Newsletter • Newsletter • Newsletter • Newsletter • Newsletter JULY– DECEMBER 2012

No 17 South African National No 17 No 17 Survey of Arachnida This publication is available from: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman [email protected] or at www.arc.agric.za/home.asp?pid=3732

This is the newsletter of the South African National Survey Editors: of Arachnida (SANSA). SANSA is an umbrella project Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman & Charles Haddad dedicated to unifying and strengthening biodiversity re- search on Arachnida in South Africa, and to make an in- Editorial committee: ventory of our arachnofauna. It runs on a national basis in Petro Marais collaboration with other researchers and institutions with Robin Lyle an interest in the fauna of South Africa. Elsa van Niekerk

NEW BOOK ON THE SAVANNA BIOME SPIDERS AVAILABLE SOON

The new spider book, “Spiders of the Savanna Biome”, will be available before Christmas. This book is the first to pro- vide information on the spider families, genera and species found in the Savanna Biome, a biome where 308 endemic species are found.

This information will be valuable to researchers, conserva- tion agencies, students, school children, farmers, as well as tourists visiting the region.The aim of this book is to review our present knowledge of spider diversity in the Savanna Biome in South Africa in terms of their ecology, distribution and species richness, and to provide: • Descriptive characters for the families, genera and species • Information on their guilds and behavior • Photographs and drawings to illustrate the taxa • Glossary and further reading

Spiders are also good indicators of general ecosystem health because they are generalist predators and are there- fore not dependent on the presence of a few, specific animal or plant species. They are, however, sensitive to general features of an ecosystem, e.g. habitat structure and distur- bance. Their varied dispersal abilities and life cycles make IN THIS ISSUE them excellent indicators of short-term changes as well as New spider book ………….………...1 SANSA 3………………………..……2 long-term health of an ecosystem. Spiders as predators………………..3

Invasive species ……...…….…….4-6 This book is the first to provide comprehensive information Institute News…………...……....7-10 on the spider families, genera and species found in the Sa- Virtual Museum …………………...11 vanna Biome. A total of 23739 records from 1260 localities New species and records ……..12-14 New publications..………………….15 representing 1230 species have so far been recorded in the Last Word…………………………...16 South African Savanna Biome.

Citation of the book

DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN A.S., FOORD, S.R. & HADDAD C.R. 2012. Spiders of the Savanna Biome. University of Venda, Thohoyandou. ISBN 978-1-86849-421-7. SANSA Newsletter no 16 2

WHAT IS HAPPENING - SANSA III

SANSA III will focus on a review of progress of SANSA so far, continued identification of material and surveys, promoting communication through bioinformatica, training and pub- lic awareness and strengthening of the clearing-house mechanism, technology transfer and cooperation, and Red Data listing.

The second phase of SANSA that was initiated in 2006 saw the Review articles integration of a series of ad hoc projects into targeted surveys in degree squares throughout South Africa. Annual accessions of FOORD, S.H., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. & HADDAD, specimens in the South African National Collection of Arachnida C.R. 2011. South African Spider Diversity: African Perspectives (Pretoria) increased three-fold from the start of this second phase. on the conservation of a Mega-diverse Group. pp. 63-82 In: Despite the extensive sampling carried out during this phase, Changing Diversity in Changing Environment. Grillo, O. & Ve- several gaps and areas in South Africa that are underrepresented nora, G. eds. InTech 392 pp. ISBN 979-953-307-255-4. in the database still remain. This can largely be attributed to logis- tical challenges, restricted manpower and time necessary to sam- FOORD, S.H., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. & HADDAD, ple these areas properly, particularly in the western parts of South C.R. 2011. The faunistic diversity of spiders (Arachnida, Ara- Africa. neae) of the Savanna Biome in South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 66: 170–201. However, there are certain patterns that are evident, several les- sons were also learnt, and we detail these based on the ca. 59 DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., LYLE, R. & VAN DEN BERG, 000 records accessioned as part of SANSA. The last decade has A.M. 2012. Bioinformatics on the spiders of South Africa. Serket seen an exponential growth in the knowledge of the group in 13: 121-127. South Africa, but there certainly are several more species that have to be discovered, and the distribution patterns of those listed DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., HADDAD, C.R., FOORD, are partly unknown. Information is summarized for all quarter- S.H., LOTZ, L., LYLE, R. & VAN DEN BERG, A.M. (in press). 'n degree squares and reveals considerable inequalities in knowl- Nasionale opname om die biodiversiteit van Suid-Afrikaanse edge. At a large scale the eastern region is much better surveyed spinnekoppe te dokumenteer (Arachnida: Araneae). Suid- than the western parts, but at finer scales throughout the region, Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie. several areas have little information. DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., VAN DEN BERG, A.M., Having a rarity index for each species now gives us a preliminary HADDAD, C.R. & LYLE, R. (in review). Spiders in South African indication of their conservation importance. One objective of agroecosystems: a review (Arachnida, Araneae).Transactions of SANSA is to provide a species-level conservation assessment of the Royal Society of South Africa. arachnids, and although spiders are absent from the majority of Red Lists, it does not mean that they are any less threatened by HADDAD, C.R., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., FOORD, human activities. S.H., LOTZ, L.N. & LYLE, R. (in review). The faunistic diversity of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Grassland Biome in South Activities during the third phase of SANSA include actions to get Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. all the sampled material identified. More than 10 000 samples have been identified by the Spider Unit at ARC-PPRI, Charles Haddad at the University of the Free State, Leon Lotz at the Na- tional Museum, and the Stefan Foord at the University of Venda. Other activities include new surveys and collation of known data in review articles, barcoding of collected species and developing an illustrated atlas.

Some of the material identified during 2012 includes: • Large sample series collected during the Cederberg long-term survey. Presently all the material sampled since 2004 to 2011 has been identified, totaling >10 000 specimens. The material sampled during part of 2012 has been sorted. • Recent collections sampled as part of the long-term survey in the Soutpansberg. • Specimens sampled in the Bontebok and Addo Elephant Na- tional Parks. • Spiders from Vineyards in Stellenbosch (>900 specimens). • Spiders from different gradients in the Sneeuberg mountains • Canopy fogging and leaf litter samples taken at various locali- ties in the Free State, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Lim- popo Provinces. • Spiders from a leaf litter project in the central Free State. Robin Lyle hard at work

Plans for 2013 • Complete a book on the Spiders of the Grassland Biome of South Africa. Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman & Charles Haddad • Sorting and identification of surveys of the ground-, bark- and canopy-dwelling spiders of the Ndumo Game Reserve.

SANSA Newsletter no 16 3

WHAT DO WE PRESENTLY KNOW ABOUT SPIDERS IN CROPS?

Spiders have been extensively sampled in agro-ecosystems during the last forty years at the Spider Research Unit. Data on spider species in agro-ecosystems in South Africa were obtained from existing datasets for this region. Records were obtained from the primary data of specimens housed in the National Collection of Arachnida (NCA) at the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute (ARC-PPRI), Pre- toria (59 000 records), as well as a digital photographic database containing images of species recorded on crops by the public. The dataset consist of more than 3 000 records from 45 crops. A review of all the spider surveys undertaken in agro- ecosystems in South Africa was recently submitted for publication, aiming to consoli- date our present knowledge of spider diversity, as well as their potential prey. The review provides a measure of what has been achieved in research on spiders in South African agro-ecosystems, and identifies directions for future research. In The jumping spider Heliophanus sp. (Salticidae) with prey South Africa, the first arachnid sampling in an agro-ecosystem was undertaken in Photographer: Vida van der Walt 1972 to investigate the role that spiders play in strawberry fields in the biological control of spider mites. This was followed by extensive surveys of spiders in conven- tionally cultivated cotton fields as well as in fields of genetically modified Bt-cotton. A number of surveys in orchards in the Mpumalanga Lowveld resulted in papers on spiders on citrus, macadamia and avocado, while further surveys were conducted in pistachio orchards in the arid Northern Cape.

A checklist of 51 families, 238 genera and 413 spider species found in these sys- tems is now available and several agrobiont species have been identified. Agrobiont species might play an important role as natural control agents in crops due to their consistent presence in crops in high numbers throughout the growing season. Salti- cidae (jumping spiders) and Thomisidae (crab spiders) were the most abundant families occurring in high numbers on crops. The most abundant spider species were Pardosa crassipalpis (Lycosidae), Enoplognatha molesta (Theridiidae), Mer- messus fradeorum (Linyphiidae), Misumenops rubrodecorata (Thomisidae) and Heliophanus pistaciae (Salticidae). A total of 35 scientific papers have so far been The crab spider Misumenops rubrodecoratus published on spiders in agro-ecosystems, and the role of spiders in crops was the (Thomisidae), a plant-living agrobiont species subject of five MSc and two PhD theses. Photographer: Peter Webb

Historically, predacious mites and insects have received much attention in biological control programmes of agricultural pests in South Africa, while spiders appear to have been neglected. Research undertaken at the ARC indicates that spiders are one of the most abundant predator groups found in agro-ecosystems with special adaptations towards a predatory way of life. Spiders are present all year round and predation is not limited to adult insects only but includes the egg and larval or nym- phal stages as well. Different species of spiders are found in different microhabitats. A large group of wandering spiders live on the ground, either under stones or in holes. The ground-living spiders feed mainly on epigeic insects and larvae hibernat- ing in the soil. The plant-dwelling spiders are present on the bark, branches, leaves or flowers of plants. Many are wandering nocturnal hunters that actively move around in search of food. A number of web-building spiders spin their webs between the leaves, under the bark and even over the leaf surfaces. They will prey on any flying or crawling insects that come in contact with the silk threads. As predators, spiders have a two-fold function. Not only do they feed directly on their prey, but their presence causes indirect mortality. The presence of hunting spiders can also disturb larvae, which then drop from the plant and die. A cob-web spider Enoplognatha molesta (Theridiidae), a web-dwelling agrobiont species Spiders form part of the natural enemy complex as generalist and specialist preda- Photographer: Peter Webb tors. Their presence in crops should be encouraged and steps taken to protect them from potentially lethal pesticides. Owing to the different guilds they occupy, various families are affected differently by pesticides. Judicious use of pesticides in crop programmes may result in more complex and abundant spider communities, thereby augmenting biological pest control. Although spiders may be incapable of controlling major pest outbreaks by themselves, their role in a complex predator community could be important to regulate pest species at low densities early in the season and between peaks of pest species activity. They could therefore play an important role in keeping pests at endemic levels and preventing outbreaks.

Contact and further reading

DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., VAN DEN BERG, A.M., HADDAD, C.R. & LYLE, R. (in press). Spiders in South African agroecosystems: a review (Arachnida, Ara- neae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. Pardosa crassipalpis (Lycosidae), a ground dwelling agrobiont wolf spider Photographer: Vida van der Walt

SANSA Newsletter no 16 4

STRANGE SPIDERS “INVADING” SOUTH AFRICA

Badumna (Desidae) identity confirmed

Recently we reported on the discovery of an alien invasive spider species of the genus Badumna (Desidae) from South Africa. The species can be easily recognised by the scrappy cribellate webs it constructs, and is mottled grey-brown and approximately 6–10mm in body length. Subsequently, additional populations have been discovered in Bloemfontein, and the species seems to be particu- larly widespread in Port Elizabeth, where spiders and their webs can be found in virtually any part of the city on the outer walls, gutters and window frames of buildings. It seems that the introduc- tion into Port Elizabeth must have occurred several decades ago, considering how well established and common the species is in the area. In contrast, the Bloemfontein populations are only found in horticultural nurseries, and their occurrence seems to be the result of the transport of ornamental plants, trees and flower pots from parts of the country with established populations.

Some specimens from Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein were re- cently sent to Cor Vink of AgResearch in New Zealand, who con- firmed their identity as B. longinqua, a species native to Australia. Badumna longinqua (Desidae) This species has already been recorded in New Zealand, Ger- many, the U.S.A. and Uruguay, and most likely was dispersed along international shipping routes.

REQUEST: We would ask readers to please keep a look out for any signs of these spiders and, if possible, collect a few specimens in 100% ethanol and send them to Charles Haddad ([email protected]). Together with Cor, they are trying to determine the precise origin of the South African and other internationally introduced populations. The more populations and localities we can confirm this species from the better! Hopefully this can help highlight the importance of stricter quar- antine measures in the country of origin.

Web of B. longinqua on fence Photographer: Charles Haddad

Web of B. longinqua on window sill

Webs of B. longinqua on a roof

Contact: Charles Haddad

SANSA Newsletter no 16 5

STRANGE SPIDERS “INVADING” SOUTH AFRICA continued

Spider invading the Biosystematics building

The verdict is still out on the strange Dictynidae spider that is invading the new Biosystematics building at Roodeplaat. They made their appearance last year and are taking over the building. The area were cleaned and all webs re- moved but they are back. We have sampled some for barcoding, hoping to get their identity solved that way.

What makes these spiders so interesting is the radiating web made with cribellate silk that is constructed flat against the surface of walls (see photo below). Most of the webs are at ceiling level but some have now moved to window level.

Web structure

Female and male Dictynidae sp. Photographer: Peter Webb

REQUEST: Please keep a look out for any signs of these spiders and, if possible, collect a few specimens in 100% ethanol and send them to Ansie Dippenaar ([email protected]) or Robin Lyle ([email protected]).

SANSA Newsletter no 16 6

MORE ON INVADERS

A recently reported introduced species now also in houses in the Lowveld

Pholcid species, also known as daddy-long-leg spiders, occupy a wide range of habitats. They are found under rocks, in cavi- ties and crevices, and in caves. In forests, they are found in the leaf litter layer, in webs in tree canopies, and on the undersides of preferably large leaves. Many species are cryptic. Several species of pholcids are found in human habitation around the world. Most of these species have characteristically long legs, they spend most of the time in their webs in corners of rooms and on ceilings, and vibrate when disturbed. Several species are synanthropic and are widespread in Africa.

A very large daddy-long-legs spider is presently causing prob- lems in buildings in parts of South Africa. Officials at the Tshwane market contacted the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute in September 2009 regarding problems with spider webbing in some of the halls at the market. Clusters of webbing were found everywhere in corners on the walls and ceilings, collecting dust and dirt which creates an unhygienic appear- ance. At high cost, this webbing is removed every year by a commercial company, but without long-term success. A visit was undertaken to the market to investigate and collect spiders.

This resulted in the identification of the culprit, a daddy-long- legs spider, Crossopriza lyoni (family Pholcidae). This turned out to be the first record of this species from South Africa. Cros- sopriza lyoni is a cosmopolitan species occurring widely throughout the warmer parts of the world, but in Africa it has been reported only from the northern parts; it is also found in the neighbouring Arabian Peninsula. Since 2009 no further reports have been received on their presence in houses.

However, in 2012 the ARC-PPRI Spider Identification Service received a call from Hoedspruit about a possible “violin spider” invasion of houses. In one house alone more than 200 speci- mens were sampled. The spiders were running around the houses and causing a big scare as a result of being wrongly identified. Samples were sent to ARC-PPRI for identification and the culprit turned out to be C. lyoni. The possibility exists that the species might have been transported from the Lowveld with fruit and vegetables that were delivered to the Tshwane market.

They can be recognized by their body size of between 5-7 mm and both sexes having extremely long legs. The abdomen has a distinct hump.

REQUEST: We would appreciate it if anybody who sees Images of C. lyoni spiders collected in Hoedspruit. this spider contacts us. Photographer: Peter Webb

Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected]

SANSA Newsletter no 16 7

SOME INSTITUTIONAL NEWS

UNIVERSITY OF VENDA

Vhuhwavho Gelebe is finalizing his honours project on scorpi- ons along the elevational transect in the Western Soutpans- berg. The total number of species recorded along the transect stands at 17, two of which are endemics. The presence of singletons suggests that there are probably a few more spe- cies that we have not observed. It is particularly the northern aspect of the mountain that is species rich with several unique species.

One of the invaded (Eucalyptus) sites

Contact: Dr Stefan Foord at [email protected]

NATIONAL MUSEUM, BLOEMFONTEIN

Research is ongoing at the museum with a number of pro- jects. Leon Lotz is currently working on the following publi- cations:

• The Afrotropical genera Cheiracanthium and Chei- Vhuhwavho sampling spiders and scorpions on the northern ramiona (Araneae: Miturgidae), including the Cheiracan- aspect of the mountain thium species from Madagascar. • Another manuscript with two new species of Afrotropical Archaeidae is being prepared. • The first publication on Afrotropical Sicariidae has been published in Zootaxa. • The National Museum Arachnology database has been migrated to SPECIFY and working with the new version is still a learning process.

Most of the year, since the last newsletter, had been spent on the Sicariidae publication, the SANSA Spider Atlas and work on trying to sort out the identity of the Agelenidae of South Africa.

Contact: Leon Lotz at [email protected]

A scorpion feasting on termites in early spring (October 2012)

Thabelo Munyai is also finalizing her honours project on the response of epigeal spiders to a gradient of Eucalyptus tree invasions. As expected there was a clear monotonic decrease in spider diversity with increased invasion and interestingly the reduction of species in the invaded treatments was also char- acterised by the replacement of species associated with the Female Loxosceles simillina from Bloemfontein invaded sites only resulting a switch in spider assemblages. Photograph: Charles Haddad

SANSA Newsletter no 16 8

SOME INSTITUTIONAL NEWS UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE

Study on South African pseudo- New Telemidae species from Mpumalanga scorpions During recent field work as part of his MSc studies on South African At the start of 2012, Jan-Andries Neethling started an Geogarypidae (Pseudoscorpiones), Jan-Andries Neethling did exten- MSc project that will involve a complete revision and sive collecting in the Afromontane forests of Mpumalanga. At one of the molecular phylogeny of the South African pseudoscorpi- localities he sampled one male and two females of a tiny telemid spe- ons of the family Geogarypidae. His study is supervised cies in leaf litter. To date only a single species has been recorded from by Charles Haddad, with Leon Lotz and Mark Harvey as South Africa, the troglodyte Cangoderces lewisi that is known only from co-supervisors. This poorly known group is currently the Cango Caves near Oudtshoorn. Recently, Wang & Li (2011) de- represented by five species each of Geogarypus and scribed three species from West Africa, and they have been ap- Afrogarypus in South Africa. For most of the year, Jan- proached to describe the new South African species. Andries has been collecting in the eastern half of the country, and has sampled at more than 30 localities in Further reading the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. During these trips WANG, C.-X. & LI, S.-Q. 2011. Three new species of Telemidae he has already sampled more than 90 morphospecies of (Araneae) from Western Africa. Zootaxa 2902: 44–58 pseudoscorpions, representing 14 of the 17 families known from South Africa, of which 13 morphospecies of Geogarypus and two of Afrogarypus. In the coming REQUEST: If anyone has or knows of additional South African Tel- months he will sample further in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern emidae please contact Charles Haddad, who can arrange for the Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and North West material to be sent to China for study. Provinces. Based on his collections so far, it is likely that the number of undescribed species will exceed the al- ready known 10 species from the country. Apart from the taxonomic descriptions that he will do next year, he will also be performing a molecular phylogeny of the South African species based on his recently collected material. We look forward to seeing the results of his study in the future.

Contact: Jan-Andries Neethling ([email protected])

New Corinnidae species from South Africa

Two recent papers were published on Castianeirinae spiders from the Afrotropical Region that formed part of Charles Haddad’s PhD thesis. Two species of the ground-living genus Cambalida are now recognised from South Africa, C. fulvipes (Simon, 1896) and the newly described C. dippenaarae. In the cryptic arboreal genus Echinax, two new South African species were described, E. natalensis and E. similis, both from northern KwaZulu-Natal. A further three revisionary papers have been submitted for publication and should be published during 2013.

Further reading

HADDAD, C.R. 2012. A revision of the spider genus Echinax Deele- man-Reinhold, 2001 (Araneae: Corinnidae) in the Afrotropical Region. Zootaxa 3450: 33–61. HADDAD, C.R. 2012. A revision of the Afrotropical ant-like sac spider genus Cambalida Simon, 1909 (Araneae: Corinnidae). ZooKeys 234: 67–119.

Photographs: Charles Haddad

SANSA Newsletter no 16 9

SOME INSTITUTIONAL NEWS ARC-PLANT PROTECTION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SPIDER TALKS AND CONGRESS ACTIVITIES

The Spider Research Unit at the ARC-PPRI attended sev- eral congresses during the last few months.

• Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman and Robin Lyle attended the 9th Kimberley Biodiversity Research Symposium, which was hosted by the Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation, in collaboration with the South African National Parks (SANParks), the McGregor Museum, De Beers mining company and the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON). It was held at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley on the 4th of September 2012. The aim of the symposium was to share and promote research being done on the biodiversity of the Northern Cape Province. Owing to budget and capacity restraints within the Department of Environment and Nature Con- servation, research is often done by outside organisa- tions, such as tertiary institutions and science councils. Research of this nature is strongly encouraged and supported by the Department. • They attended the Royal Society Spring Science Festi- val and presented a poster on spiders in agro- ecosystems. • They also attended the third Diamond Route Congress hosted by De Beers, presenting two posters and a talk. • Robin Lyle attended the DST congress for young sci- entists where she presented a poster on the role of spiders as natural control agents. • Petro Marais attended the Annual Meeting of the Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns in Potchefstroom and gave a talk about the National Col- lection of Arachnida. • Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman and Stefan Foord at- tended the Global Change Congress of the Department of Science and Technology, talking about the results of the long-term surveys in the Cederberg Mountains.

Some of the posters designed by Elsa van Niekerk that were presented at the various congresses PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS

DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. 2012. The diversity and LYLE, R. & DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. 2012. Baboon and trap- adaptations of the orb-web spiders (Araneae: Araneidae). door spiders on some of the De Beers Diamond Route Reserves. 3RD RD 3 De Beers Diamond Route Research Conference, Jo- De Beers Diamond Route Research Conference, Johannesburg, South hannesburg, South Africa, 30-31 October 2012 (Oral Pres- Africa, 30-31 October 2012 (Poster Presentation). entation). MARAIS, P., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., ANDERSON, C., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., FOORD, S.H. & LYLE, MATHEBULA, S. & LYLE, R. 2012. Die Nasionale Versameling van R. 2012. The spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Venetia Arachnida: huidige status. Annual Congress of the Biological Sciences RD Limpopo Nature Reserve. 3 De Beers Diamond Route Division, South African Academy for Science and Arts, held at the Research Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa, 30-31 North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa, 5 October October 2012 (Poster Presentation). 2012 (Poster Presentation).

FOORD, S.H. & DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. 2012. LYLE, R. & DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. 2012. Spiders as biologi- Drivers of spider diversity along an elevational transect in a cal control agents. DST/NRF Young Scientist Conference, Pretoria, floristic kingdom sensitive to climate change. Paper pre- South Africa, 16-18 October 2012 (Poster Presentation). sented at the DST Global change congress.

SANSA Newsletter no 16 10

NATIONAL COLLECTION OF ARACHNIDA RECEIVES EXCELLENT REPORT

The "AUDIT REPORT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S NATURAL SCIENCE COLLECTIONS" was released in October 2012, and based on the 22 Zoological collections that were accessed the National Collection of Arachnida (non-Acari) (NCA) received an excellent report.

• NCA was only one of four collections in the country that have received an assessor's curation score of EXCELLENT. • NCA is listed second in the top 25% quartile for the highest growth rate over the last ten years relative to average growth rate/ten-year interval between 1950 and 2000. The input of SANSA was specially mentioned here. • NCA scored low for risk from environmental conditions. • It also have the lowest rating for LE/LS= Low Environmental Risk / Low Staffing Risk. • The scientific curation score was 3, the highest score that a collection can receive for uses of collection. • It is regarded as one of the largest arachnid collections in coun- try. • It received an overall score of 6, the best score for collections in the ARC.

Natural history museums are not only responsible for the curation, preservation and management of specimens in collections, but also for providing accurate and current biodiversity information in the form of up-to-date faunal inventories with locality data. As signato- ries to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), South Africa is obliged to develop a strategic plan for the conservation and sustainable utilization of this unique biological heritage. The CBD has shown us the importance of good biodiversity data, and has contributed to renewed interest in specimen databases of natural history collec- tions. The term "Biodiversity Informatics" is defined as the ‘application of informatics to recorded and yet-to-be discovered information specifically about biodiversity, and the linking of this Poster presented at the last South African Academy of Science information with genomic, geospatial and other biological and non- and Art Annual congress by Petro Marais. biological datasets’, and this term is now generally in use for these types of data.

7000 The South African National Collection of Arachnida (excluding the Acari) (NCA) was established in 1976 under the Biosystematics 6000 Programme at the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, and the 5000 digitisation of the arachnid specimens in the NCA began in 1991. The first relational database was developed using the programme 4000 Clipper Summer 87 by ARC database developers. It was later up- graded to Clipper 5.2 and 5.3. The database included fields for 3000 taxon names, specimen information and literature references. In 2000 2000 the data were migrated to a Microsoft Access relational data- base and a new module, the African Arachnida Database (AFRAD), 1000 was added. This module comprises a complete taxon database to 0 eventually house information of > 6000 Afrotropical arachnid spe- 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 cies, and was developed in collaboration with the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. Facilities for synonyms, taxon YearsSer i es 1 name changes, as well as descriptive, behavioural and distribu- tional data and images were added. This information is now avail- able on the family-, genus- and species level as a series of online The National Collection of Arachnida showing the increase in factsheets that can be accessed on the Internet at number since the SANSA II. http://www.arc.agric.za/home.asp?pid=3235.

The management and curation of the NCA is a team effort. We would like to thank everybody contributing in collecting data, whether through donation of specimens or photographs - we really appreciate the effort. We have again reached our target of 6000 new accessions.

Contact: A.S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, Robin Lyle, Petro Marais, Connie Anderson and Sma Mathubula.

11 SANSA Newsletter no 16

VIRTUAL MUSEUM—SOME INTERESTING PHOTOGRAPHS Photographic display of the spiders of Legalemeetse by Peter Webb

Araneus legonensis Cyclosa insulana Aphantaulax inornata

Hamataliwa fronticornis Oxyopes sp. Scytodes maritima

Olios freyi Olios sp. (imm.) Heliophanus sp. Asemonea sp.

Hyllus brevitarsis Rhene sp. Thyene natalii Brancus mustelus

Pactactes compactus Diaea puncta Thomisus granulatus

12 SANSA Newsletter no 16

NEW DATA ON SOUTH AFRICAN SPECIES

PRESENT STATUS OF SICARIIDAE

In a new paper by Leon Lotz the present state of the family Sicariidae in the Afrotropical region is discussed. This clears up the mess caused by the un- published Newland’s PhD thesis. The following data is relevant for South Af- rica and SANSA.

The following Sicarius spp. occur in South Africa:

• Sicarius hahni (Karsch, 1878) Distribution: Sicarius hahni is distributed in the eastern part of Namibia, in Botswana, in the northeastern part of South Africa (Northern Cape and Lim- popo) and in Zimbabwe . Note: Sicarius oweni Newlands 1986: 53, unpublished synonym. Sicarius testacius from the Cederberg • Sicarius spatulatus Pocock, 1900 Distribution: Sicarius spatulatus is distributed along the southern coastal areas of South Africa (between Port Elizabeth and the Cape Peninsula).

• Sicarius testaceus Purcell, 1908 Distribution: Sicarius testaceus is distributed in the south-western part of South Africa (Northern and Western Cape).

The following Loxosceles spp. occur in South Africa:

• Loxosceles bergeri Strand, 1906 Distribution: Loxosceles bergeri is distributed from east-central Namibia to north-central South Africa (Northern Cape).

• Loxosceles parramae (Newlands, 1981) Note: The species name is here changed to Loxosceles parramae, as the types were named for a Miss Sheila Parram (ICZN Art. 31). Sicarius spatulatus from Gouritzmond Distribution: Loxosceles parramae is found in Gauteng and north-eastern Free State, South Africa

• Loxosceles pilosa Purcell, 1908 Distribution: Loxosceles pilosa is distributed along the coast from central Na- mibia to north-western South Africa (Northern Cape around Richtersveld).

• Loxosceles simillima Lawrence, 1927 Distribution: Loxosceles simillima is widely distributed from northern Namibia, through Botswana and Zimbabwe to north-eastern and central South Africa (Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal).

• Loxosceles speluncarum Simon, 1893 Distribution: Loxosceles speluncarum is found in caves in the Pretoria area, South Africa. Sicarius hahni from the Soutpansberg

• Loxosceles spinulosa Purcell, 1904 Distribution: Loxosceles spinulosa is distributed along the southern coast of South Africa (Western Cape: Swellendam).

Loxosceles valida is transferred to Drymusidae.

• Drymusa valida (Lawrence, 1964) Distribution: Drymusa valida is distributed on the Cape Peninsula, South Af- rica.

REFERENCE

LOTZ, L.N. 2012. Present status of Sicariidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in the Afrotropical region. Zootaxa 3522: 1–41. Loxosceles parramae from Kempton Park Photographer W Schmidt

SANSA Newsletter no 16 13

NEW DATA ON SOUTH AFRICAN SPECIES (CONTINUED)

REVISION OF PARADONEA (ERESIDAE)

As part of their recently published Atlas of the Eresidae, Miller et al. (2012) provided a key to the world genera of the family, together with diag- noses, illustrations and SEM photographs of morphological characters. The paper included a synopsis of the genus Paradonea. Their study indicated that five species can presently be listed in the genus. Only one is known from both males and females. Males can be recognized by their distinct patterns. They build silken tubes under stones or under shrubs. • Paradonea variegata (Purcell, 1904) Distribution: Known from Namibia, and the Northern and Western Cape and Mpumalanga Provinces in South Africa, where it is found in Paradonea variegata Paradonea striatipes savanna and semiarid desert habitats.

• Paradonea striatipes Lawrence, 1968 Distribution: Known from Namibia and Northern Cape.

• Paradonea splendens (Lawrence, 1936) Distribution: Known from Botswana, and Free State and North West in South Africa.

• Paradonea parva ( Tucker, 1920) Distribution: Free State, North West and North- ern Cape Provinces. Paradonea presleyi Paradonea ? • Paradonea presleyi (Miller, Griswold, Scharff, Rezac, Szuts & Marhaiae 2012) Distribution: Zimbabwe and Kruger National REVISION OF SMERINGOPUS (PHOLCIDAE) Park.

Reference: The genus Smeringopus Simon, 1890 was recently revised by Bern- hard Huber, with redescriptions of most previously known species and MILLER, J.A., GRISWOLD, C.E., SCHARFF, N., descriptions of 36 new species from the Afrotropical Region. With 55 ŘEZÁČ, M., SZŰTS, T. & MARHABAIE, M. species, Smeringopus becomes the most species-rich pholcid genus in 2012. The velvet spiders: an atlas of the Eresidae Africa. Smeringopus is largely restricted to central, southern, and east- (Arachnida, Araneae). ZooKeys 195: 1–144. ern Africa, where it includes some of the largest and most conspicuous pholcid spiders in the region. The paper is beautifully illustrated with photographs, line drawings and SEM images, and each of the species should be readily identifiable using these tools. The following 12 new species (with their distributions) were described from South Africa:

S. badplaas: Mpumalanga and Limpopo; S. blyde: Mpumalanga; S. dehoop: Western Cape; S. ubicki: Western and Eastern Cape; S. florisbad: Free State and Gauteng; S. hanglip: Limpopo; S. koppies: Free State, North West and Northern Cape in South Africa, and south- ern Botswana; S. lotzi: Northern Cape, Free State, North West; S. mlilwane: Swaziland and Mpumalanga Province in South Africa; S. lydenberg: Mpumalanga; S. ndumo: KwaZulu-Natal; S. sederberg: Western and Northern Cape.

Four described species were also redescribed:

S. natalensis Lawrence, 1947: widely distributed in South Africa and southern Mozambique; S. pallidus (Blackwall, 1858): cosmopolitan, KwaZulu-Natal; S. hypocrita Simon, 1910: Namibia, Northern Cape, Western Cape; S. atomarius Simon, 1910: Botswana, Namibia, North- ern Cape.

Smeringopus sp. FURTHER READING Photographer: Warren Schmidt HUBER, B.A. 2012. Revision and cladistic analysis of the Afrotropical endemic genus Smeringopus Simon, 1890 (Araneae: Pholcidae). Zootaxa 3461: 1–138.

SANSA Newsletter no 16 14

REVISION OF MENNEUS (DEINOPIDAE)

The family Deinopidae, commonly known as net-casting or ogre-faced spiders, are known for their extremely large eyes and their unique habit of casting their small cribellate webs over noc- turnal pedestrian or aerial prey. Deinopid spi- ders belong to two genera: the larger pantropi- cal Deinopis MacLeay, 1839, diagnosed by the extreme size of their posterior median eyes, and the smaller Menneus Simon, 1876, of the Old World (sub)tropics, with normally sized eyes. In a recent paper by Coddington et al. (2012) the genus Menneus was revised and the following species are now recognized from South Africa • Avellopsis Purcell, 1904 is considered a Menneus capensis junior synonym of Menneus, and M. capen- Photographer: Norman Larsen sis (Purcell, 1904) new combination is recorded from the Western Cape • Menneus camelus Pocock, 1902 from Gau- teng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpuma- langa, North West • M. dromedarius Purcell, 1904 (removed from synonymy of M. camelus) is recorded from Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and also from Madagascar

CODDINGTON, J. A., MATJAŽ K. & B. D. OPELL. 2012. Systematics of the spider family Deinopidae with a revision of the genus Men- neus. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 636: 61 pp.

Menneus camelus Photographer: Nico Dippenaar

Deinopus sp. from KZN Photographer: Stefan Neser Male Deinopis cylindrical Photographer: Charles Haddad

Images by Stefan Neser showing that the male Deinopus also makes Menneus camelus with web a web Photographer: Charles Haddad

SANSA Newsletter no 16 15

NEW PUBLICATIONS ON SOUTH AFRICAN ARACHNIDS NEW FACT SHEET SERIES

Due to the high number of queries received monthly about spiders we BOND, J.E., HENDRIXSON, B.E., HAMILTON, C.A. & HE- at the Spider Research Unit of the ARC have decided to produce a DIN, M. 2012. A reconsideration of the classification of the spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Arachnida: Ara- factsheet series on spiders that we frequently receive questions neae) based on three nuclear genes and morphology. about. The first factsheets is about the rain spider and golden orb- PLoS One 7(6): e38753. web spiders. Copies will be available on the SANSA website where they can be down loaded directly soon. CODDINGTON, J.A., KUNTNER, M. & OPELL, B.D. 2012. Systematics of the spider family Deinopidae with a revi- sion of the genus Menneus. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 636: iv + 61 pp. DURAND, J.F., SWART, A., MARAIS, W.C., JANSEN VAN RENSBURG, C., HABIG, J., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN A., UECKERMANN, E., VENTER, E., JACOBS, A., DE WET, L. 2012. Die karst-ekologie van Bakwenagrot (Gauteng). Die Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie 31: 17 pp. DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., LYLE, R. VAN DEN BERG, A.M. 2012. Bioinformatics on the spiders of South Africa. Serket 13: 121–127. GIRIBET, G., SHARMA, P.P., BENAVIDES, L.R., BOYER, S.L., CLOUSE, R.M., DE BIVORT, B.L., DIMITROV, D., KAWAUCHI, G.Y., MURIENNE, J. & SCHWEND- INGER, P.J. 2012. Evolutionary and biogeographical history of an ancient and global group of arachnids (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi) with a new taxo- nomic arrangement. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 105: 92–130. HADDAD, C.R. 2012. A revision of the spider genus Echi- nax Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 (Araneae: Corinnidae) in the Afrotropical Region. Zootaxa 3450: 33–61. HADDAD, C.R. 2012. A revision of the Afrotropical ant-like sac spider genus Cambalida Simon, 1909 (Araneae: Corinnidae). ZooKeys 234: 67–119. HUBER, B.A. 2012. Revision and cladistic analysis of the Afrotropical endemic genus Smeringopus Simon, 1890 (Araneae: Pholcidae). Zootaxa 3461: 1–138. JÄGER, P. 2012. A review on the spider genus Argiope Audouin 1826 with special emphasis on broken emboli in female epigynes (Araneae: Araneidae: Argiopinae). Beitrage Araneologie 7: 272–331. LOTZ, L.N. 2012. Present status of Sicariidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in the Afrotropical region. Zootaxa 3522: 1–41. MATTILA, T.M., BECHSGAARD, J.S., HANSEN, T.T., SCHIERUP, M.H. & BILDE, T. 2012. Orthologous genes identified by transcriptome sequencing in the spider genus Stegodyphus. BMC Genomics 13:70, 8 pp. MILLER, J.A., GRISWOLD, C.E., SCHARFF, N., ŘEZÁČ, VIRTUAL MUSEUM M., SZŰTS, T. & MARHABAIE, M. 2012. The velvet spiders: an atlas of the Eresidae (Arachnida, Araneae). We are really sorry for all the problems experienced ZooKeys 195: 1–144. during the last month with the VIRTUAL MUSEUM . OTT, R., LOPES RODRIGUES, E.N. & BRESCOVIT, A.D. We upgraded to a new server and then the problems 2012. Seven new species of Latonigena (Araneae, Gna- phosidae) from South America. Iheringia, Série Zoologia started. Hopefully 2013 will only bring joy and plenty 102: 227–238. of beautiful photographs. ŠŤÁHLAVSKÝ, F., KRÁL, J., HARVEY, M.S. & HADDAD, C.R. 2012. The first cytogenetic characterisation of atemnids: pseudoscorpions with the highest chromo- THANK YOU! some numbers (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones). Cytoge- netic and Genome Research 137: 22–30. WESOŁOWSKA, W. 2012. Redescriptions of some salticid species (Araneae: Salticidae) from South Africa and Zimbabwe described by G. and E. Peckham. African Entomology 20: 325–342.

16 SANSA Newsletter no 16

LAST WORD

By PETER WEBB

A BIG THANK YOU to all the people participating to make SANSA such a big success. WE wish you all the best for 2013 and a peaceful

FESTIVE season