AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGY

Number 66: February 2003

Price $2 ISSN 0811-3696 Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 2

THE AUSTRALASIAN ARTICLES ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY The newsletter depends on your contributions! We encourage articles on a We aim to promote interest in the a range of topics including current ecology, behaviour and of research activities, student projects, of the Australasian region. upcoming events or behavioural observations.

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Membership is open to amateurs, Dr Tracey Churchill students and professionals, and is Museum & Art Gallery of the managed by our Administrator: Northern Territory GPO Box4646 Richard J. Faulder Darwin NT 0801 Agricultural Institute Australia. Yanco, New South Wales 2703. Australia. email: @octa4.net.au

email : [email protected] Format: i) typed or legibly printed on A4 paper or ii) as text or MS Word file on Membership fees in Australian dollars CD, 3 % floppy disk, or via email. per 4 issues: Discount* Normal Institutional LIBRARY Australian $8 $10 $12 The AAS has a large number of reference NZ/ Asia $10 $12 $14 books, scientific journals and papers Elsewhere $12 $14 $16 available for loan or as photocopies, for those members who do not have access All postage is by air mail. to a scientific library. Professional *Discount rates apply to unemployed, pensioners members are encouraged to send in their and students (please provide proof of status). arachnological reprints.

Cheques payable in Australian dollars to Contact our librarian : ·Australasian Arachnological Society". More than 4 issues can be paid for in Jean-Claude Herremans advance. Receipts issued on request. PO Box 291 Manly, Status box on the envelope indicates the New South Wales 1655. Australia. last issue paid for. email: [email protected] .au Previous issues of the newsletter are COVER PHOTOGRAPH by Matjaz Kuntner available at $2 per issue plus postage. Arbanitis variabilis d from S.E. Qld. Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 3

EDITORIAL MEMBERSHIP ~ Yes, another year has passed us by! And UPDATES ~ another four issues have passed too, so we now have a new taxon modelling the front cover. Perhaps my bias for strong Change of Address sturdy mygalomorphs is showing, but I certainly liked this photo taken by Matjaz Kunter during his Australian visit. It is, Dr Joseph Koh however, important to raise the profile of High Commissioner (Designate) mygales given the fact that species are at High Commission of the Republic of risk from increasing habitat loss and Singapore disturbance. This is especially the case in 17 Forster Crescent Queensland with current land use Yarralumla ACT 2600 practices. E-mail: [email protected] Covering a less obvious process threatening our beloved arachnids, is Judy Grimshaw David Hirst's story on the European wasp PO Box 1067 in South Australia. Perhaps this story will Mareeba OLD 4880 encourage members to keep a look out for the effects of this sneaky predator or other feral invertebrates on our native faunas elsewhere. Change of Email

Still in South Australia, Travis Gotch has provided us with an abstract from his Lynne Kelly honours research on Mound Spring [email protected] lycosids. Travis enjoyed his project so much he has now gone on to do a PhD to study them in more detail, and we include an outline of that work as well. Congratulations to:

The patient observations of Doug Wallace Doug Wallace on his 80th Birthday! again offer us a wonderful insight into the antics of our - this time a cryptic 1 hersiliid! What else is hiding out there on Robert Raven on his 50 h Birthday! the trees in your backyard?

...... 7'l

The European Wasp In Adelaide the spread of the wasps immediately altered the fauna in In Adelaide my garden at Windsor Gardens with Phonognatha graeffei and the introduced David Hirst harvestman, Nelima doriae disappearing South Australian Museum altogether by the end of the Autumn of the first heavy infestation. I believe that occurred the second year the wasps were present in Adelaide. Phonognatha was To most people in Adelaide, South always present during the first 14 years of Australia, the European or German wasp, my residing there and Nelima was the Vespu/a germanica, is little more than a most common seen apart from nuisance at barbeques as it is attracted to the Portuguese millipede and wood lice. sweet foods, soft drinks and meat. At Neither arachnid has been seen in the worst, the wasp can be life threatening if seven to eight years since wasp one accidentally disturbs a nest. What occupancy. most people may not appreciate, however, is that this introduced pest While the loss of an introduced poses an unsurmountable threat to our harvestman is possibly a bonus, it may invertebrate wildlife. well indicate that the native species still found on the eastern and southern Adult wasps apparently subsist mainly on outskirts of the city are disappearing nectar and insect honeydew, the latter equally as fast. Many other common also being an important food source for spider species have been greatly reduced other insects (Harris 1991). The bulk of in numbers including Stephanopis sp. prey taken by wasps are insects and (Thomisidae}, Venatrix psuedospeciosa spiders that are fed to the larvae. Prey and Artoria sp. (lycosidae), Breda biomass of wasps studied in some areas jovialis, He/pis occidentalis and Sondra sp. of New Zealand was similar to that of the (Salticidae}, Oxyopes gracilipes entire insectivorous bird fauna (Harris (Oxyopidae) and a small species of 1991). Colonies of European wasps in Zodariidae. All are now rarely, rather Australia and New Zealand are many than often, seen. times larger than those found in Europe with more queens produced, and also, Some of those spider species are diurnal wasps have been reported preying on an (as are the wasps) or, of the nocturnal endangered Tasmanian butterfly and the species, their diurnal retreat time is butterfly larvae. (Gullan 1999). In minimal. Wasps may fly low to the Melbourne, Victoria, wasps were recorded ground buzzing leaves in search of prey as preying on the leaf-curling spider, hiding beneath, or closely follow a branch Phonognatha graeffei (Tetragnathidae) of a shrub as they fly upwards to the tip (Martin 1995). before moving onto another branch or shrub. Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 5

An acquaintance has observed the wasps Admittedly, sparrows are only partly attacking black house spiders, Badumna insectivorous, but the availability of their insignis, on house walls chewing off the other sources of food is seasonal. It has abdomen into a manageable piece to also been reported in the press that the carry off to the nest. Larger spiders may numbers of smaller native birds have escape the wasps attention, however the been dwindling over the last ten years. young are taken and fewer remain to Again I can see many species that are reach maturity. Even the common orb­ not dwindling are feeding on insects not weavers (Araneidae) Eriophora biapicata, targeted by wasps. Araneus eburnus, and a species that I consider belonging to Novakia, are much The threat posed to native fauna by the less often seen than previously. European wasp will ultimately include not just invertebrates but insect eating birds The 'pet' huntsmen (Sparassidae) and may even extend further to flora invariably keep at home are now solely reliant on insects for pollination. relying on mealworms for food as moths flying to the rear porch-light have alarmingly dwindled in numbers. 1 have REFERENCES observed wasps attacking both moths and caterpillars. While I have seen Gullan P.J. 1999. Information to assist wasps attacking other small invertebrates consideration of the potential I have not been unable to ascertain their conservation threat posed by the spread idenmy as the smaller size enables wasps of the European wasp, Vespula to subdue it and fly off very quickly. gennanica, and the potential introduction of the English wasp, V. vulgaris, in the The apparent reduced number of ACT region. Prepared for the ACT Flora invertebrates appears also to be affecting and Fauna Committee, for meeting on 16 other types of fauna. Occasionally in the June 1999. Unpublished report. press over the last two years or so people have asked "where have all the sparrows Harris R.J. 1991. Diet of the wasps gone". Some people are blaming exhaust Vespula vulgaris and Vespula gennanica fumes. However that will not explain why in honeydew beech forest of the South some other birds with similar feeding Island, New Zealand. New Zealand requirements, such as the blackbird, still Journal of Zoology 18: 159-169. abound. The answer seems simple: watch a sparrow hunt for insects and Martin A. 1995. The wasp and the spider. spiders and it is hunting in the same The Victorian Naturalist 112(4) 1995:177. niches as the wasp, whereas blackbirds, dig into the litter and soil with their beaks where the wasps are unable to penetrate. Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 6

The Magic of Tamopsis

by Doug Wallace Having found the spider, look closely at it Rockhampton, Queensland from side-on and you will see the flatness of the body and the small protuberance on the head. Here, the eye group is easily After observing many remarkable spiders, seen to be higher than the rest of the it is evident to me that their diversities are spider and this positioning enables it to never-ending, their habits eye-catching see over the top of the wrinkled bark as it and at times, almost incredible. One awaits the approach of ants and other example is the spider, Tamopsis fickerti spiders. (Koch, 1876) of the family Hersiliidae. The female body is only 7mm long, and The method of prey capture is startling, to that of the male, 4mm. The abdomen is say the least! Imagine Tamopsis as the flat and the legs very long. In colour, the minute hand of a clock, her head at the spider is grey, brown or black, with all the point of the hand, and her spinnerets at different shadings in between depending the end of her abdomen pointing to the on the colour of the spider's background. hub of the clock. In this case, the hub is the prey. The spinnerets are as long as Tamopsis is a bark dweller, living on tree the abdomen and at the point of attack trunks and branches, and is normally not are opened wide in the shape of a 'vee'. noticed until it moves. The movement is On the inside faces of the long spinnerets rapid for a distance of about 30 em, when there are specialised spigots from which the spider then needs a short rest for the the sticky silk is sprayed over the victim. tiny heart to recover from the effort. She does this by spinning rapidly in a circle several times, pausing only to The egg sac is a sphere, off-white and reverse direclion, until the prey is firmly about half a centimetre in diameter. It is caught in the silk. She then reverses her suspended on a thin stalk about one inch body, bites the struggling prey, and once long, and attached at random on the movement has ceased, begins to eat. trunks and branches of trees. The presence of the egg-sac, if they are not Discover this wonder by finding the egg­ old and hatched, indicates the presence sac and plucking a blade of grass ... and of the spider. The spider can then found your patience will be rewarded! by slowly stroking a long blade of grass over the bark, which disturbs her resting stance. At once she becomes evident by her very speedy movement as she escapes this unfamiliar menace! Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 7

POSTGRADUATE The threat to mound springs is from PROJECTS aquifer draw down (localised loss of aquifer pressure) caused from over use of Wolf Spider Assemblages the GAB. A recent program of bore drain in the Mound Springs closures was implemented by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) to free up and Bore drains water so that mining operations can be of South Australia expanded without impacting on the mound springs. Faunal studies of mound springs have previously focused on Travis B. Gotch aquatic invertebrates, however recent examination of the spider fauna Degree: Honours highlighted the importance of wolf spiders (Lycosidae) within the springs. Few Institution: Adelaide University. studies have examined the fauna of bore drains and fewer yet have compared the Supervisor: Andrew Auslin. fauna of mound springs with the fauna of bore drains, despite their similarity. This Submission Date: June 2000 study was initiated to examine the wolf spider assemblages within mound springs and bore drains and to examine Abstract: The mound springs of outback any differences that occur between them. South Australia are unique wetland habitats located in the driest parts of This study identified seven species of Australia. They support a wide diversity of wetland dependent lycosid. Mound species and contain a disproportionate spring lycosid populations were found to number of endemic and relict species be more abundant and have higher than their area would suggest. The species richness than in bore drains of a mound springs are the natural outflow of comparable area. Principal components the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) and as analysis (PCA) of the distribution of such are potentially threatened by the use mound springs and bore drains in spider of GAB water for commercial space found that mound springs and bore applications. drains could be distinguished based on their wetland dependent lycosid The main use of GAB water is as a assemblage. A clear difference was source of water for stock in the form of observed between the relative abundance bore drains. These are bores that are of Venatrix arenaris (Hogg) and V. allowed to flow out over the surrounding goyderi (Hickman). Venatrix arenaris was landscape creating a wetland which found to be more abundant in mound provides water, shelter and food for stock. springs while V. goyderi was more Other uses of GAB water include abundant in bore drains. irrigation of cotton and mining operations. Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 8

In addition to this, in springs and bore • to determine the degree of drains where these two species coexisted, relatedness among populations of the an aversion pattern was observed with common species at different spatial the two species partitioning into different scales (i.e. within spring groups and microhabitats within the sites. Two between distant springs) conceptual models are proposed to attempt to explain the difference in • to examine the mechanisms of abundance between V. arenaris and V. dispersal available to the Mound Spring goyderi. lycosids

• to examine the metapopulation structure and dispersal patterns in a selected group of species and to The dispersal, colonisation determine movement patterns between and genetic variation springs.

of Mound Spring lycosids Outcomes

Travis B. Gotch The results of this project will be [email protected] important in developing a management framework to conserve Mound Spring spider populations and provide a Research Proposal for a scientific basis for ongoing monitoring Doctorate of Philosophy programs. This research will also make a fundamental contribution to better understanding the ecology and biodiversity of Mound Springs and will The overall aim of this project is to present a useful insight into the examine the dispersal and colonisation of mechanisms of dispersal and wetland dependent wolf spiders between colonisation between isolated terrestrial Mound Springs and to examine the invertebrate populations. Further, the genetic diversity of spiders across the large number of specimens collected region. during this project will also make an important contribution in a project based The specific aims of the project are: at the Western Australian Museum on the taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography • to identify the species of lycosid of Australian lycosid spiders. spider associated with the South Australian Mound Springs, and determine Site description their distribution, level of endemicity and to document the biology of the common The South Australian arid zone occupies species the northern two thirds of the state of South Australia. The study sites include Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 9

Mound Springs, wetlands and inland river and often are connected along their tails. systems that lie in the region bounded by Individual vents within a spring group are longitude 135'00'E and 140'00'E and considered the base unit when identifying latitude 26'00'S and 25'45'S. Winter springs. maximum daily temperatures average Bore drains are in many ways analogous 23'C to 27'C across the study site, while to Mound Springs. However, bore drains in summer temperatures can exceed tend to be more isolated and due to the 50'C. The average annual rainfall within nature of their construction have different the study site is 100mm to 150mm. water chemistry to Mound Springs and Actual rainfall events are unpredictable are often hotter at the outflow (vent) with frequent drought years interspersed region. Bore drains are also bigger than with rare flood events more likely than most Mound Springs and even the regular rainfall. smallest are equal to a medium to large Mound Spring in area and water flow. The arid zone landscape is largely flat in relief with only the Davenport Ranges, Methods Hermit Hill and sand dunes to break up the relief. The area consists of several i) The taxonomy of Mound Spring ecotypes such as gibber plains, Lycosidae their biology, distribution breakaway country, low dune country and and level of endemicity sadie clay floodplains. Gibber plains are stone (gibber) covered deserts, sparsely An initial pilot study sampled lycosid vegetated with Sc/ero/ena and ephemeral populations from 21 Mound Springs and forbs and grasses. Breakaway country is five bore drains across the arc of the the name given to the mesa like South Australian section of the Great escarpments that fringe the Lake Eyre Artesian Basin. Spiders were collected basin. These small escarpments often from these sites by actively searching follow the edges of the shallow during the day or by spotlighting at night. cretaceous period seas that once covered I this area. Because of the numbers of vents in some spring groups, their close proximity to The classification of the springs utilises each other and the mobility of lycosid the spatial arrangement of the Mound spider's, spring groups rather than Springs to identify each individual spring. individual vents are to be considered Mound springs are classified into spring subpopulation units. To ensure that the complexes, spring groups and individual sampling protocol does not under­ spring vents. Spring complexes are large represent the diversity of Mound Spring aggregations of spring vents that share a lycosids at each site three spring groups common artesian water source and will be sampled at all vents and the chemistry. Spring groups are vents in minimum number of springs that need to close proximity that source their water be sampled will be determined. The from the same fault or fracture system. amount of time spent sampling each They tend to be very close to one another spring will be standardised so that the Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 10 total time spent sampling is proportional to be collecled. The statistics to be to the spring's area. recorded at the point of capture are; time of capture, location within the spring A preliminary study on the systematics of where caught, vegetation type, vegetation the Mound Spring Lycosidae with Dr density, vegetation cover, vegetation Volker Framenau revealed nine species height, percentage of open space at associated with Mound Spring wetlands, ground level, substrate, soil moisture, including three previously undescribed free water depth and the percentage of species. Of the latter, one also represents free water cover. These data points are a new which appears to be a to be determined using a modified Point Mound Spring endemic (the other eight Grid Method. In addition to this, a species have been recorded from regions detailed analysis of lycosid distribution outside of the arid zone). Also, there is within springs will be undertaken. genetic evidence to support the establishment of a new cryptic species The springs will be sampled by setting closely related to Venatrix arenaris (Hogg, transecls every 2m along the tail. The 1905). transecls are to be perpendicular to the flow and will be actively searched along Previous research (Gotch 2000), as well their length. Lycosids within 250mm as preliminary results from this study, either side of the transecl will be identified show that Artoria howquaensis Framenau and there location marked with a 2002, V. arenaris and Venatrix fontis numbered stake. After the spring has Framenau & Vink, 2001 are the most been sampled a detailed analysis of the abundant species at the Mound Springs. area within a 125mm radius of the spider Of these, II. fontis is the most suitable sighting will be carried out (as above). exemplar species to further examine This information will be placed into a GIS aspects of the biology and dispersal database along with digitised aerial strategies of Mound Springs lycosids. photographs. From this dataset raster maps will be generated to identify relative Further to this initial work, lycosid densities of spiders, favourable populations from another 37 Mound microhabitats and spatial variations Springs and five bore drains will be between the different species. sampled during the study. The collection of spiders from each site will be Quantitative estimates of density in the accompanied by the acquisition of optimal habitat areas indicated in the belt biological and physical data from each transecl survey will be determined every spring and from the immediate vicinity of three months using sampling quadrats the spider (125mm radius). For each 250mm x 250mm. For each transecl, all spring sampled the precise location and spiders will be collecled to determine size elevation of the vent, mid vent and base classes present and their abundance. of the tail is to be recorded using Again the physical characteristics of the kinematic GPS equipment. The height of quadrat will be assessed, as above. vegetation at each elevation point is also Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 11

ii) The examination of the degree of Venatrix fontis populations show evidence relatedness between populations of of restricted gene flow between spring Mound Spring lycosids at different groups indicating that populations are spatial scales more isolated (i.e. have reduced dispersal capabilities) compared with the other To examine the relationships between the species. Evidence of the presence of populations of lycosids the gene flow cryptic species within the Mound Springs between spring populations at a variety of was also found during this preliminary spatial scales will be determined. This is genetic study. Specimens of V. arenaris to be achieved using allozyme from the Avon River (Victoria), showed electrophoresis and mitochondrial DNA 33% fixed differences in allele frequencies (m!DNA) sequencing. The electrophoretic compared with Mound Spring part of the project will be undertaken at populations, indicating the latter probably the Evolutionary Biology Unit, South represent a new cryptic species. This Australian Museum in collaboration with genetic analysis will be extended during Dr Mark Adams. the project to further support the associated study of the taxonomy of the A previous examination of salt lake Mound Spring lycosids. Therefore it will lycosids by Hudson and Adams (1996) be necessary to collect specimens from identified 28 enzymes and other non­ areas outside the arid zone. enzymic proteins with sufficient electrophoretic activity and resolution as More detailed work will now focus on the genetic markers suitable for recognising genetic substructuring of V. fontis cryptic species and for detecting major populations and will examine gene flow genetic differences between populations. between sites at different spatial scales. Mitochondrial sequences will also be Gene flow will be used to infer the employed if electrophoretic data does not movement of spiders between spring provide enough resolution for testing groups. The spatial scales will conform specific of hypotheses. This work, if to the supergroup/complex/spring group required would be undertaken in arrangement described earlier. The sites collaboration with Dr Mark Dowton (The have been selected to ensure that a University of Adelaide) and Dr Steve hierarchical sampling protocol is followed Cooper (South Australian Museum). with the minimum subpopulation unit to be the spring group. A preliminary allozyme analysis on the tissue samples collected in the first iii) Examination of factors affecting survey screened 35 enzymes and non­ dispersal and the mechanisms enzymic proteins and found that for V. available to Mound Spring lycosids fontis there are 33 suitable for use as genetic markers, this exceeds the number A number of biological, behavioural and of suitable markers found in Hudson and physical factors affect the ability of Adams (1996). Mound Spring lycosids to disperse between springs including whether or not Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 12 they can undertake ballooning, whether ballooning chamber based on the design flooding events are responsible for detailed in Eberhard (1987). Observations dispersal and whether or not spiders are on the same three lycosid species in the translocated by other species. To field will be undertaken throughout the examine the importance these factors a study during density sampling periods number of experiments will be undertaken and will be achieved using sticky cane as described below. traps (Duffey 1956; Thorbek eta/. 2002).

Survivability of Venatrix fontis in the arid Effect of density on spider ballooning. zone. This experiment will determine if The length of time a spider can survive in population density influences the the arid zone will affect its chances of frequency of dispersal by ballooning. The dispersing between wetlands. An decision to initiate dispersal can be experiment that will investigate the critical in determining the survival survivability of spiders on different chances of an organism. Dispersal is substrates will be carried out in the risky especially if the chance of landing in summer of 2002-03 and repeated in the a hostile environment is high. There are following winter. Six treatments (under a number of factors that can influence wet and dry conditions on sand, gibber this decision, such as availability of food, and vegetated substrates) will be used, the risk of predation and the density of each replicated four times and arranged conspecifics (Horn & MacArthur 1972) .. in a block design on a level surface. Each Within the Mound Springs the availability treatment will be contained in rectangular of prey is very high and not as likely to be plastic tubs laid out near a Mound Spring. as important as population density as a For the duration of the experiment stimulus to disperse. environmental variables are to be recorded on dataloggers. Early instar Venatrix fontis will be used for the juveniles of equal size class and adults experiment unless it proves to be difficult will be tested separately. to stimulate the initiation of ballooning. Using the chamber described above the Examination of spider ballooning. effects of varying densities of conspecifics on the frequency of The conditions that stimulate ballooning ballooning will be examined. behaviour are well documented (Duffey 1956; Van Wingerden & Vugts 1974; iv) Examine the metapopulation Eberhard 1987; Bishop 1990; Suter structure and dispersal patterns in a 1991,1999). Experiments on early instar selected group of species, tying it all juveniles of V. arenaris, V. fontis and A. together howquaensis will be conducted to determine the proportion of juveniles that Presence and absence data of Mound can be stimulated to initiate ballooning. Spring lycosids collected during sampling This will involve the construction of a will be used to create a simple Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 13

metapopulation model. This model will Other data to be incorporated into the be used to examine the inter-spring GIS includes flood history and intensity, dynamics of lycosids and to identify wind directions and other climatic data to source/sink populations within the be sourced from the Bureau of springs. The model will be compared to Meteorology. the results of the gene flow analysis to assess the accuracy of the The GIS model will be manipulated to metapopulation model at predicting simulate flooding events, thus movement between subpopulations. determining the level of interconnectedness of isolated spring A GIS incorporating all of the data groups during such events. The GIS will collected during the surveys, genetic also show clearly the effect of isolation analysis, physiological and behavioural and the spatial arrangement of the Mound experiments and the metapopulation Springs on the distribution of the Mound model will be developed. The aim of this Spring lycosid populations. GIS is to examine the strategies used by the three main spider species, V. References: arenaris, V. fontis and A. howquaensis, employed to disperse from spring to Bishop, L. (1990). Meteorological aspects spring and how this affects the population of spider ballooning. Environmental dynamics of Mound Spring lycosids. Entomology 19, 1382-1387.

It is intended that this GIS should Duffey, E. (1956). Aerial dispersal in a highlight the most likely methods of known spider population. Journal of dispersal employed by the various lycosid Animal Ecology 25, 85-111. species and show directions of movement between spring groups. Other layers of Eberhard, W. G. (1987). How spiders the GIS will include, a digital elevation initiate airborne lines. Journal of model (OEM). Part of the data to Arachnology 15, 1-9. generate the OEM will be provided by WMC (Olympic Dam Operations) in the Gotch, T. B. (2000). Wolf spider form of digitised aerial photographs and assemblages in the mound springs and will be generated for the entire western bore drains of South Australia. B. EM catchment of Lake Eyre North and South. (Honours) thesis, The University of These will be converted to a OEM in Adelaide. collaboration with Dr Chris Wilcox (University of Queensland). The OEM in Horn, H. S. and MacArthur, R. H. (1972). conjunction with the kinematic point Competition among fugitive species in a elevation data will provide a detailed harlequin environment. Ecology 53, 749- understanding of the drainage patterns 752. and relationships between each spring within their respective catchments. Australasian Arachnology No. 66 Page 14

Hudson. P. and Adams, M. (1996). Allozyme characterisation of the salt lake spiders (Lycosa : Lycosidae : Araneae) of southern Australia: systematic and population genetic implications. Australian Journal of Zoology 44, 535-567.

Suter, R. B. (1991). Ballooning in spiders: results of wind tunnel experiments. Ethology, Ecology and Evolution 3, 13-25.

Suter, R. B. (1999). An aerial lottery: the physics of ballooning in a chaotic atmosphere. Journal of Arachnology 27, 281-293.

Thorbek, P., Topping, C. J. and Sunderland, K. D. (2002). Validation of a simple method for monitoring aerial activity of spiders. Journal of Arachnology 30,57-64.

Van Wingerden, W. K. R. E. and Vugts, H. F. (1974). Factors influencing aeronautic behaviour of spiders. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 3, 6- 10.

Editors note: the original length of this article was reduced and some methodological detail omitted for the purposes of this newsletter.