (1989, 1990), Ahumada et al. (1998), Aquino & Encarnacion (1994b), Bodini & Pérez-Hernandez (1987), Boubli, Di Fiore et al. (2008), Castellanos & Chanin (1996), Defler (2003b, 2004), Dew (2005), Di Fiore, Link & Campbell (2011), Di Fiore, Link & Dew (2008), Ford & Davis (1992), Hernandez-Camacho & Cooper (1976), Izawa (1990), Izawa et al. (1979), Klein (1971), Klein & Klein (1975, 1976, 1977), Link & Di Fiore (2006), Link et al. (2006), Matsuda & Izawa (2008), Nunes (1995), Shimooka (2003, 2005), Smith & Jungers (1997), Soini et al. (1989), Spehar et al. (2010), Stevenson & Quifiones (1993), Suarez (2006), Tirira (2007).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Atelidae, pp. 484-549 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 540-541, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5727205