Spiders from Some Pacific Islands, Part IV The Cook Islands and Niue B. J. MARPLES1 THE COOK ISLANDS are a group of small islands arately. Of the 30 species, 27 are recorded also in the region of the central South Pacific from Samoa, 15 from the Cook Islands, and 11 bounded by 8°_23° S. and 156°-16r W. They from ',' the Society Islands. Samoa is the largest are divisible into two groups, the northern land mass in this region and the one whose Cooks which are small atolls, and the southern spider fauna is best known. Fiji, to the west, Cooks which, with one exception, are volcanic has not yet been adequately explored. Of the islands. The southern Cooks are surrounded by three species recorded from Niue but not from coral formations and in some cases have been Samoa, N ephila prolixa represents the most raised so that the islands have a coral rim up easterly extension of the genus in the Pacific. to 300 ft. high. The largest island is Rarotonga, It occurs in Fiji and Tonga and was recorded with an area of some 26 sq. mi. and rising to by Koch (l871) some 90 years ago in Samoa, a height of 2,140 ft. The Society Islands, the but it has not been recorded there since. Dras­ next group to the east, lie some 600 mi. from sodes ciusi, a new r ec ord, was previously Raroronga. described from N ew Caledonia and the Loyalty The island of N iue will be considered to­ Islands far to the west. The third species, M olli­ gether with the Cook Islands. This isolated is­ cia microphthalma, has a wide distribution from land does not belong to any group. It lies at the N ew Hebrides, N ew Caledonia, and Loyalty 19 0 10' S. and 169 0 46' W. , and consists of a Islands in the west, and to the Marquesas and flat coral formation raised to a height of some Rapa in the east. It is also known from Tonga, 220 ft. above the sea, with an area of about 100 the southern Cooks, and the Society and Aus­ sq. mi. It is situated some 580 mi. west of Ra­ tral islands, but not from Fiji, Samoa, or the rotonga, 300 mi. east of Tonga, and 350 mi. small islands to the north. This southern dis­ southeast of Samoa. tribution is unusual in such a widespread species. The spider fauna of these islands is not well Thirty species are recorded from the southern known . Th e number of species recorded (Ber­ Cooks, and 26 of them occur also in Samoa. Of land, 1934a; Marples, 1955a, 1957) are as fol­ the 4 which do not, one is Mollicia micro­ lows: Rarotonga, 13 species; Pukapuk a, 8 phthalma already discussed, and 2 have not been species; Aitutaki, 5 species; and N iue, 5 species. recorded elsewhere, The fourth, Sandalodes In the present paper some of these numbers are calvus, is interesting, as it occurs to the east raised to: Airutaki, 24 species; Niue, 30 species; in the Society, Marquesas, and Tuamotu islands. while from islands with no previous records Curiously enough, it is said to occur also in there are : Mangaia , 10 species; Rakahanga, 4 Australia. The genus Sandalodes has a distribu­ species; Manihiki, 3 species; and Penrhyn, 1 tion unlike that of any other group in the species. I am indebted to my wife and to my Pacific. There are, in addition to S. calvus, 8 son Rich ard for the collections from Niue and species in Hawaii and 5 in the Marquesas. An­ Aituraki, and to Dr. D. D. McCarthy for those other possible link with the east is an immature from the other islands. The collections were salticid from Aitutaki which may be Laharulla made during expeditions under the auspices of insulana, recorded from Tahiti, but unfortu­ the Medical Research Council of New Zealand. nately it canno t be identified with certainty . Niue is situated closer to the Samoa and Th e southern Cooks have 14 species in common Tonga groups and should be considered sep- with the Society Islands ( Berland, 1934b ) but the remainder of these occur also in islands to 1 Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin , New Zealand . Manuscript received May 26, the west. It is highly desirable that adequate 1959. collecting be carried out in Raroronga, which, 382 Pacific Spiders, IV-MARPLES 383 TABLE 1 SPECIES OF SPIDERS R ECORDED FROM THE COOK ISLANDS AND NIUE, AND THEIR OCCURRENCE IN THE ADJACENT ISLAN D GROUPS z z z z '" '" '" '" -e -e :1:'" '" :1:'" '" -< -e :1:'"'" :1:'"", ;: SPECIE S o 0 .... ~ .... :.: E SPECIES c 0 .... :.: .... :.: ;Z; "'::> ::>0 "' 0 :t Z ::>"' ::>0 "'0 X 0 00 0 0 -e 0 0 0 0 0 -e .... ;:i ",u Zu .... ;:; Z ",u .. -- - "- --Z -- -- .... _- - "- -- ~ .... Toral number of SPARASSIDAE species recorded ......... 128 H . venatoria.......... XXX XXX 49 29 30 8 40 ------ - - '- - --------- - SALTICIDAE ULOBORIDAE A . whitm ei............ - XX X X X U. geniculatus....... - - -- -XX- ---- - - - - A . pterygodes........, XXX -- X D ICTYN IDAE A . satchelli............ - - - X - - S. mum fordi.......... - X - - - B. eericeps............. - ------ -X- ---- X X X XX OONOPIDAE C. piscula.............., - X X - - - G. loricata............. XXX - -- F. minuta............... - X X X - - T. ensijera............. I.lanutoo............... - X X - - - X X X X XX O. oceanicus.......... - X - X - - M. bivittata........... X X - X - X - - - - - - -- - - M. micropbtbalma. X - X X - X SCYTODIDAE S. calvus................ - - - X - X S. marm orata......... XX - X X - - - - I - -- - - - - - THERIDIIDAE S. striatipes............ XX XX - X - - --- - C. samoe nsis....... ... XXX -- X OCHYROCERATIDAE C. unimaculata...... XXX - - - A. minuta..........:... - I ~I ~ - - :- P. soloa.................. - XX - - - PHOLCIDAE T. albostriatum...... XXX X - - P. ancoralis............ XXX X - X T. aleipata............. X X XX - - A. mauriciana........ - - - M. phyllicola......... - - -- X X - --XX- - -- - --- P. globosus............ X XXX- - LINYPHIIDAE S. elongatus........... X X - - L. tuasivia.............. - - - - -- - X- - X- -- - X - X - - CLUBIONIDAE A . armata.............. - - - X - - - --' - -- - - - - C. furax................. X X ? - -- TETRAGNATHIDAE C. alveolata..........., X X X X - - D. oceanica............ - X - X - - C. samoensis.......... - X - D. ttpoluensis........ - X XX - X --- X - GNAPHOSIDAE L. taberculata........ XX X X - X T. panopea............ D. ciusi............. .... - I ~ XXXX - - T. macilenta..... ..... XX X X - - LYCOSIDAE - - - - -- - EPEIRIDAE - - L. tongatabuensis... X X - X - - - --- - --- X- C. moluccensis...... XX X - - X ZODARIIDAE E. theisi....... ........., X XX X XX C. uerrucosa... ....... - X - X -- N. prolix» ............ X ? X - -- as a high and relatively large island, will yield ULOBORIDAE far more than the 13 species recorded from it Uloborus geni culatus Olivier and may show some interesting resemblances NIUE: 3 Female and 4 imm ., 1 male imm .From to the islands to the east. buildings and a cave, Mu tulau, The northern Cooks are all small coral is­ lands. Only 8 species are recorded; all of these DICTYNIDAE occur also in Samoa and 5 of them occur in the Syroris« mumfordi Berland Society Islands. For comparison the Tokelau AITUTAKI: 6 Females and 12 imm., 2 males. Islands may be mentioned. These are small coral Some collected under bark and others below islands lying west of the northern Cooks and coral pebbles about 2 in. in diameter on open north of Samoa. Thirteen species are recorded ground. The webs were spun between the from them , all of which occur also in Samoa. pebbles and the spider was just below. Two Six of the 8 species from the northern Cooks cocoons of thin white silk, one contained occur also in the Tokelaus . 36, the other 23 eggs. 384 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIV, October 1960 IbOOE 130 0 W 0 0 0 OOH U 0 0 0° () 0 o {[t, illJl 0 o 0 on 0,'~ s O a q 'F . ( j . ® O~c 0 @ 0°T 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ONZ 30°5 () 0 0 O. 0 U 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 • 0 0 • 0 b 0 0 •• • • • 0 •• • 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 .. 1...) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 c 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 • 0• • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 u 0 0 0 • o 0 0 0 • 0 • • 0 0 d •• 0 • • • 0 0 0 •• 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 Pacific Spiders, IV-MARPLES 385 OONOPIDAE CLUBIONIDAE Gamasomorpha loricata 1. Koch Chiracanthium furax 1. Koch NIUE: 3 Females. In dead leaves. Assumed to be NIUE: 1 Male imm. Probably this species. this species. AITUTAKI : 3 imm . Probably a Chiracanthium sp. lschnothyreus lanutoo Marples Clubiona alveolata 1. Koch NIUE: 1 Female imm. From litter in a planta­ tion. NIUE: 10 imm. In bush. Oonopinus oceanicus Marples AITUTAKI : 2 Females, 1 male, and 1 imm. Under bark and stones. AITUTAKI: 1 Female imm. SCYTODIDAE GNAPHOSIDAE Scytodes marmorata 1. Koch Drassodes ciusi Berland AITUTAKI : 2 Females. In buildings. NIUE: 1 Female. In open plantation. This species Scytodes striatipes 1. Koch was described by Berland (1924) from a NIUE: 7 Females and 4 imm., 1 male. In house. male from New Caledonia. Later (1929) he AITUTAKI: 5 Females. In house and under logs. described a female from the Loyalty Islands which he attributed to the same species. The OCHYROCERATIDAE present specimen appears to correspond to Apiacera minuta Marples this female. NIUE: 1 Femaleimm. Collected under an old Poicilochroa rollini Berland fallen cocoanut. There are 5 instead of 6 AITUTAKI : 1 imm. Under bark. This may belong promarginal teeth on the cheliceral groove. to this species but one cannot be certain. PHOLCIDAE LYCOSIDAE Pholcus ancoralis 1. Koch NIUE: 3 Females and 3 imm., 1 male; On build- Lycosa tongatabuensis Strand ings and cliffs and in the bush. AITUTAKI: 5 imm. Possibly this species, the Artema mauri ciana Walckenaer cheliceral teeth agree.