Peckhamia 80.1 Trans-Wallacean distribution of salticid genera 1 PECKHAMIA 80.1, 19 May 2010, 1―60 ISSN 1944―8120 Sunda to Sahul: Trans-Wallacean distribution of recent salticid genera (Araneae: Salticidae)1 David Edwin Hill 2 1 Figures in this collection appear by permission of copyright owners. See the Figure Attribution section for more details. 2 213 Wild Horse Creek Drive, Simpsonville, South Carolina 29680-6513, USA, email
[email protected] Summary From Southeast Asia to Australia, the published distribution of recent salticid genera reflects a major division between a large and diverse Australian (Sahulian) fauna including many astioids, cocalodines and euophryines, and a large and diverse tropical Asian (Sundan) fauna including many heliophanines, plexippoids and spartaeines. The tropical Asian fauna shares many genera with tropical Africa. As with many other plant and animal groups, this pattern appears to reflect the long-term isolation of these two faunas. A limited number of recent genera and species have been successful in traversing the island archipelago (Wallacea) connecting these two biogeographic provinces. As part of Sahul, the island of New Guinea is the center of diversity for a number of unusual salticids. This may be the result of a diverse and persistent tropical environment that has served as a refugium for 'relict' or otherwise unusual species. It may also point to the accretion of isolated island arcs and associated faunas, a result of the post-Eocene movement of the Australian plate. In contrast, the known salticid fauna of temperate New Zealand exhibits little diversity, and appears to be comprised largely of astioid species placed within several widely-distributed, trans-oceanic Australian genera.