DOCSLIB.ORG

Cladistics Blackwell Publishing Cladistics 23 (2007) 1–71 10.1111/J.1096-0031.2007.00176.X

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cladistics Blackwell Publishing Cladistics 23 (2007) 1–71 10.1111/J.1096-0031.2007.00176.X Cladistics Blackwell Publishing Cladistics 23 (2007) 1–71 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00176.x Phylogeny of extant nephilid orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae): testing morphological and ethological homologies Matjazˇ Kuntner1,2* , Jonathan A. Coddington1 and Gustavo Hormiga2 1Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, NHB-105, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA; 2Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, 2023 G St NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA Accepted 11 May 2007 The Pantropical spider clade Nephilidae is famous for its extreme sexual size dimorphism, for constructing the largest orb-webs known, and for unusual sexual behaviors, which include emasculation and extreme polygamy. We synthesize the available data for the genera Nephila, Nephilengys, Herennia and Clitaetra to produce the first species level phylogeny of the family. We score 231 characters (197 morphological, 34 behavioral) for 61 taxa: 32 of the 37 known nephilid species plus two Phonognatha and one Deliochus species, 10 tetragnathid outgroups, nine araneids, and one genus each of Nesticidae, Theridiidae, Theridiosomatidae, Linyphiidae, Pimoidae, Uloboridae and Deinopidae. Four most parsimonious trees resulted, among which successive weighting preferred one ingroup topology. Neither an analysis of an alternative data set based on different morphological interpretations, nor separate analyses of morphology and behavior are superior to the total evidence analysis, which we therefore propose as the working hypothesis of nephilid relationships, and the basis for classification. Ingroup generic relationships are (Clitaetra (Herennia (Nephila, Nephilengys))). Deliochus and Phonognatha group with Araneidae rather than Nephilidae. Nephilidae is sister to all other araneoids (contra most recent literature). Ethological data, although difficult to obtain and thus frequently missing for rare taxa, are phylogenetically informative. We explore the evolution of selected morphological and behavioral characters, discuss and redefine the homology of palpal sclerites, disprove semientelegyny in spiders, trace the newly interpreted evolution of the orb web, and show that nephilid genital morphologies coevolve with sexual behaviors and extreme sexual size dimorphism. Phylogenetic interpretations of behavior suggest new insights into spider biology and avenues for future research. Ó The Willi Hennig Society 2007. Discovery of behavioral homologies has importance for biology (Fig. 1C,D) (Vollrath, 1980, 1998; Vollrath and Parker, and other human endeavors far beyond simply adding charac- 1992, 1997; Coddington, 1994; Coddington et al., 1997; ters for phylogenetic analyses. Greene (1994) Hormiga et al., 2000; Ramos et al., 2005), their unique Golden orb-weaving spiders (Nephila) and hermit webs of more than a meter diameter, and their unusual spiders (Nephilengys) are among the most prominent sexual behaviors (see Kuntner, 2007a,b), which may and most researched tropical arachnids (reviewed in involve sexual cannibalism by the female and ‘‘oppor- Kuntner, 2005, 2006, 2007a; Harvey et al., 2007). They tunistic’’ mating by the male when the female is teneral are famous for extreme sexual size dimorphism in which or feeding. The closely related genera Clitaetra (Fig. 1H) males are many times smaller than the giant females and Herennia (Fig. 1F,G) both build rectangular ladder webs with parallel side frames, and Herennia exhibits male sexual mutilation and epigynal plugging, which *Corresponding author: remain poorly understood but have interesting evolu- E-mail address: [email protected] tionary implications (Kuntner, 2005, 2006). The appar- Present address: Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Center of the ently Gondwanan nephilids are now treated as a family Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, PO Box 306, SI- 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia (see Kuntner, 2005, 2006, 2007a,b; Platnick, 2006), but Ó The Willi Hennig Society 2007 2 M. Kuntner et al. / Cladistics 23 (2007) 1–71 ABC D E F G H Fig. 1. Photographs of live nephilid spiders. (A–C) Pantropical genus Nephila (golden orb spider): (A) N. senegalensis, female from South Africa; (B) N. inaurata, female from South Africa; (C) N. clavipes, female (large) and male (small) from Costa Rica. (D, E) Pantropical genus Nephilengys (hermit spider): (D) N. borbonica, female (large) and male (small) from Madagascar; (E) N. cruentata, female from South Africa. (F, G) Australasian genus Herennia (coin spider): (F) H. etruscilla, female from Java; (G) H. multipuncta, female from Sri Lanka. (H) Afrotropical genus Clitaetra: C. irenae, female from South Africa. M. Kuntner et al. / Cladistics 23 (2007) 1–71 3 were formerly and occasionally still are treated as a 1993) and spider web architecture (Eberhard, 1982; tetragnathid subfamily (Nephilinae Simon, 1894). The Coddington, 1986a,b,c, 1989, 1990; Hormiga et al., genera Nephila (especially the common New World N. 1995; Griswold et al., 1998; Agnarsson, 2004; Kuntner, clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767)) and Nephilengys have been 2005, 2006, 2007a). This study makes extensive use of the subject of over 2000 studies (Google Scholar) both direct and indirect observations of behavior coded covering many aspects of their biology, and their as discrete characters, combines them with the evidence popularity has resulted in many species synonymies from morphology, and explores the usefulness of ethol- (Kuntner, 2007a; Kuntner, in preparation). For exam- ogy in araneoid spider phylogenetics. The results suggest ple, in the upcoming Nephila revision, Kuntner (in that behavioral data, while difficult to obtain (and thus preparation) will recognize only 15 valid species out of prone to the problem of missing entries), are phyloge- the over 150 available species-level names (Platnick, netically informative, and, in the case of nephilids, less 2006). homoplasious than morphology. Nephilids formerly contained eight genera placed as a subfamily in Tetragnathidae Menge, 1866 (Platnick, Prior work 1997). The first steps towards a species-level phylogeny were the removal of the African Singafrotypa and the The encyclopedic treatise of world spiders by Euge` ne Oriental Perilla from Nephilinae to Araneidae (Kuntner Simon (1892–1894) included a large family Argiopidae, and Hormiga, 2002; Kuntner, 2002), and the revisions of approximately equivalent in composition to today’s Herennia, Clitaetra and Nephilengys (Kuntner, 2005, Araneoidea. Simon’s argiopid subfamily Nephilinae 2006, 2007a). These revisions included species-level (Simon, 1894, p. 744) consisted of: phylogenetic analyses designed primarily to test the 1 Phonognatheae Simon (1894); with Phonognatha monophyly of nephilids and the genus being revised. Simon (1894); Singotypa Simon (1894) and Deliochus The Australian Deliochus and Phonognatha have not Simon (1894); been revised, and their phylogenetic position remains 2 Nephileae Simon (1894); with Nephila Leach (1815) controversial (Kuntner, 2005, 2006). The prior analyses (including Nephilengys L. Koch, 1872); contained only a subset of Nephila species. Here we 3 Clitaetreae Simon (1894); with Clitaetra Simon include all 15 known, valid Nephila species, based on (1889); two upcoming sources, the Australasian taxonomic 4 Herennieae Simon (1894); with Herennia Thorell treatment by Harvey et al. (2007), and the world (1877). revision of Kuntner (in preparation). Nephilidae now Simon thought the phylogenetic position of nephilids contains only Nephila, Nephilengys, Herennia and Clit- was ambiguous. Based on the ‘‘external genital charac- aetra (Kuntner, 2006; Platnick, 2006). ters’’ Simon (1894, p. 744) hypothesized Nephilinae to be Despite general interest in nephilid biology, the lack of close to tetragnathines (equivalent to Tetragnathidae) any species-level phylogeny has made evolutionary inter- through Phonognatha and to argiopines (equivalent to pretations of the available biological data difficult or the Araneidae) through Herennia. Simon described male impossible. The goals of this study were to test the and female genitalia for representative species of monophyly and composition of Simon’s Nephilinae in the Phonognatha, Herennia and Nephila (including in broadest sense, to reassess the placement of the group fig. 827 the palp of Nephilengys as Nephila malabarensis) within Araneoidea, to propose a species-level phylogeny but did not know the males of Singotypa, Deliochus or for extant species and to examine the homology and Clitaetra. Simon (1894, pp. 744–746) diagnosed Nephil- evolution of selected morphological and behavioral traits. inae by the male palp with a globular bulb (¼ tegulum), Ethological homologies are of broad biological inter- a semicircular basal piece (¼ subtegulum: fig. 827b), a est (Greene, 1994), although phylogenetic studies utiliz- denticulated basal part (¼ paracymbium: fig. 827c) and ing behavior are rare (Wenzel, 1992; Proctor, 1996; a complex distal part (¼ embolic conductor: fig. 827a). Danoff-Burg, 2002; see also Discussion). Behavior has According to Simon, the simple epigynum of some been repeatedly shown to be phylogenetically informa- species resembled that in Meta and the more com- tive (Coddington, 1986a,b,c; Prum, 1990; Wenzel, 1992; plex epigyna of others (Herennia and Nephilengys as deQueiroz and Wimberger, 1993; Proctor, 1996; Price Nephila malabarensis) resembled that in Argiope. and Lanyon, 2002) and its analysis is no different from Simon’s classification is translated into a dendrogram morphology
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Biogeography of the Caribbean Cyrtognatha Spiders Klemen Čandek1,6,7, Ingi Agnarsson2,4, Greta J
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Biogeography of the Caribbean Cyrtognatha spiders Klemen Čandek1,6,7, Ingi Agnarsson2,4, Greta J. Binford3 & Matjaž Kuntner 1,4,5,6 Island systems provide excellent arenas to test evolutionary hypotheses pertaining to gene fow and Received: 23 July 2018 diversifcation of dispersal-limited organisms. Here we focus on an orbweaver spider genus Cyrtognatha Accepted: 1 November 2018 (Tetragnathidae) from the Caribbean, with the aims to reconstruct its evolutionary history, examine Published: xx xx xxxx its biogeographic history in the archipelago, and to estimate the timing and route of Caribbean colonization. Specifcally, we test if Cyrtognatha biogeographic history is consistent with an ancient vicariant scenario (the GAARlandia landbridge hypothesis) or overwater dispersal. We reconstructed a species level phylogeny based on one mitochondrial (COI) and one nuclear (28S) marker. We then used this topology to constrain a time-calibrated mtDNA phylogeny, for subsequent biogeographical analyses in BioGeoBEARS of over 100 originally sampled Cyrtognatha individuals, using models with and without a founder event parameter. Our results suggest a radiation of Caribbean Cyrtognatha, containing 11 to 14 species that are exclusively single island endemics. Although biogeographic reconstructions cannot refute a vicariant origin of the Caribbean clade, possibly an artifact of sparse outgroup availability, they indicate timing of colonization that is much too recent for GAARlandia to have played a role. Instead, an overwater colonization to the Caribbean in mid-Miocene better explains the data. From Hispaniola, Cyrtognatha subsequently dispersed to, and diversifed on, the other islands of the Greater, and Lesser Antilles. Within the constraints of our island system and data, a model that omits the founder event parameter from biogeographic analysis is less suitable than the equivalent model with a founder event.
    [Show full text]
  • Arachnids (Excluding Acarina and Pseudoscorpionida) of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma
    OCCASIONAL PAPERS THE MUSEUM TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY NUMBER 67 5 SEPTEMBER 1980 ARACHNIDS (EXCLUDING ACARINA AND PSEUDOSCORPIONIDA) OF THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS WILDLIFE REFUGE, OKLAHOMA JAMES C. COKENDOLPHER AND FRANK D. BRYCE The Wichita Mountains are located in eastern Greer, southern Kiowa, and northwestern Comanche counties in Oklahoma. Since their formation more than 300 million years ago, these rugged mountains have been fragmented and weathered, until today the highest peak (Mount Pinchot) stands only 756 meters above sea level (Tyler, 1977). The mountains are composed predominantly of granite and gabbro. Forests of oak, elm, and walnut border most waterways, while at elevations from 153 to 427 meters prair­ ies are the predominant vegetation type. A more detailed sum­ mary of the climatic and biotic features of the Wichitas has been presented by Blair and Hubbell (1938). A large tract of land in the eastern range of the Wichita Moun­ tains (now northeastern Comanche County) was set aside as the Wichita National Forest by President McKinley during 1901. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt created a game preserve on those lands managed by the Forest Service. Since 1935, this pre­ serve has been known as the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Numerous papers on Oklahoma spiders have been published (Bailey and Chada, 1968; Bailey et al., 1968; Banks et al, 1932; Branson, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1968; Branson and Drew, 1972; Gro- thaus, 1968; Harrel, 1962, 1965; Horner, 1975; Rogers and Horner, 1977), but only a single, comprehensive work (Banks et al., 1932) exists covering all arachnid orders in the state. Further additions and annotations to the arachnid fauna of Oklahoma can be found 2 OCCASIONAL PAPERS MUSEUM TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY in recent revisionary studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Wild About Learning
    WILD ABOUT LEARNING An Interdisciplinary Unit Fostering Discovery Learning Written on a 4th grade reading level, Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals, is perfect for every kid who loves wacky animals! With engaging full-color photos throughout, the book draws readers right into the animal action! Wild Discoveries features newly discovered species from around the world--such as the Shocking Pink Dragon and the Green Bomber. These wacky species are organized by region with fun facts about each one's amazing abilities and traits. The book concludes with a special section featuring new species discovered by kids! Heather L. Montgomery writes about science and nature for kids. Her subject matter ranges from snake tongues to snail poop. Heather is an award-winning teacher who uses yuck appeal to engage young minds. During a typical school visit, petrified parts and tree guts inspire reluctant writers and encourage scientific thinking. Heather has a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Environmental Education. When she is not writing, you can find her painting her face with mud at the McDowell Environmental Center where she is the Education Coordinator. Heather resides on the Tennessee/Alabama border. Learn more about her ten books at www.HeatherLMontgomery.com. Dear Teachers, Photo by Sonya Sones As I wrote Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals, I was astounded by how much I learned. As expected, I learned amazing facts about animals and the process of scientifically describing new species, but my knowledge also grew in subjects such as geography, math and language arts. I have developed this unit to share that learning growth with children.
    [Show full text]
  • COMUNIDAD DE ARAÑAS ORBITELARES (Araneae: Orbiculariae) ASOCIADA AL BOSQUE ALTOANDINO DEL SANTUARIO FLORA Y FAUNA GALERAS, NARIÑO, COLOMBIA*
    BOLETÍN CIENTÍFICO ISSN 0123 - 3068 bol.cient.mus.hist.nat. 13 (1): 114 - 126 CENTRO DE MUSEOS MUSEO DE HISTORIA NATURAL COMUNIDAD DE ARAÑAS ORBITELARES (Araneae: Orbiculariae) ASOCIADA AL BOSQUE ALTOANDINO DEL SANTUARIO FLORA Y FAUNA GALERAS, NARIÑO, COLOMBIA* Martha I. Romo1 y Eduardo Flórez2 Resumen Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar la composición, diversidad y abundancia de arañas orbitelares en tres hábitats aledaños a la Laguna Negra, Santuario de Flora y Fauna Galeras, correspondientes a Bosque, Arbustal y Pastizal, identificándose en cada uno de ellos los microhábitats y estratos vegetales ocupados por las arañas orbitelares para la ubicación de sus telas y refugios. La araneofauna orbitelar fue muestreada manualmente mediante la técnica “revelado de telas”, que consiste en espolvorear la vegetación con harina para visualizar los hilos; y estuvo conformada por tres familias: Araneidae, Tetragnathidae y Uloboridae, distribuidas en 6 géneros, siendo Chrysometa el dominante. Se detectó además que los hábitats de Arbustal y Pastizal comparten el 77% del total de las especies registradas, indicando más de una comunidad de arañas orbitelares en más de un tipo fisionómico de la vegetación. En cuanto a los estratos, se encontró que el bajo y medio poseen el mayor número de individuos, esto al parecer por la amplia disponibilidad de recursos físicos que les brinda la vegetación para la construcción de las telas. Concluyendo, finalmente, que los principales factores que pueden influir en la distribución y diversidad de la araneofauna orbitelar estudiada, son la diversidad y abundancia de soportes estructurales en la vegetación y la disponibilidad de alimento. Palabras clave: Arañas, abundancia, estructura vegetal, telas orbiculares.
    [Show full text]
  • Howard Associate Professor of Natural History and Curator Of
    INGI AGNARSSON PH.D. Howard Associate Professor of Natural History and Curator of Invertebrates, Department of Biology, University of Vermont, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405-0086 E-mail: [email protected]; Web: http://theridiidae.com/ and http://www.islandbiogeography.org/; Phone: (+1) 802-656-0460 CURRICULUM VITAE SUMMARY PhD: 2004. #Pubs: 138. G-Scholar-H: 42; i10: 103; citations: 6173. New species: 74. Grants: >$2,500,000. PERSONAL Born: Reykjavík, Iceland, 11 January 1971 Citizenship: Icelandic Languages: (speak/read) – Icelandic, English, Spanish; (read) – Danish; (basic) – German PREPARATION University of Akron, Akron, 2007-2008, Postdoctoral researcher. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 2005-2007, Postdoctoral researcher. George Washington University, Washington DC, 1998-2004, Ph.D. The University of Iceland, Reykjavík, 1992-1995, B.Sc. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS University of Vermont, Burlington. 2016-present, Associate Professor. University of Vermont, Burlington, 2012-2016, Assistant Professor. University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, 2008-2012, Assistant Professor. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, 2004-2007, 2010- present. Research Associate. Hubei University, Wuhan, China. Adjunct Professor. 2016-present. Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavík, 1995-1998. Researcher (Icelandic invertebrates). Institute of Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, 1993-1994. Research Assistant (rocky shore ecology). GRANTS Institute of Museum and Library Services (MA-30-19-0642-19), 2019-2021, co-PI ($222,010). Museums for America Award for infrastructure and staff salaries. National Geographic Society (WW-203R-17), 2017-2020, PI ($30,000). Caribbean Caves as biodiversity drivers and natural units for conservation. National Science Foundation (IOS-1656460), 2017-2021: one of four PIs (total award $903,385 thereof $128,259 to UVM).
    [Show full text]
  • A Protocol for Online Documentation of Spider Biodiversity Inventories Applied to a Mexican Tropical Wet Forest (Araneae, Araneomorphae)
    Zootaxa 4722 (3): 241–269 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2020 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4722.3.2 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6AC6E70B-6E6A-4D46-9C8A-2260B929E471 A protocol for online documentation of spider biodiversity inventories applied to a Mexican tropical wet forest (Araneae, Araneomorphae) FERNANDO ÁLVAREZ-PADILLA1, 2, M. ANTONIO GALÁN-SÁNCHEZ1 & F. JAVIER SALGUEIRO- SEPÚLVEDA1 1Laboratorio de Aracnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología Comparada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Colonia Copilco el Bajo. C. P. 04510. Del. Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México. E-mail: [email protected] 2Corresponding author Abstract Spider community inventories have relatively well-established standardized collecting protocols. Such protocols set rules for the orderly acquisition of samples to estimate community parameters and to establish comparisons between areas. These methods have been tested worldwide, providing useful data for inventory planning and optimal sampling allocation efforts. The taxonomic counterpart of biodiversity inventories has received considerably less attention. Species lists and their relative abundances are the only link between the community parameters resulting from a biotic inventory and the biology of the species that live there. However, this connection is lost or speculative at best for species only partially identified (e. g., to genus but not to species). This link is particularly important for diverse tropical regions were many taxa are undescribed or little known such as spiders. One approach to this problem has been the development of biodiversity inventory websites that document the morphology of the species with digital images organized as standard views.
    [Show full text]
  • Spider Biodiversity Patterns and Their Conservation in the Azorean
    Systematics and Biodiversity 6 (2): 249–282 Issued 6 June 2008 doi:10.1017/S1477200008002648 Printed in the United Kingdom C The Natural History Museum ∗ Paulo A.V. Borges1 & Joerg Wunderlich2 Spider biodiversity patterns and their 1Azorean Biodiversity Group, Departamento de Ciˆencias conservation in the Azorean archipelago, Agr´arias, CITA-A, Universidade dos Ac¸ores. Campus de Angra, with descriptions of new species Terra-Ch˜a; Angra do Hero´ısmo – 9700-851 – Terceira (Ac¸ores); Portugal. Email: [email protected] 2Oberer H¨auselbergweg 24, Abstract In this contribution, we report on patterns of spider species diversity of 69493 Hirschberg, Germany. the Azores, based on recently standardised sampling protocols in different hab- Email: joergwunderlich@ t-online.de itats of this geologically young and isolated volcanic archipelago. A total of 122 species is investigated, including eight new species, eight new records for the submitted December 2005 Azorean islands and 61 previously known species, with 131 new records for indi- accepted November 2006 vidual islands. Biodiversity patterns are investigated, namely patterns of range size distribution for endemics and non-endemics, habitat distribution patterns, island similarity in species composition and the estimation of species richness for the Azores. Newly described species are: Oonopidae – Orchestina furcillata Wunderlich; Linyphiidae: Linyphiinae – Porrhomma borgesi Wunderlich; Turinyphia cavernicola Wunderlich; Linyphiidae: Micronetinae – Agyneta depigmentata Wunderlich; Linyph- iidae:
    [Show full text]
  • A Summary List of Fossil Spiders
    A summary list of fossil spiders compiled by Jason A. Dunlop (Berlin), David Penney (Manchester) & Denise Jekel (Berlin) Suggested citation: Dunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2010. A summary list of fossil spiders. In Platnick, N. I. (ed.) The world spider catalog, version 10.5. American Museum of Natural History, online at http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html Last udated: 10.12.2009 INTRODUCTION Fossil spiders have not been fully cataloged since Bonnet’s Bibliographia Araneorum and are not included in the current Catalog. Since Bonnet’s time there has been considerable progress in our understanding of the spider fossil record and numerous new taxa have been described. As part of a larger project to catalog the diversity of fossil arachnids and their relatives, our aim here is to offer a summary list of the known fossil spiders in their current systematic position; as a first step towards the eventual goal of combining fossil and Recent data within a single arachnological resource. To integrate our data as smoothly as possible with standards used for living spiders, our list follows the names and sequence of families adopted in the Catalog. For this reason some of the family groupings proposed in Wunderlich’s (2004, 2008) monographs of amber and copal spiders are not reflected here, and we encourage the reader to consult these studies for details and alternative opinions. Extinct families have been inserted in the position which we hope best reflects their probable affinities. Genus and species names were compiled from established lists and cross-referenced against the primary literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Two New Species of the Orb-Weaver Genus Chorizopes from Yunnan
    A peer-reviewed open-access journal ZooKeys 626: 45–55Two (2016) new species of the orb-weaver genus Chorizopes from Yunnan, China... 45 doi: 10.3897/zookeys.626.7485 RESEARCH ARTICLE http://zookeys.pensoft.net Launched to accelerate biodiversity research Two new species of the orb-weaver genus Chorizopes from Yunnan, China (Araneae, Araneidae) Xiao-Qi Mi1, Cheng Wang1, Xian-Jin Peng2 1 College of Biological, Agricultural and Forest Engineering, Tongren University, Tongren, Guizhou 554300, China 2 College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China Corresponding author: Xian-Jin Peng ([email protected]) Academic editor: S. Li | Received 11 December 2015 | Accepted 6 October 2016 | Published 20 October 2016 http://zoobank.org/AC23216F-E284-4344-9890-A6976C0FFFF5 Citation: Mi X-Q, Wang C, Peng X-J (2016) Two new species of the orb-weaver genus Chorizopes from Yunnan, China (Araneae, Araneidae). ZooKeys 626: 45–55. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.626.7485 Abstract Two new species of the orb-weaver genus Chorizopes from Yunnan Province, China are described: C. albus sp. n. (male and female) from the Gaoligong Mountains and Ailao Mountains, and C. longus sp. n. (male and female) from the Gaoligong Mountains. Chorizopes albus sp. n. can be distinguished from the related species C. shimenensis by: 1) median apophysis widest at the middle part versus widest at the base in the latter; 2) median apophysis without the dorsal spur found in that of the latter; 3) spermathecae spherical versus ovoid in the latter; 4) having one pair of large white spots on posterior lateral area of abdomen versus having two pairs of crescent white patches with dark edges on dorsal abdomen in the latter.
    [Show full text]
  • SA Spider Checklist
    REVIEW ZOOS' PRINT JOURNAL 22(2): 2551-2597 CHECKLIST OF SPIDERS (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE) OF SOUTH ASIA INCLUDING THE 2006 UPDATE OF INDIAN SPIDER CHECKLIST Manju Siliwal 1 and Sanjay Molur 2,3 1,2 Wildlife Information & Liaison Development (WILD) Society, 3 Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO) 29-1, Bharathi Colony, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641004, India Email: 1 [email protected]; 3 [email protected] ABSTRACT Thesaurus, (Vol. 1) in 1734 (Smith, 2001). Most of the spiders After one year since publication of the Indian Checklist, this is described during the British period from South Asia were by an attempt to provide a comprehensive checklist of spiders of foreigners based on the specimens deposited in different South Asia with eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The European Museums. Indian checklist is also updated for 2006. The South Asian While the Indian checklist (Siliwal et al., 2005) is more spider list is also compiled following The World Spider Catalog accurate, the South Asian spider checklist is not critically by Platnick and other peer-reviewed publications since the last scrutinized due to lack of complete literature, but it gives an update. In total, 2299 species of spiders in 67 families have overview of species found in various South Asian countries, been reported from South Asia. There are 39 species included in this regions checklist that are not listed in the World Catalog gives the endemism of species and forms a basis for careful of Spiders. Taxonomic verification is recommended for 51 species. and participatory work by arachnologists in the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Causes and Consequences of External Female Genital Mutilation
    Causes and consequences of external female genital mutilation I n a u g u r a l d i s s e r t a t i o n Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. Nat.) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Greifswald Vorgelegt von Pierick Mouginot Greifswald, 14.12.2018 Dekan: Prof. Dr. Werner Weitschies 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Uhl 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhardt Datum der Promotion: 13.03.2019 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Background ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.2. Aims of the presented work ................................................................................................ 14 2. References ................................................................................................................................... 16 3. Publications .................................................................................................................................. 22 3.1. Chapter 1: Securing paternity by mutilating female genitalia in spiders .......................... 23 3.2. Chapter 2: Evolution of external female genital mutilation: why do males harm their mates?..................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The First National Inventory of Spiders (Araneae) in Nigeria
    Animal Research International (2019) 16(1): 3247 – 3254 3247 THE FIRST NATIONAL INVENTORY OF SPIDERS (ARANEAE) IN NIGERIA 1 NWANKWO, Ogonna Daniel and 2 EWUIM, Sylvanus Chima 1 Department of Entomology National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United State of America. 2 Department of Zoology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. Corresponding Author: Nwankwo, O. D. Department of Entomology National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United State of America. Email: [email protected] Phone: + 00 - 1 - 571 - 325 - 6082 Received: February 19 , 2019 Revised: March 15 , 2019 Accepted: March 1 9 , 2019 ABSTRACT The first inventory of Nigeria spiders was a combination of a field study carried out in Awka, south - east zone and collation of data on Nigeria spiders from experts across the globe. The sampling work in Awka was the second spider study in south - east and was done once a month for twelve months. A total of 238 species, 140 genera in 34 families were recorded from Nigeria in the present study. This is 2.4 % of the world spiders from 19 locations. No spider related research has ever taken place in the wh ole of north - west zone, while just a single species, Hersilia caudata recorded from the north - east zone. Salticidae was the most dominant family representing 35 .0 % of the total species in Nigeria. It is also the most distributed alongside Araneidae and Sp arassidae. They were found in four of the six zones of the country. Out of the 15 families that were exclusive to different zones, Nesticidae, Oxyopidae and Gnaphosidae were from Awka.
    [Show full text]