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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Note Range extension of the Gooty metallica (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu,

Kothandapani Raman, Sivangnanaboopathidoss Vimalraj, Bawa Mothilal Krishnakumar, Natesan Balachandran & Abhishek Tomar

26 August 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 10 | Pages: 14373–14376 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5266.11.10.14373-14376

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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2019 | 11(10): 14373–14376 Note

Range extension of the Gooty Tarantula old world Poecilotheria Poecilotheria metallica (Araneae: Simon, 1885 of the subfamily Theraphosidae) in the Eastern Ghats of Poecilotheriinae is the only Tamil Nadu, India genus specifcally arboreal in ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) habit, occurring largely in the dry ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Kothandapani Raman 1 , Sivangnanaboopathidoss deciduous and evergreen forests or PLATINUM Vimalraj 2 , Bawa Mothilal Krishnakumar 3 , wooded areas in peninsular India OPEN ACCESS Natesan Balachandran 4 & Abhishek Tomar 5 and Sri Lanka (Siliwal et al. 2013). of the genus Poecilotheria 1 Indigenious Biodiversity Foundaton, No. 24 Mission Street, are widely known for their large Puducherry 605001, India. 2 No: 65, Second Cross Street, Kurunji Nagar Extension, Lawspet, size, colourful marking within a fatsh carapace Puducherry 605008, India. (Pocock 1900; Smith & Kirk 2002), their potent 3 PG and Research Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, (Nanayakkara et al. 2012) and familiarity in the pet A.V.C. College, Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu 609305, India. trade (Siliwal et al. 2013). 4 Ecology Department, French Insttute of Pondicherry, 11, Saint Louis About 14 species have been recognized hitherto Street, Puducherry 605001, India. from the genus Poecilotheria, wherein seven species are 5 District Forest Ofcer, Villupuram Division, Collectorate Master Plan Campus, Villupuram, Tamil Nadu 605602, India. endemic to India (formosa, metallica, miranda, regalis, 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected], ruflata, striata, and tgrinawesseli) and fve to Sri Lanka 3 [email protected] (corresponding author), fasciata, ornata, rajaei, smithi, subfusca 4 [email protected], 5 [email protected] ( and ) while two species (hanumavilasumica and vitata) are found in both (World Catalogue 2019). Poecilotheria The family Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869 is metallica Pocock, 1899 is commonly known as the represented by 999 species in 147 genera (World Spider Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula. This Catalogue 2019). The greatest diversity of this family species is endemic to India, and according to the current is found in the tropical regions of the world and some IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the species is species exist in the subtropical and temperate regions categorized as Critcally Endangered, as it is restricted but notably absent in the polar region (Nanayakkara et to a 100km2 highly degraded forest between Nandyal al. 2012). In India, it is represented by six subfamilies: and Giddalur in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh , Ischnocolinae, Poecilotheriinae, (Molur et al. 2008). Reginald Innes Pocock (1899) had Selenocosmiinae, Selenogyrinae and Thrigmopoeinae reported its type locality as Gooty on the basis of a single (Pocock 1900; Mirza et al. 2011; Siliwal et al. 2012). female specimen. About 102 years later, Molur et al. Members of the family Theraphosidae are predominantly (2003) found two immature individuals in an extremely terrestrial in habit, dwelling in burrows, beneath the degraded forest between Nandyal and Giddalur in the rocks, and fallen logs (Nanayakkara et al. 2012). The Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, Molur

DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5266.11.10.14373-14376 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:28BAB955-F74E-46B2-A479-B2151C1D799C

Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 August 2019 (online & print)

Manuscript details: #5266 | Received 23 July 2019 | Final received 30 July 2019 | Finally accepted 17 August 2019

Citaton: Raman, K., S. Vimalraj, B.M. Krishnakumar, N. Balachandran & A. Tomar (2019). Range extension of the Gooty Tarantula Poecilotheria metallica (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(10): 14373–14376. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5266.11.10.14373-14376

Copyright: © Raman et al 2019. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

Funding: None.

Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.

Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the principal chief conservator of forest (HoFF), Tamil Nadu granted permission to do the botanical survey in RFs of Gingee Range; Wildlife Conservaton Trust (SG 2018-19 Phase I), Mumbai for the fnancial support; Prof. Frederic Landy, director and Dr. Raphael Mathevet, head of ecology, French Insttute of Pondicherry for their constant support and encouragement. The corresponding author is grateful to Dr. Brawin Kumar, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for his valuable critques and suggestons, which signifcantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

14373 Range extension of Poecilotheria metallica in the Eastern Ghats Raman et al.

Figure 1. Map of southern India illustratng the previous record (yellow dot) of Poecilotheria metallica, present sightng (place holder) and presumed type locality as reported by Pocock (1899) (red circle).

Image 1. Habitat of Poecilotheria metallica at Pakkam Malai Reserve Forest, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu. The photograph was taken during the monsoon when vegetaton is lush. et al. (2003) provided the frst detailed descripton of its Beall’s List 2019). Hitherto, P. metallica has not been habitat. Previous to their record Gooty was considered found in any other parts of India or Sri Lanka. This paper as the existence locality of P. metallica. Pocock (1899) is based on the observatons from Tamil Nadu. The recorded that a single female specimen was collected presence of this threatened theraphosid recorded for from the railway tmber yard in Gooty, however, it could the frst tme outside of its known distributon expands inadvertently have been transported with tmber from its range further south from its confrmed record. the Eastern Ghats (Molur et al. 2008). Presently, this Gingee is a heritage town in the district of Villupuram, species is found only within 100km2 Reserve Forest located in the northeast of Tamil Nadu (Muralidharan & between Nandayal and Giddalur (Molur et al. 2008). An Narasimhan 2012; Vimalraj et al. 2018). Pakkam Malai additonal locaton in Andhra Pradesh is not considered Reserve Forest has been protected as a sacred groove here as it was published in a predatory journal (see (Vimalraj et al. 2018). The average elevaton of this

14374 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2019 | 11(10): 14373–14376 Range extension of Poecilotheria metallica in the Eastern Ghats Raman et al.

A © B. Harikrishnan

B © S. Vimalraj C © K. Raman Image 2. Dorsal aspect of Poecilotheria metallica in life: A—Adult female showing peculiar metallic luster and orange yellow patches on tbiae | B—Adult female from the cave | C—Adult male from the bat cave. rocky terrain is about 400m and the vegetaton type et al. 2018). ranges from dry thorn scrub to tropical dry deciduous While undertaking a foral survey at Pakkam Malai and tropical dry evergreen forest (Kalaimani 2011; (Image 1) on 09 December 2018, we sighted a huge Balachandran et al. 2015). The annual rainfall is about blue coloured spider restng in a cave. We approached 700mm, and the temperature fuctuates between 300C the specimen closely and photographed it with a Nikon and 360C during the non-monsoon period of the year; D3200 (Image 2). The spider was later identfed as during monsoon season it drops down to 240C (Karthik Poecilotheria metallica described by Pocock (1899)

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2019 | 11(10): 14373–14376 14375 Range extension of Poecilotheria metallica in the Eastern Ghats Raman et al.

Table 1. Details on observaton of Poecilotheria metallica on diferent Karthik, P., A. Kalaimani & R. Nagarajan (2018). An inventory on occasions during the feld visit at Pakkam Malai Reserve Forest, herpetofauna with emphasis on conservaton from Gingee Hills, Villupuram District. Eastern Ghats, southern India. Asian Journal of Conservaton Biology 7(1): 2–16. Pakkam Malai Date of Molur, S., B.A. Daniel & M. Siliwal (2003). Distributon, Status and Reserve Forest sightng Microhabitat Efect of Trade on Large-bodied (Mygalomorph) Spiders of the Inside the cave Genus Poecilotheria and other Theraphosid Spiders in India. Final Tharbasuanai (water was oozing out from 1 09.xii.2018 report. Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development (WILD) Society. (Spring) the rock crevices inside the Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, 57pp. htps://zooreach.org/ZOO_ cave) WILD_Projects/Final%20report%20-%20Indian%20Tarantula%20 2 Sanipparai 22.i.2019 On the dry rill Project%20061602%20FLAG.pdf 3 Sanipparai 23.i.2019 On the dry rill Molur, S., B.A. Daniel & M. Siliwal (2008). Poecilotheria metallica. In: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e. T63563A12681959. Inside the cave (bats also 4 Bat cave 24.ii.2019 Accessed on 20 July 2019. htps://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008. were roostng) RLTS.T63563A12681959.en Tharbasuanai 5 01.iii.2019 At the entrance of the cave Mirza, Z.A., R.V. Sanap & M. Siliwal (2011). Robust Trapdoor (Spring) Tarantula Haploclastus validus Pocock, (1899): notes on , distributon and natural history (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Thrigmopoeinae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 3(10): 2109–2119. htps://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2627.2109-19 and corroborated using the photographic identfcaton Muralidharan, R. & D. Narasimhan (2012). Plants used for topical poster (Indian Parachutes) published by the Zoo applicaton from Gingee Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Current Botany Outreach Organizaton and Wildlife Informaton Liaison 3(4): 49–52. Nanayakkara, R.P., P.J. Kirk, S.K. Dayananda, G.A.S.M. Development Society (ZOO/WILD 2010). Subsequently, Ganehiarachchi, N. Vishvanath & T.G.T. Kusuminda (2012). A we sighted P. metallica on four diferent occasions at new species of tger spider, genus Poecilotheria, from northern Sri Lanka. Britsh Tarantula Society Journal 28(1): 6–15. Pakkam Malai Reserve Forest during feldwork, details Nanayakkara, R.P., G.A.S.M. Ganehiarachchi, N. Vishvanath & T.G.T. of which are given in Table 1. Kusuminda (2015). Discovery of the Critcally Endangered tarantula The present sightng extends its distributon range species of the genus Poecilotheria (Araneae: Theraphosidae), Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica, from Sri Lanka. Journal of Asia- along the Eastern Ghats by approximately 370km south Pacifc Biodiversity 8: 1–6. from its previous record (Molur et al. 2008) (Figure 1). Pocock, R.I. (1899). XII. The genus Poecilotheria: its habits, history Further exploraton could reveal the presence of P. and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 73(13): 82–96. htps://doi.org/10.1080/00222939908678082 metallica in the adjacent hills too. Documentaton of Pocock, R.I. (1900). ‘Arachnida’. In: The fauna of Britsh India, including biodiversity has become a very signifcant part of the Ceylon and Burma. Taylor and Francis, London, 189pp. conservaton of that partcular ecosystem (Nanayakkara Siliwal, M., N. Gupta & R. Raven (2012). A new genus of the family Theraphosidae (Araneae: ) with descripton of three et al. 2015). A few years ago, the Grizzled Giant Squirrel new species from the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. Journal of Ratufa macroura was reported from Pakkamalai RF Threatened Taxa 4(14): 3233–3254. htps://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT. (Vimalraj et al. 2018), and the additon of P. metallica o3065.3233-54 Siliwal, M., N. Gupta & S. Molur (2013). The Striated Parachute Spider from the same locality emphasizes the signifcance of Poecilotheria striata Pocock, 1895 (Araneae: Theraphosidae): a these forests from the biodiversity and conservaton note on taxonomy, distributon and conservaton status. Journal of perspectves. Threatened Taxa 5(12): 4630–4640. htps://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT. o2956.4630-40 Smith, A. & P. Kirk (2002). A Field Guide On The Theraphosid Spiders References of India & Sri Lanka partcularly the Genus Poecilotheria. Fitzgerald Publicaton, London, 26pp. Vimalraj, S., K. Raman, D.A. Reddy, B. Harikrishnan, B.M. Balachandran, N., K. Rajendiran & W.F. Gastmans (2015). Occurrence Krishnakumar & K.M. Selvan (2018). A new sight record and range of three Western Ghats elements in dry evergreen forest of Gingee extension of the Grizzled Giant Squirrel Ratufa macroura dandolena Hills, Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa (Mammalia: Rodenta: Sciuridae) in the Eastern Ghats of southern 7(14): 8177–8181. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.2433.7.14.8177- peninsular India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(1): 11240–11242. 8181 htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3932.10.1.11240-11242 Beall’s List (2019). Beall’s List of Predatory Journals and World Spider Catalog (2019). The World Spider Catalog, Natural Publishers. htps://beallslist.weebly.com. Accessed on 20 August History Museum Bern, online at htp://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 20.5. 2019. Accessed on 25 July 2019. Kalaimani, A. (2011). Birds of Gingee Range, Villupuram district, Tamil ZOO/WILD (2010). Red Listed Western Ghats . Spider Nadu, south India. Newsleter for Bird Watchers 51: 2. Poster#26. Published by Zoo Outreach Organizaton and Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development (WILD) Society, Coimbatore, India.

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14376 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2019 | 11(10): 14373–14376

PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

August 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 10 | Pages: 14247–14390 Date of Publicaton: 26 August 2019 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2019.11.10.14247-14390

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