Discovery of the Largest Orbweaving Spider Species: the Evolution of Gigantism in Nephila
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Ladder Webs in Orb-Web Spiders: Ontogenetic and Evolutionary Patterns in Nephilidae
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 849–866. With 4 figures Ladder webs in orb-web spiders: ontogenetic and evolutionary patterns in Nephilidae MATJAŽ KUNTNER1,2*, SIMONA KRALJ-FIŠER1 and MATJAŽ GREGORICˇ 1 1Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Novi trg 2, PO Box 306, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia 2Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, NHB-105, PO Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, USA Received 18 September 2009; accepted for publication 10 November 2009bij_1414 849..866 Spider web research bridges ethology, ecology, functional morphology, material science, development, genetics, and evolution. Recent work proposes the aerial orb web as a one-time key evolutionary innovation that has freed spider-web architecture from substrate constraints. However, the orb has repeatedly been modified or lost within araneoid spiders. Modifications include not only sheet- and cobwebs, but also ladder webs, which secondarily utilize the substrate. A recent nephilid species level phylogeny suggests that the ancestral nephilid web architecture was an arboricolous ladder and that round aerial webs were derived. Because the web biology of the basalmost Clitaetra and the derived Nephila are well understood, the present study focuses on the webs of the two phylogenetically intervening genera, Herennia and Nephilengys, to establish ontogenetic and macroevolutionary patterns across the nephilid tree. We compared juvenile and adult webs of 95 Herennia multipuncta and 143 Nephilengys malabarensis for two measures of ontogenetic allometric web changes: web asymmetry quantified by the ladder index, and hub asymmetry quantified by the hub displacement index. We define a ‘ladder web’ as a vertically elongated orb exceeding twice the length over width (ladder index Ն 2) and possessing (sub)parallel rather than round side frames. -
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. -
L:\PM IJA Vol.3.Pmd
© Indian Society of Arachnology ISSN 2278 - 1587 SPIDER FAUNA OF RADHANAGARI WILDLIFE SANC- TUARY, CHANDOLI NATIONAL PARK AND KOYNA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Suvarna More and Vijay Sawant* P. V. P. Mahavidyalaya, Kavathe Mahankal, Sangli. *Former Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. ABSTRACT Diversity of spiders from Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandoli Na- tional Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Ghats is studied for the first time. A total of 247 species belonging to 119 genera and 28 families are recorded from the study area during 2010-2012 with a dominance of Araneid, Salticid and Lycosid spiders. Key words: Spider diversity, Western Ghats INTRODUCTION Spiders comprise one of the largest (5-6th) orders of animals. The spider fauna of India has never been studied in its entirety despite of contributions by many arachnologists since Stoliczka (1869). The pioneering contribution on the taxonomy of Indian spiders is that of European arachnologist Stoliczka (1869). Review of available literature reveals that the earliest contribution by Blackwall (1867); Karsch (1873); Simon (1887); Thorell (1895) and Pocock (1900) were the pioneer workers of Indian spiders. They described many species from India. Tikader (1980, 1982), Tikader, and Malhotra (1980a,b) described spiders from India. Tikader (1980) compiled a book on Thomisid spiders of India, comprising two subfamilies, 25 genera and 115 species. Of these, 23 species were new to science. Descriptions, illustrations and distributions of all species were given. Keys to the subfamilies, genera, and species were provided. Tikader and Biswas (1981) studied 15 families, 47 genera and 99 species from Calcutta and surrounding areas with illustrations and descriptions. -
Phylogeny of the Orb‐Weaving Spider
Cladistics Cladistics (2019) 1–21 10.1111/cla.12382 Phylogeny of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae (Araneae: Araneoidea) Nikolaj Scharffa,b*, Jonathan A. Coddingtonb, Todd A. Blackledgec, Ingi Agnarssonb,d, Volker W. Framenaue,f,g, Tamas Szuts} a,h, Cheryl Y. Hayashii and Dimitar Dimitrova,j,k aCenter for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; bSmithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution, NW Washington, DC 20560-0105, USA; cIntegrated Bioscience Program, Department of Biology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA; dDepartment of Biology, University of Vermont, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405-0086, USA; eDepartment of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986, Australia; fSchool of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; gHarry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South St., Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; hDepartment of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, H1077 Budapest, Hungary; iDivision of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; jNatural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway; kDepartment of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Accepted 11 March 2019 Abstract We present a new phylogeny of the spider family Araneidae based on five genes (28S, 18S, COI, H3 and 16S) for 158 taxa, identi- fied and mainly sequenced by us. This includes 25 outgroups and 133 araneid ingroups representing the subfamilies Zygiellinae Simon, 1929, Nephilinae Simon, 1894, and the typical araneids, here informally named the “ARA Clade”. -
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). -
Eunuch Supremacy: Evolution of Post-Mating Spider Emasculation
Behav Ecol Sociobiol (2015) 69:117–126 DOI 10.1007/s00265-014-1824-6 ORIGINAL PAPER Eunuch supremacy: evolution of post-mating spider emasculation Matjaž Kuntner & Urška Pristovšek & Ren-Chung Cheng & Daiqin Li & Shichang Zhang & I-Min Tso & Chen-Pan Liao & Jeremy A. Miller & Simona Kralj-Fišer Received: 11 April 2014 /Revised: 30 September 2014 /Accepted: 1 October 2014 /Published online: 15 October 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract Emasculation—males becoming effectively sterile via genital plugging and spontaneous death. Emasculation by self-removing their genitals—haslongbeenconsidereda during mating also results in genital plugs, but half eunuchs peculiar evolutionary phenomenon with unknown function, have another chance to mate. So far, the behavior of those taxonomically restricted to few spiders and flies. In spiders, males that become eunuchs post-mating by self-removing emasculation results in half or full eunuchs when males sever disfigured palps has not been investigated empirically. We test one or both sperm transferring organs, palps. Three types of the mechanism and adaptive significance of post-mating emasculation, pre-maturation, mating, and post-mating are emasculation in coin spiders (Herennia multipuncta) and use known in spiders, all having evolved multiple times. Males phylogenetic reconstruction to understand its evolutionary practicing pre-maturation emasculation sever one of their history. Our laboratory assays corroborate three hypotheses palps while still immature, then engage in strict monogyny related to mate monopolization: (1) The plugging hypothe- sis—predicting genital plugs to prevent female remating; (2) The better-fighter hypothesis—predicting enhanced eunuch Communicated by N. Wedell aggressiveness toward rivals; and (3) The gloves-off hypoth- Matjaž Kuntner, Urška Pristovšek, and Simona Kralj-Fišer contributed esis—predicting increased eunuch endurance. -
Spider Diversity (Arachnida: Araneae) in Different Ecosystems of the Western Ghats, Wayanad Region, India
South Asian Journal of Life Sciences Research Article Spider Diversity (Arachnida: Araneae) in Different Ecosystems of the Western Ghats, Wayanad Region, India 1 1* 2 SRUTHI RAJEEVAN , SMIJA MOORKOTH KUNNATH , THRESIAMMA VARGHESE , PRASADAN 1 PUTHANPURAYIL KANDAMBETH 1Department Of Zoology, Kannur University, Manathavady Campus, Wayanad 670 645, Kerala, India; 2Centre For Ecological Studies, Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore 560 012, Karanataka, India. Abstract |Spiders are key components of all ecosystems in which they live and considered to be useful indicators of the overall species richness and health of terrestrial communities. However, spiders of the Western Ghats are poorly explored group and detailed information about their systematics, diversity and ecology is scarce. The present study is an attempt to investigate the spider faunal diversity in the selected habitats in the Western Ghats of North Wayanad region, Kerala, India. A total of 150 species belonging to 73 genera under 20 families were recorded from the selected habitats. Kartikulam forest reserve (Site D) showed the highest species richness and lowest species richness was re- corded from Mananthavady region (Site A). Guild structure analysis of the collected spiders revealed seven functional groups viz. stalkers, orb-web builders, ambushers, space-web builder, ground runners, foliage runners and sheet-web builders. To conclude, the highest species richness is correlated with flora and fauna in these sites. The knowledge gen- erated from the present study gives valuable and updated information on diversity of species of Western Ghats and the data can be used for future research on spider fauna. Keywords: Forest Habitat, Plantations, Riparian Ecosystem, Species Richness, Spider, Western Ghats Editor | Muhammad Nauman Zahid, Quality Operations Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. -
Spiders of Taleigao Plateau, Goa, India
Journal of Environmental Science and Public Health doi: 10.26502/jesph.96120022 Volume 1, Issue 4 Research Article Spiders of Taleigao Plateau, Goa, India Rupali Pandit and Pai IK* Department of Zoology, Goa University, Goa, India *Corresponding Author: I.K. Pai, Department of Zoology, Goa University, Goa-403 206, India, Tel: 08326519047; E-mail: [email protected] Received: 21 September 2017; Accepted: 02 October 2017; Published: 09 October 2017 Abstract Spiders have utilitarian value. The present study is the first comprehensive documentation of the spider fauna from the Taleigao plateau, Goa, India and has revealed occurrence of 74 species of spiders belonging to 17 families. The investigation was carried out for 8 months from July 2016 to February 2017. Through this research, some new families, genera and species were reported for Goa, some of which are endemic to India. The methods included active searching and visual surveys. Salticids were the most dominant and diverse group of spiders in the study, yet it is one of the least studied families in India. The spiders such as Hersilia savignyi, Plexippus petersi were the predominant species of spiders in the study area. The spiders belonged to 9 foraging guilds. The present study has emphasized the need for conservation of this ecosystem by characterizing species diversity and highlighting endemic species. It has definitely filled the lacuna of spider study in Goa to some extent and forms a basis for further investigations on the spider diversity in the areas in and around the state. Future research on the spiders of Taleigao plateau can certainly expect innumerable discoveries. -
A Monograph of Nephilengys, the Pantropical 'Hermit Spiders
Systematic Entomology (2007), 32, 95–135 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3113.2006.00348.x A monograph of Nephilengys, the pantropical ‘hermit spiders’ (Araneae, Nephilidae, Nephilinae) MATJAZˇKUNTNER Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, U.S.A. and Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington DC, U.S.A. Abstract. The nephilid genus Nephilengys, known for its synanthropic habits, large webs with a retreat and the extreme sexual size dimorphism, is revised. Of the twenty-three available names, only four species with a globally allopatric distribution are recognized, illustrated and described from both sexes: N. cruentata (Fabricius, 1775) inhabits tropical Africa and South America, where it has probably been introduced; N. borbonica (Vinson, 1863) is found on Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles and the Mascarene Islands; N. malabarensis (Walckenaer, 1842) ranges from India and Sri Lanka to China, Japan and eastern Indonesia; N. papuana Thorell, 1881 stat.n. is known from New Guinea and tropical Australia. Nephila instigans Butler, 1876 is the proposed syn.n. of N. borbonica; N. borbonica livida Vinson, 1863 is syn.n. of N. borbonica; N. niahensis Deeleman-Reinhold, 1989 is syn.n. of N. malabarensis; N. rainbowi Hogg, 1899 is syn.n. of N. papuana. N. kenmorei Barrion & Litsinger, 1995, here proposed as a nomen dubium,isan araneid. Nephilengys biology is reviewed and its anatomy summarized for use in a phylogenetic analysis of 197 characters scored for all Nephilengys, selected nephilid species and non-nephilid outgroups. Two new clades are circumscribed, the ‘cruentata species group’ (with N. cruentata and N. borbonica) and the ‘malabarensis species group’ (with N. -
Indian Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae): Updated Checklist 2005
REVIEW ZOOS' PRINT JOURNAL 20(10): 1999-2049 INDIAN SPIDERS (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE): UPDATED CHECKLIST 2005 Manju Siliwal 1, Sanjay Molur 2,3 and B.K. Biswas 4 1,2 Wildlife Information & Liaison Development (WILD) Society, 3 Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO) 29-1, Bharathi Colony, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641004, India 4 Zoological Survey of India, 'M' Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, India Email: 1 [email protected]; 3 [email protected] ABSTRACT There have been attempts earlier to list the families and the This is the first attempt to update the list of spiders described number of genera under each, such as the one by Patil and formally in India. The list is compiled following Platnick's The Raghavendra (2001) on spiders of Western Ghats. The lists are World Spider Catalog. Extensive search of scientific peer- reviewed publications in the region revealed 40 new species, mostly based on Tikader's checklist. This present checklist is which are not included in Platnick's list. The checklist is an attempt to clarify and standardize spider fauna list in India. compared extensively with Tikader's list. In all, 1442 species of spiders in 59 families have been listed as described formally History of arachnological studies in India from India. Taxonomic verification is recommended for 51 Arachnological studies in India started in the late 19th Century species. Seventy-nine species listed by Tikader do not occur in India. Fifty-three species listed by Dyal and included in with pioneer taxonomists such as Blackwall (1864, 1867), Platnick's list do not occur in India. The paper lists Stoliczka (1869), Thorell (1877), Cambridge (1892, 1897), Simon replacement names, incertae sedis, nomina nuda, nomina (1897a,b), Pocock (1895, 1899a,b, 1900a,b, 1901), and Sherriffs dubia, transfers, synonyms, wrong taxonomic placements, (1919, 1927, 1928, 1929). -
Weaving Spider Family Araneidae (Araneae: Araneoidea)
Cladistics Cladistics (2019) 1–21 10.1111/cla.12382 Phylogeny of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae (Araneae: Araneoidea) Nikolaj Scharffa,b*, Jonathan A. Coddingtonb, Todd A. Blackledgec, Ingi Agnarssonb,d, Volker W. Framenaue,f,g, Tamas Szuts} a,h, Cheryl Y. Hayashii and Dimitar Dimitrova,j,k aCenter for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; bSmithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution, NW Washington, DC 20560-0105, USA; cIntegrated Bioscience Program, Department of Biology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA; dDepartment of Biology, University of Vermont, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405-0086, USA; eDepartment of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986, Australia; fSchool of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; gHarry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South St., Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; hDepartment of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, H1077 Budapest, Hungary; iDivision of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; jNatural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway; kDepartment of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Accepted 11 March 2019 Abstract We present a new phylogeny of the spider family Araneidae based on five genes (28S, 18S, COI, H3 and 16S) for 158 taxa, identi- fied and mainly sequenced by us. This includes 25 outgroups and 133 araneid ingroups representing the subfamilies Zygiellinae Simon, 1929, Nephilinae Simon, 1894, and the typical araneids, here informally named the “ARA Clade”. -
A Molecular Phylogeny of Nephilid Spiders: Evolutionary History of a Model Lineage ⇑ Matjazˇ Kuntner A,B,C, , Miquel A
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69 (2013) 961–979 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev A molecular phylogeny of nephilid spiders: Evolutionary history of a model lineage ⇑ Matjazˇ Kuntner a,b,c, , Miquel A. Arnedo d, Peter Trontelj e, Tjaša Lokovšek a, Ingi Agnarsson b,f a Institute of Biology, Scientific Research Centre, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia b Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA c College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China d Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat & Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain e Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia f Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA article info abstract Article history: The pantropical orb web spider family Nephilidae is known for the most extreme sexual size dimorphism Available online 27 June 2013 among terrestrial animals. Numerous studies have made Nephilidae, particularly Nephila, a model lineage in evolutionary research. However, a poorly understood phylogeny of this lineage, relying only on mor- Keywords: phology, has prevented thorough evolutionary syntheses of nephilid biology. We here use three nuclear Sexual size dimorphism and five mitochondrial genes for 28 out of 40 nephilid species to provide a more robust nephilid phylog- Female gigantism eny and infer clade ages in a fossil-calibrated Bayesian framework. We complement the molecular anal- Coevolution yses with total evidence analysis including morphology. All analyses find strong support for nephilid Biogeography monophyly and exclusivity and the monophyly of the genera Herennia and Clitaetra.