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AMERICAN MUSEUM Novlttates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10024 U.S.A. NUMBER 2619 MAY 9, 1977 RAYMOND R. FORSTER AND NORMAN I. PLATNICK A Review of the Spider Family Symphytognathidae (Arachnida, Araneae) AMERICAN MUSEUM Novlttates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10024 U.S.A. NUMBER 2619 MAY 9, 1977 RAYMOND R. FORSTER AND NORMAN I. PLATNICK A Review of the Spider Family Symphytognathidae (Arachnida, Araneae) AMERICAN MUSEUM Novitates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10024 Number 2619, pp. 1-29, figs. 1-74 May 9, 1977 A Review of the Spider Family Symphytognathidae (Arachnida, Araneae) RAYMOND R. FORSTER' AND NORMAN I. PLATNICK2 ABSTRACT The spider family Symphytognathidae is re- to Styposis (Theridiidae), I. boneti (Forster) is limited to include only the genera Sym- returned to Anapistula, and I. weyersi Simon is phytognatha, Globignatha (elevated from sub- considered a nomen dubium. Eleven new species generic status), Patu, Anapistula, and the new are described: Symphytognatha blesti from Aus- genus Curimagua, all of which share the fol- tralia; S. goodnightorum from Belize; S. gertschi lowing derived characters: the chelicerae are from Mexico; S. chickeringi from Jamaica; Glo- fused at least at their base, the female pedipalp is bignatha sedgwicki from Belize; Patu eberhardi, either reduced to a unisegmented lobe or absent, P. digua, and P. saladito from Colombia; Ana- the labium is much wider than long, and the ster- pistula benoiti from Zaire; Curimagua chapmani num is broadly truncate posteriorly. Other gen- from Venezuela; and C. bayano from Panama. era previously placed in the family belong to the The male of Anapistula secreta Gertsch is de- Anapidae, Mysmenidae, Micropholcommatidae, scribed for the first time, and the species is newly and Textricellidae. The status of the genus Iardi- recorded from Florida, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and nis is discussed; I. albulus Gertsch is transferred Colombia. INTRODUCTION The spider family Symphytognathidae was es- ten less than 1 mm. in total length) and the ab- tablished by Hickman (1931) for the Tasmanian sence of book lungs. In recent years, it has be- species Symphytognatha globosa, remarkable for come apparent that although this grouping is its minute size, the absence of book lungs and convenient from a phenetic point of view, the female pedipalps, and the fusion of the chelic- family as thus constituted may be highly poly- erae. Since that time, Fage (1937), Gertsch phyletic, and that many of the included genera (1941, 1960), Forster (1959), and Levi and Levi may be more closely related to the Araneidae, (1962) have added to the group numerous other Theridiidae, or Theridiosomatidae than to each genera characterized mainly by minute size (of- other. Brignoli (1970), Levi and Randolph 'Research Associate, Department of Entomology, the American Museum of Natural History; Director, Otago Mu- seum, Dunedin, New Zealand. 2Assistant Curator, Department of Entomology, the American Museum of Natural History. Copyright i The American Museum of Natural History 1977 ISSN 0003-0082 / Price $2.20 2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2619 (1975), and Lehtinen (1975) have all expressed previously published descriptions, whereas in this view; as the last author phrased it, "the other cases (Symphytognatha and Globignatha) Symphytognathidae, as it has been limited by the chelicerae are fused for most of their length. most of the recent authors, is surely a poly- Other presumably derived characters uniting phyletic dump heap of minute Araneoidea." these genera are the reduction of the female pedi- As indicated by Hennig (1965), monophyletic palp to a short, unisegmented lobe (Curimagua) groups can be recognized only by the presence of or its complete absence, the shape of the labium, shared and uniquely derived (synapomorphic) which is at least three times as wide as long, and characters. The question in this case is thus the wide posterior truncation of the sternum sep- whether or not there are such synapomorphic arating the posterior coxae by at least twice their characters uniting the genera presently placed in width. the Symphytognathidae. A number of characters The question of what the closest relative of common to most or all of these genera (the ab- this monophyletic group may be is one that we sence of book lungs, a claw on the female pedi- cannot yet answer. Study of representatives of palp, and leg spines other than male clasping the other symphytognathoid genera indicates to spines; the fusion of the labium and sternum; and us that most of the family-group names that have the shortening of the metatarsi) can be con- been proposed for these spiders represent distinct sidered derived as compared with their homol- groups: the Anapidae (Simon, 1895), containing ogous states in other araneoid families. These Anapis, Anapisona, Anapogonia, Chasmocepha- characters may represent synapomorphies or par- Ion, Conoculus, Crozetulus, Epecthina, Epecthin- allelisms, that is, they may have been derived ula, Pseudanapis, and Risdonius; the Mysmenidae only once or more than once. Many of them may (Petrunkevitch, 1928), including Mysmena, indeed be parallelisms associated with the small Mysmenopsis, Trogloneta, and possibly Cepheia, size of these spiders; the multiplicity of somatic Lucarachne, Maymena, Synaphris, and Taphiassa; forms, genitalic structures, and web-building be- the Micropholcommatidae (Hickman, 1944), haviors in these genera, and the fact that most of containing Micropholcomma and probably Para- these characters are loss (or negative) characters pua and Pua; and the Textricellidae (Hickman, all support the possibility of multiple paral- 1945), including Textricella and possibly Par- lelisms. A decision as to whether these characters archaea (currently placed in the Archaeidae). are synapomorphies or parallelisms can only be Whether these groups are actually monophyletic made by first detecting smaller monophyletic can be determined only after they are revised. At groups of these genera and then determining present, we see no synapomorphic characters whether the pattern of shared derived characters that would support a closer relationship of supports a hypothesis of relationship amongst Symphytognatha and its relatives to any one of themselves or with other araneoid families. these groups than to another; the broadly trun- The present paper is an attempt to determine cate sternum suggests a possibly close relation- which of the genera currently assigned to the ship with the Theridiosomatidae instead. family can actually be considered, on the basis of Certainly some of the best clues to relation- shared derived characters, to be members of a ships will come from the web-building behavior monophyletic group including Symphytognatha. of these spiders; it is unfortunate that the webs Several characters suggest that the genera Globi- of so few species are known. Marples (1951) orig- gnatha (here elevated from subgeneric status), inally reported that Patu samoensis and Patu Patu, Anapistula, and the new genus Curimagua, vitiensis spin 4-6 mm. wide horizontal sheet webs together with Symphytognatha, form such a against tree trunks, but later (1955) recognized monophyletic group. All these spiders have che- that in the former species from Samoa the webs licerae that are fused together; in some cases are actually orbs with the spirals placed so (Patu) the fusion is limited to the base of the closely that the web looks like a sheet; Forster chelicerae, can be detected only when an attempt (1959) subsequently reported comparable obser- is made to remove the chelicerae from the cara- vations for P. vitiensis in Fiji. William G. Eber- pace, and has therefore been overlooked in some hard has observed a similar horizontal orb web of 1 977 FORSTER AND PLATNICK: SYMPHYTOGNATHIDAE 3 fine mesh constructed by the Colombian species weaving stock and that some members have lost Patu saladito (fig. 1). However, the other species the ability (or need) to construct regular webs. It whose web is known, Symphytognatha globosa should be pointed out that the relatively plesio- from Tasmania, does not appear to make an orb morphic species Curimagua bayano has been col- web. V. V. Hickman reports (in litt.) that "As lected on the webs of diplurid spiders in Panama; far as I have been able to observe both in the Lucarachne are also frequently found in that field and the laboratory, the web consists of a habitat. few irregular threads in a more or less horizontal Any discussion of relationships within the plane. The spider rests below them in an inverted Symphytognathidae (as here restricted) must be position. In the field the spider is most often tempered with the realization that the few found on the underside of loose stones in cool known species represent only the tip of the ice- and shady situations, sometimes along the banks berg. Because of their minute size, these spiders of creeks. It does not move very quickly and the are usually collected only when specifically web seems to be made on the under-surface of searched for or when they happen to be taken by the stone. ... The threads do not appear to be Berlese funnel sampling. The close relationships adhesive." Since available data indicate that shown by such geographically disparate species as Symphytognatha is one of the most apomorphic Anapistula secreta in the northern Neotropical members of this lineage, it is possible that the region and Anapistula australia in Queensland in- group as a whole was derived from an orb- dicate that these spiders are probably very wide- - %b1, it. 1'4..Iptrw,-,f' j g. 4 " al% #- .0 C:t FIG. 1. Horizontal orb web of Patu saladito in Colombia. Photograph by W. G. Eberhard. 4 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2619 spread; almost certainly, careful collecting will although dry, the weight of their metal coating reveal many additional species in South America, insures that they sink and will eventually resorb Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands.