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Expedition Notes
The name "Aquelarre" was born during a midnight forest break — the proverbial witching hour. The team had paused for a late meal beneath the dense Atlantic Forest canopy when an eerie hush fell over the surroundings: no insects, no birds, no wind. Headlamps cast twisted shadows on trunks and undergrowth, distorting the trees into grotesque silhouettes. The moment felt uncannily theatrical — less like a field snack, more like a witches’ sabbath deep in the woods. The Spanish word aquelarre, meaning just that, seemed the only fitting name for the expedition.
The "Aquelarre" expedition was conducted in May 2022 across the biogeographically rich Paraty-Ubatuba corridor, spanning the border between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states. This region represents a critical area for understanding Atlantic Forest diversity and endemism patterns along Brazil's southeastern coast.
Led by A.B. Kury, the field team included A.F. García and M.A. Medrano, covering diverse habitats from high-elevation montane forests near Itamonte to coastal lowland areas around Paraty-Mirim and Ubatuba. The expedition sampled both protected areas and private properties, providing a comprehensive survey of arachnid communities across different conservation contexts.
The Paraty-Ubatuba region and adjacent areas yielded exceptional collecting results across the six sampling localities, contributing valuable specimens to ongoing biogeographical and systematic studies. The expedition reinforced the importance of this corridor as a center of Atlantic Forest endemism and highlighted the remarkable arachnid diversity preserved in both state reserves and private conservation initiatives like Fazenda Capricórnio.