SANSA NEWS

No 27

SEPT-DEC 2016

REMINDER Inside this issue: Reminder: AFRAS colloquium….…..1 2017 AFRAS COLLOQUIUM SANSA 20 years old...……...... 1 Bontebok National Park………….....2 WESTERN CAPE Table Mountain National Park…...3-4 National Museum……………...... 5-6 22-25 January 2017 Field observation Q and A..….....7-10 Recent publications……….…….....11 New species…………………….…..12 The countdown to the 12th AFRAS Colloquium New publications……………………12 has begun. The Colloquium will be hosted jointly by the ARC-PPRI Research Unit and the University of the Free State under the auspices of the African Arachnological Society (AFRAS). The Colloquium will be held at the NATIONAL SPIDER SPECIES COUNT Goudini Spa near Worcester in the Western Cape, and is going to be very exciting, with a JANUARY 2015 — 2171 species JUNE 2015 — 2192 species number of foreign visitors that have already OCTOBER 2015 — 2220 species registered. AFRAS was initiated in 1987 and is MAY 2016 — 2234 species 30 years old in 2017. It is going to be a feast! DECEMBER 2016 — 2239 species

SANSA 20 years old in 2017— Editors and coordinators: BIG PARTY Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman & Robin Lyle ARC-Plant Protection Research SANSA is 20 years old in 2017 and Institute we are going to celebrate the oc- Private Bag X134 casion at Goudini Spa during the Queenswood AFRAS Colloquium. There is a spe- 0121 cial workshop organized for South Africa SANSA, packed with >22 posters E-mail: [email protected] and papers dealing with different research projects. The workshop is Charles Haddad going to be held on Monday 23 Department of Zoology & Ento- January 2017. All interested peo- mology ple in the vicinity of Goudini University of the Free State should please contact us and pop P.O. Box 339 in for the day to join in the festivi- Bloemfontein ties. We would like to meet you all O ….what a nice party it is going to be! 9300 and thank you for your support South Africa and collaboration over the years!! E-mail: [email protected]

V. vd Walt Page 2 SANSA NEWS 27 SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4

NATIONAL PARKS REPORTED ON IN PREVIOUS ISSUES

SANSA NEWS 23 - 1. Kruger National Park SANSA NEWS 25 - 2. Namaqua National Park, 3. Addo National Parks SANSA NEWS 26 - 4. Augrabies National Park, 5. Richterveld National Park

6. BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARK

The Bontebok National Park (BNP) was established at its cur- rent location in the Western Cape Province in 1960 to save the bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) from extinc- tion. The 3475 ha BNP is situated 8 km from the town of Swellendam (34°02’S, 20°25’E) and is located in the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains. It is bordered to the south by the Breede River. The annual rainfall is 511 mm, of which 59% falls in winter. The vegetation of the BNP is classified as Swellendam Silcrete Fynbos, a vegetation unit that exhibits floristic features of both fynbos and renosterveld, with very high plant species richness.

Spiders were collected during several surveys undertaken by Bontebok National Park (BNP) various museums. However, Elton le Roux, a member of SANSA, who was stationed in the park for a while, made a TABLE 1: SPIDER FAMILIES AND SPECIES SAMPLED valuable contribution in documenting the diversity of BNP. FROM THE BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARK So far 41 families represented by 137 species have been sampled (Table 1). The Araneidae (17 spp.) was the most FAMILY SPP. FAMILY SPP. diverse, followed by the Gnaphosidae (15 spp.) and Lyco- sidae (12 spp.). Agelenidae 2 Nephilidae 1 Amaurobiidae 2 Oecobiidae 1 Ammoxenidae 1 Palpimanidae 1 1 Phyxelididae 2 Araneidae 17 Philodromidae 2 1 Pholcidae 1 Clubionidae 3 Pisauridae 4 Corinnidae 1 Prodidomidae 3

Ctenizidae 1 Salticidae 12 E. le Roux E. Cyrtaucheniidae 2 Scytodidae 3 1 2

Dysderidae 1 Sparassidae 4 THERAPHOSIDAE Harpactira cafreriana Eresidae 2 Tetragnathidae 3 Eutichuridae 2 Theraphosidae 3 Gnaphosidae 15 Theridiidae 8 Hahniidae 1 9 Hersiliidae 1 1 Linyphiidae 1 Uloboridae 1 Liocranidae 1 Zodariidae 5

Lycosidae 13 1 E. le Roux E. Migidae 1

Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected] and

Elton le Roux at [email protected] SPARASSIDAE Palystes sp. SANSA NEWS 27 Page 3 SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4

7. TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

N. Larsen N.

The aim of this study, as part of a series of surveys of the National Parks of South Africa, was to compile the first checklists of the spider species in the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP). The TMNP stretches from north of Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula to the south-western extremity, the Cape of Good Hope. The flat-topped Green area showing TMNP Table Mountain (1086 m a.s.l.) is the centre piece. The TMNP falls within a global hotspot, the Cape Floristic Region. Much of the mountain is dominated by Peninsula granite fynbos, while the top of the mountain and some sides have Peninsula sandstone fyn- bos. There are also natural indigenous southern afro-temperate for- ests on the eastern and southern sides of the mountain.

All historical and existing published records, as well as newly sampled records were used to compile the list. Recently collected specimens came from several surveys that were undertaken by the Universities vdWalt V. of Stellenbosch and Cape Town to sample and other inverte- brates to address several ecological questions around the conserva- tion of biodiversity on Table Mountain (Pryke & Samways 2008, 2009a,b, 2010, 2012; Rebelo et al. 2011; Uys 2012). Research shows Menemerus bivittatus that while the upper slope and summit are well protected, the lower slopes are in need of urgent attention. There are also several temper- ate sandstone caves falling within the TMNP housing several spider species (Dippenaar-Schoeman & Myburgh 2009; Sharratt & Samways 2000).

A total of 53 spider families represented by 180 genera and 308 spe- cies are presently known from the TMNP. The three most diverse Webb P. families are Salticidae (45 spp.), Thomisidae (29 spp.) and Gna-

phosidae (26 spp.) (Table 1).

Chariobas cylindraceus Presently, of the 308 spp.:

 20 spp. (6.5%) were data deficient and could not be identified to species level, or could possibly being new to science.  148 spp (48.1%) have a wide distribution in the Afrotropical Re- gion and can be listed as Least Concern  197 spp (64%%) are South African endemics  98 spp (32%%) are Western Cape endemics  5 spp. (1.6%) are TMNP endemics Webb P.

Avelis hystriculus Page 4 SANSA NEWS 27 SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4

TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK cont. REFERENCES

DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. & MYBURGH, J.G. 2009. A review of the cave spiders (Arachnida: Arane- TABLE 1: Spider families and species sampled from the TMNP ae) from South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Soci- ety of South Africa 64: 53–61. FAMILY GEN SPP. FAMILY GEN SPP. AGELENIDAE 2 2 NEPHILIDAE 1 2 PICKER, M.D. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 1996. Faunal diver- AMAUROBIIDAE 3 4 OECOBIIDAE 1 1 sity and endemicity of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa – a first assessment. Biodiversity and Conserva- ANAPIDAE 1 2 OONOPIDAE 1 1 tion 5: 591–606. ARANEIDAE 13 20 1 1 CAPONIIDAE 2 2 OXYOPIDAE 2 4 PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2008. Conservation of CHUMMIDAE 1 1 PALPIMANIDAE 2 2 invertebrate biodiversity on a mountain in a global biodiversity hotspot, Cape Floral Region. Biodiversity CLUBIONIDAE 1 3 PHILODROMIDAE 3 4 and Conservation 17: 3027–3043. CORINNIDAE 2 2 PHOLCIDAE 3 7 CTENIDAE 1 2 PHYXELIDIDAE 2 2 PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2009a. Recovery of invertebrate diversity in a rehabilitated city land- 4 4 PISAURIDAE 6 6 scape mosaic in the heart of a biodiversity hotspot. CYRTAUCHENIIDAE 1 1 PRODIDOMIDAE 2 4 Landscape Urban Planning 93: 54–62. DEINOPIDAE 1 1 1 1 DESIDAE 1 1 SALTICIDAE 26 45 PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2009b. Conservation of the insect assemblages of the Cape Peninsula bio- DICTYNIDAE 3 3 SCYTODIDAE 1 3 diversity hotspot. Journal of Insect Conservation 13: DRYMUSIDAE 1 1 SEGESTRIIDAE 1 3 627–641. DYSDERIDAE 1 1 SELENOPIDAE 1 3 ERESIDAE 3 4 SPARASSIDAE 2 3 PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2010. Significant varia- bles for the conservation of mountain invertebrates. EUTICHURIDAE 2 6 TETRAGNATHIDAE 4 4 Journal of Insect Conservation 14:247–256. 1 1 THERAPHOSIDAE 2 3 GNAPHOSIDAE 14 26 THERIDIIDAE 9 15 PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2012. Importance of HAHNIIDAE 1 4 THOMISIDAE 16 32 using many taxa and having adequate controls for monitoring impacts of fire for conserva- LINYPHIIDAE 7 8 TRACHELIDAE 3 5 tion. Journal of Insect Conservation 16: 177–185. LIOCRANIDAE 2 3 ULOBORIDAE 2 2 LYCOSIDAE 10 22 ZODARIIDAE 10 15 REBELO, T.G., FREITAG, S., CHENEY, C. & MCGEOCH, M.A. 2011. Prioritising species of special concern for MIGIDAE 1 3 ZOROPSIDAE 2 2 monitoring in Table Mountain National ark: The chal- MIMETIDAE 1 1 lenge of a species rich, threatened ecosystem. NEMESIIDAE 2 5 Koedoe 53: 1–14.

SHARRATT, N.J., PICKER, M.D. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2000. The invertebrate fauna of the sandstone caves MOST DIVERSE FAMILIES OF TMNP of the Cape Peninsula (South Africa): patterns of en- demism and conservation priorities. Biodiversity and THOMISIDAE Conservation 9: 107–143. ARANEIDAE UYS, C.J. 2012. The impact of pine plantations and GNAPHOSIDAE alien invertebrates on native forest and fynbos inver- tebrate communities in Table Mountain National Park. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cape SALTICIDAE Town.

LYCOSIDAE Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at Dip- ARANEIDAE GNAPHOSIDAE LYCOSIDAE [email protected] and Norman Larsen at [email protected] SALTICIDAE THOMISIDAE SANSA NEWS 27 Page 5

NEWS SNIPPETS NATIONAL MUSEUM, BLOEMFONTEIN PSEUDOSCORPION UNIT

GETTING A GRIP ON PSEUDOSCORPION CHELAE Pre- in origin, the Pseudoscorpiones are one of the oldest extant lineages and over the past 392 Ma have di- verged into more than 3400 known species in 26 families. Most are less than five millimetres in length, though they range from less than one millimetre in some Chthoniidae to just over ten millimetres in females of Garypus titanius Beier, Pseudotyrannochthoniidae – Afrochthonius sp. [Photo: J.A. Neethling] 1961. They superficially resemble true scorpions, but lack the elongated metasoma (tail) and telson (sting). They do, howev- er, share the six-segmented pedipalps, with the tibia and tar- sus modified into a chela with a movable finger. The chela (or grasping claws) house some of the pseudoscorpion's most sensitive sensory structures and are used primarily for envi- ronmental awareness and subduing prey, with members of the suborder Iocheirata possessing venom teeth on either one or both of the chelal fingers. Geogarypidae – Geogarypus flavus (Beier, 1947) [Photo: J.A. Neethling]

Studying these creatures, you soon realise that there are al- most as many unique chelal morphologies as there are spe- cies. Many species that inhabit the leaf litter of forest floors, for example the Pseudotyrannochthoniidae and Geogarypi- dae, have narrow and elongate chelae best suited to extend their sensory range when navigating and hunting in this dark environment. Others, such as the Gymnobisiidae, have more compact chelae with the teeth arranged on flexible lamellae and the venom tooth on the fixed finger modified into a multi- Gymnobisiidae – Gymnobisium quadrispinosum (Tullgren, 1907) tooth structure. The Feaellidae, a sister group to all the other families, have chelae with barely any teeth and no venom apparatus. One of the better documented habits of pseudoscorpions is their phoretic association with many flying insects, whereby the pseudoscorpion attaches itself to a host insect by grasping it with its chela, and travels along with its host to a new loca- tion where it would then detach. Since this is only an occa- sional behaviour most pseudoscorpion species that engage in, Feaellidae – Feaella capensis Beier, 1955 [Photo: J.A. Neethling] phoretic species do not have chelae specifically modified to prevent damage to the host when grasping, often leaving scars on the host’s cuticle where the pseudoscorpion was attached. But what if you depend on your host for survival? Would it not then be beneficial to reduce any potential dam- age? Examples of this can be seen with the bee-associated pseudoscorpions of the genus Ellengsenius, where they sur- vive by feeding on parasites within beehives. Thus, if a bee colony moves the pseudoscorpions have to tag along with them, without causing damage to their flying partner, since an injured worker bee may not be able to keep up with the rest Cheliferidae – Ellingsenius sculpturatus (Lewis, 1903) [Photo: J.A. Neethling] of the hive. Thus, to prevent injury to their bee hosts the asso- ciated pseudoscorpions have chelae modified with both a ventrally curved movable finger and a groove on the anterior REFERENCES of the fixed chelal finger. Together, these modifications allow the pseudoscorpion to effectively grasp around the bee’s leg BEIER, M. 1947. Zur kenntnis der Pseudoscorpionidenfauna des Südlichen and not directly onto the leg, which could possibly cause dam- Afrika, inbesondere der Südwest- und Südafrikanischen trockengebiete. age by crushing the exoskeleton of the leg. Eos 23: 285-339. HARVEY, M.S. 1992. The phylogeny and classification of the Pseudoscor- Many more such modifications exist. Some pseudoscorpions pionida (: Arachnida). Invertebrate 6: 1373-1435. have chelae ornamented with spines, tubercles, deep indenta- LEWIS, R.J. 1903. On an undescribed species of Chelifer. Journal of the tions, and even large protruding structures. The functions of Quekett Microscopical Club 8: 497-498. many of these modifications have are yet to be determined, TULLGREN, A. 1907. Chelonethiden aus Natal und Zululand. In: Wirén, A. but each will undoubtedly be fascinating. (Ed.). Zoologiska studier tillagnade Professor T. Tullberg. Almquist and Wiksells, Uppsala. 216-236. Contact: J.A. Neethling at [email protected]

Page 6 SANSA NEWS 27

NEWS SNIPPETS NATIONAL MUSEUM BLOEMFONTEIN

SPIDER UNIT

 Two publications on the Afrotropical species of the Sicariidae are in preparation  The identification of the National Museum collection to species level has taken up most of the time since the last newsletter. Families up to Lycosidae have been worked through so far. This work has led to the identification of possi- ble new species in all the families worked on so far.  Interesting finds in the National Museum collection:

Lycosidae: Arctosa promontorii Lycosidae: Tricassa deserticola

PUBLICATIONS ON THE WAY

LOTZ, L.N. (under review). An update on the spider ge- nus Loxosceles (Araneae: Sicariidae) in the Afrotropical region, with description of new species. Zootaxa. LOTZ, L.N. (under review). An update on the spider ge- nus Sicarius (Araneae: Sicariidae) in the Afrotropical re-

gion, with description of new species. Zootaxa.

P. P. Webb Sicarius sp. in action SANSA NEWS 27 Page 7

FIELD OBSERVATIONS Q and A—PAGE

We receive a lot of interesting questions, as well as observations, from readers. Previously we reflected it in the newsletter, but have decided to start a separate page for it called “Field observations and questions”. There is still an enormous lack of basic information on the habitat, behaviour and prey of most spider species. So please, if you observe anything or wonder about something about , please contact us.

MORE ON THE STRANGE ‘SHEEP’ SALTICID

The spider does not jump but runs about tirelessly, and this made photographing it with my little camera tricky, especially as it recovered very quickly indeed from a spell in the fridge. The pictures were eventually obtained by holding the plastic container against a packet of frozen peas on my lap. Not the most comfortable way to take photographs!! I have previously only found the spider on two occasions (in North Park Reserve) and in both cases it was on Gymnosporia nemorosa trees where, to my biased eye and opinion, it superficially resembled the bigger, waxy Notosacantha badia tortoise beetles (although no predator would be fooled since the spider is restlessly running about but beetle remains immobile). I append a picture of the beetle for your inter- est. If the spider is involved in any mimetic relationship, it is more likely to be with active immature stages of waxy scalesuch s as Ceroplastes or the restlessly active ‘trash-carrying’ Chrysopidae lacewing larvae.

Pruinose Notosacantha badia (Boheman, 1850) on the dorsal leaf surface of Gymnosporia nemorosa (Ecklon & Zeyher) Szyszylowicz (Celastraceae) in North Park Nature Reserve, Northdene, Queensburgh. 10th October, 2013. Photo disc #4: DSC 00210.

Pruinescent Notosacantha badia with fresh feeding trenches on a leaf of Gymnosporia nemorosa. Male jumping spider of the subfamily For comparison: Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve, Yellowwood Park, Ballinae (Salticidae). Size: 4.0mm. From a Subfamily Ballinae, female. Durban. leaf of Setaria megaphylla grass on the Mt Coke State Forest, Eastern Cape. 23rd August, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02175. south bank of Umhlatuzana River, North Photo: Vida van der Walt on Park Nature Reserve, Northdene, www.jumpingspiders.co.za Queensburgh. 17th October, 2016.

From: Hugh Heron at [email protected]

NOTE FROM THE EDITORS This interesting spider is unfortunately still undescribed. It has so far been recorded from the Eastern Cape and KwaZu- lu-Natal. Another one from Limpopo resembles this species, but might be another genus. At the 11th AFRAS Colloquium at Amanzi the photo of Vida van der Walt was crowned as the best photo at the colloquium’s Photographic Competi- tion. This spider is the “best known” South African spider, with > 10 000 hits and likes on social media. Specimen from Lekgalameetse NR Page 8 SANSA NEWS 27

FIELD OBSERVATIONS Q and A PAGE cont.

FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF A SYNEMA SP.

Note from Hugh: “A Synaema sp. that is a relatively widespread local species in low vegetation is a minor but important predator of tortoise beetle larvae. It was briefly mentioned in an informal article dealing with arachnids preying on tortoise beetles in 1996 (Spider Club News, 11(1): 3-9). I have since then personally observed them taking seven local species (mostly larvae) as follows: Aspidimorpha confinis, A. icteri- ca, Basipta stolida, Cassida guttipennis, C. viridipennis, Conchyloctenia punctata and Laccoptera cicatricosa. The abdominal pattern appears to be variable but the spiders probably represent a single species. This spider demonstrates that cycloalexic larval behaviour (defensive circular clustering when at rest – see photo) renders the larvae more vulnerable to predation than does dispersive behaviour – at least, in the presence of this species, and I have seen one of these wait around and polish off entire clusters over a few days.”

8mm Synema sp. (Thomisidae) feeding on 3rd- 3.5mm Synema sp. (Thomisidae) from Synema sp. (Thomisidae). instar larva of Laccoptera cicatricosa dorsal leaf surface in terminal shoot of Body length: 3.5mm. (Boheman, 1855). Achyranthes aspera Linnaeus, var. sicula From retreat in folded Lantana camara leaf. From dorsal leaf surface of Hewittia malabari- Linnaeus. Took 5th-instar larva of Cas- Lower Morrison Road, Escombe. ca (L.) Suresh (Convolvulaceae). sida viridipennis (Boheman, 1854). 13th September, 2016. Former marshalling yard, Escombe, Queens- Lower Morrison Road, Escombe, Photo disc #10: DSC 02205. burgh. Queensburgh. 4th November, 2016. 7th November, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02297. Photo disc #10: DSC 02302.

NOTE FROM EDITOR

There are two Synema species that have very similar abdominal patterns that resemble the species discussed. It could be only variations, but the genus

needs to be revised before a final answer on its identification can be provided.

Conchyloctenia punctata (Fabricius, 1787). Peter Webb Peter Instar-1 larvae exhibiting cycloalexic clustering about ootheca on ventral leaf surface of Hewittia malabarica (L.) Suresh (Convolvulaceae). Synema langheldi Dahl, 1907 known from South Africa, Somalia and Tanzania. Railway bridge, Main Road, Northdene, Queens- burgh. 15th August, 2015. Photo disc #10: DSC 0485.

From: Hugh Heron at hugh-

[email protected]

Synema vallotoni Lessert, 1923 from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Linda Wiese Linda SANSA NEWS 27 Page 9

FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS

Another question from Hugh:

Firstly, the curiosity. It seems to be a Phrynarachne thomisid closely resembling the unlabelled photograph on page 246 of Spider Guide book, but does not seem to fit either the descrip- tion or photograph of P. rugosa on p. 247. Is it, in fact, that spe- cies? It was found on the dorsal leaf surface of a garden subject in dappled sunlight but no silk disc was present. Whenever dis- turbed it immediately assumed its “rest pose” (first picture) and it proved difficult to get any pictures of it in other poses. The spider is all-black with two short pale yellowish-white longitudi- nal dorsal bands at the base of the cephalothorax, with the col- our running onto the anterior dorsal portion of the abdo- men. Only the femurs of the 2nd, 3rd & 4th legs bear the same colour (the 2nd leg appears banded). The patella appears dis- tinctly reddish on leg 3 (4th photograph). The coloured areas are hidden and not visible when the spider is at rest.

From: Hugh Heron at [email protected] Size: length 10mm Abomen: ~5.5 x 8.0mm Escombe, Queensburgh. 17th November, 2016. NOTE FROM EDITOR

Unfortunately the genus Phrynarachne has not yet been revised and several species have been described from Africa. There seems to be variation between specimens of the same species, but this could only be resolved after a study of several specimens during a revision. The spe- cies P. rugosa especially is diverse, with three known

subspecies. N. Larsen N. Phrynarachne melloleitaoi Lessert, 1933

Phrynarachne olivacea Could this be P. olivacea?

Phrynarachne marmorata What is this sp. from Ndumo?

. Roff .

L. Wiese L. J Phrynarachne rugosa spongicolorata Millot, 1942 Are they all the same species? Page 10 SANSA NEWS 27

VIRTUAL MUSEUM PAGE

LOOK ALIKES

Peter Webb photographed

these two species in the Irene grassland. Both of them ran from a disturbed soil mound.

Asemesthes ceresicola (Gnaphosidae) Ammoxenus amphalodes (Ammoxenidae) WATCH THE ACTION At Louw photographed this garden orb-web spider busy covering her prey with silk. On the last photo, a close- up of the spinnerets shows their activity while busy spinning.

PREY OBSERVATION Hugh Heron photographed Mexcala elegans Peckham & Peckham, 1903 (Salticidae) feeding on a black ant of the genus Camponotus on a leaf of Hewittia malabarica (L.) Suresh (Convolvulaceae). Railway track, Escombe, Queensburgh. 25th November, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02340.

NEW STUDY AT WELGEVONDEN IN THE WATERBERG

Note from Greg Canning I am busy with my PhD and in short I am looking at how fire frequencies in different habitats impact spider communi- ties (as well as other ground dwelling invertebrates). I will be looking at spider densities and diversity in habitats that have burnt at different frequencies over the last 20 years and then also looking at recolonisation rates and pathways after fires in these various habitats. The purpose of this is to determine how management action (in the form of fire breaks and general fire management) impacts on these communities over the long term. This will then be incorpo- rated into a greater fire management plan that will take the impacts of these fires on these communities into consid- eration. I will also be looking at how the effects on these spider communities impact other trophic levels and whether spiders can be used as indicators of mismanagement in fire management. Contact : [email protected] SANSA NEWS 27 Page 11 Recent publications MORE ON THE PALPMANIDAE Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 is a small genus of palpimanid spiders with four species distributed in the Afrotropical region. The type species of Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893, the South African D. biplagiatus Simon, 1893, is redescribed, and the male is described for the first time. The species is diagnosed and figured in detail, includ- ing the copulatory organs of both sexes, previously undescribed for any species of the genus. New distributional data for D. biplagiatus is provided, with localities in the Western and Northern Cape Provinc- es. Most specimens were collected in karoo shrubland and fynbos with pitfall traps.

ZONSTEIN, S.L., MARUSIK, Y.M. & OMELKO, M.M. 2016. Redescrip- tion of the type species of Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Chediminae). African Invertebrates 57: 93–103.

HETEROSPECIFIC SEXUAL INTERACTIONS Though not uncommon in other , heterospecific mating is rarely reported in arachnids. The authors investigated sexual interac- tions among four closely related and syntopical African golden orb web spiders, Nephila inaurata, N. fenestrata, N. komaci and N. sene- V. vd Walt galensis in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Female webs were often inhabited by heterospecific males that sometimes outnum- bered conspecifics. Species association of males with females was random in nature. In subsequent laboratory choice experiments, N. inaurata males chose heterospecific females in 30% of trials. We also observed natural mating interactions between N. inaurata males and N. komaci females, and between N. komaci males and N. inaurata females in laboratory experiments. While heterospecific mating in the laboratory never produced offspring, conspecific mating did. Po- tential ecological and evolutionary consequences of heterospecific mating interactions in Nephila that may be particularly costly to the

rarer species, especially N. komaci, were also discussed.

QUIÑONES-LEBRÓN, S.G., KRALJ-FIŠER, S., GREGORIČ, M., LOKOVŠEK, T., ČANDEK, K., HADDAD, C.R. & KUNTNER, M. 2016. Potential costs of heterospecific sexual interactions in golden orbweb

spiders (Nephila spp.). Scientific Reports 6: 36908. Kellerman Jurie Nephila senegalensis

NEW PIONOTHELE SPECIES The South African genus Pionothele Purcell, 1902 is a poorly known member of the Nemesiidae. It has been known hitherto from only a few specimens belonging to the type species. Formerly monotypic, Piono- thele is shown to comprise two members, the type species P. straminea Purcell, 1902 and P. capensis n. sp., which is newly described. The distri- bution of both sympatric species is confined to the Cape Peninsula and adjacent territories.

ZONSTEIN, S.L. 2016. New data on the spider genus Pionothele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa. Israel Journal of Entomology 46: 31-42.

Pionothele capensis, holotype male Page 12 SANSA NEWS 27

NEW RECORDS FOR SOUTH AFRICA RECENT PULICATIONS ON THE SOUTH

While dealing with the identification of large samples we fre- AFRICAN FAUNA quently discover new species or new records for South Africa. These are species that have been described from the CECCARELLI, F.S., OPELL, B.D., HADDAD, C.R., RAVEN, R.J., Afrotropical Region or even wider that are for the first time SOTO, E.M. & RAMÍREZ, M.J. 2016. Around the World in now also recorded from South Africa. Some of the recent Eight Million Years: historical biogeography of the inter- new records are: tidal spider genus Amaurobioides (Araneae: Anyphaeni- dae). PlosONE 11: e0163740. FOORD, S.H., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., JOCQUÉ, R.,  Langelurillus namibicus Wesołowska, 2011 HADDAD, C.R., LYLE, R. & WEBB, P. 2016. South African Described from Namibia National Survey of Arachnida: A checklist of the spiders New records: Kamiesberg mountains, 23 km E of Ka- (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Lekgalameetse Nature Re- mieskroon; Tswalu Nature Reserve serve, Limpopo province, South Africa. Koedoe 58: a1405. GAIGHER, R., PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2016. Old fields increase habitat heterogeneity for arthropod natural ene-  Pseudicius matabelensis Wesołowska, 2011 mies in an agricultural mosaic. Agriculture, Ecosystems Known from Namibia and Zimbabwe. and Environment 230: 242–250. New records: Ndumo Game Reserve GIRIBET, G., BOYER, S.L., BAKER, C.M., FERNANDEZ, R., SHARMA, P.P., DE BIVORT, B.L., DANIELS, S.R., HARVEY, M.S. & GRISWOLD, C.E. 2016. A molecular phylogeny of the temperate Gondwanan family Pettalidae (Arachnida,  Asemesthes affinis Lessert, 1933 Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) and the limits of taxonomic Described from Angola sampling. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 178: New record: Namaqua National Park 523–545. PREIK, O.A., SCHNEIDER, J.A., UHL, G. & MICHALIK, P. 2016. Transition from monogyny to polygyny in Nephila senega- lensis (Araneae: Nephilidae) is not accompanied by in- creased investment in sperm. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 119: 1027–1035. QUIÑONES-LEBRÓN, S.G. , KRALJ-FIŠER, S., GREGORIČ, M., LOKOVŠEK, T., ČANDEK, K., HADDAD, C.R. & KUNTNER, M. 2016. Potential costs of heterospecific sexual interac- tions in golden orbweb spiders (Nephila spp.). Scientific Reports 6: 36908. VANTHOURNOUT, B., GREVE, M., BRUUN, A., BECHSGAARD, J., OVERGAARD, J. & BILDE, T. 2016. Benefits of group living include increased feeding efficiency and lower mass loss during desiccation in the social and inbreeding spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Frontiers in Physiology 7:18.  Zelotes murphyorum FitzPatrick, 2007 ZONSTEIN, S.L. 2016. New data on the spider genus Piono- Known from Kenya thele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new New records: Western Soutpansberg species from South Africa. Israel Journal of Entomology 46: 31–42. ZONSTEIN, S.L., MARUSIK, Y.M. & MIKHAIL M. OMELKO, M.M. 2016. Redescription of the type species of Diapho- rocellus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Chedimi- nae). Africa Invertebrates 57: 93–103.

SANSA NEWS 27 Page 13

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Feedback on the NORTHERN CAPE DIAMOND ROUTE surveys  Tswalu Kalahari Reserve  Benfontein Nature Reserve  Rooipoort Nature Reserve Feedback on the GAUTENG PROVINCE surveys  Kliprivierberg Nature Reserve  Ezemvelo Nature Reserve  Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve