AUSTRALASIAN ARACHNOLOGY Number 69: May 2004 Price $3 ISSN 0811-3696 Australasian Arachnology No. 68 Page 2 THE AUSTRALASIAN ARTICLES ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY The newsletter depends on your contributions! We encourage articles on a We aim to promote interest in the a range of topics including current ecology, behaviour and taxonomy of research activities, student projects, arachnids of the Australasian region. upcoming events or behavioural observations. MEMBERSHIP Please send articles to the new editor: Membership is open to amateurs, Dr Volker Framenau students and professionals, and is Department of Terrestrial Invertebrates managed by our Administrator : Western Australian Museum Francis Street Richard J. Faulder Perth, W.A. 6000, Australia. Agricultural Institute Yanco, New South Wales 2703. [email protected] Australia. Format: i) typed or legibly printed on A4 email : [email protected] paper or ii) as text or MS Word file on CD, 3 Y, floppy disk, or via email. Membership fees in Australian dollars per 4 issues: LIBRARY Discount* Normal Institutional The AAS has a large number of reference Australian $8 $10 $12 books, scientific journals and papers NZI Asia $10 $12 $14 available for loan or as photocopies, for Elsewhere $12 $14 $16 those members who do not have access to a scientific library. Professional All postage is by air mail. members are encouraged to send in their *Discount rates apply to unemployed, pensioners arachnological reprints. and students (please provide proof of status). Contact our librarian : Cheques payable in Australian dollars to "Australasian Arachnological Society". Jean-Claude Herremans More than 4 issues can be paid for in PO Box 291 advance. Receipts issued on request. Manly, New South Wales 1655. Australia. Status box on the envelope indicates the email: [email protected] last issue paid for. COVER PHOTOGRAPH by Matjaz Kuntner' Previous ISSues ot til<.. : ........ ,,.._..,,,::ttr:>! :1r0 Arbanitis variabilis c:J from S.E. Qld. available at $2 per issue plus postage Australasian Arachnology No. 68 Page 3 EDITORIAL ~ After this issue you will have a new editor at the helm: Dr Volker Framenau. As you MEMBERSHIP have been reading in the newsletters UPDATES Volker has a background in both taxonomy and ecology. A network across both disciplines should help keep us well Welcome to; informed of the latest news and research within the region. Volker is very Gitte Kragh enthusiastic about the society and I 4/8 Brown St encourage members to keep supporting WOREE QLD 4868 the newsletter by sending him your articles. Volker has been helping me develop the webpage so that will continue Change of Address to evolve. Volker's research locus is our diverse wolf Dr Alan Yen spider fauna and in this issue you can be Primary Industries Research Victoria updated on that work. Peter Langlands Department of Primary Industries has conducted an honours project on the 621 Burwood Highway arid zone spider species of Western Victoria 3180 Australia and we have the abstract as a summary. Mark Harvey's catalogue on e-mail: [email protected] the lesser known arachnid orders is reviewed, as is the last American arachnology meeting held in Denver. After a wonderful summer, or Wet season as we have in northern Australia, I suspect many members have been admiring the golden orb webs in the garden. For those who look closer at these webs you will also enjoy reading Doug Wallace's explanation of one attractive little cohabitant.. Cheers lor now . Jracey Australasian Arachnology No. 68 Page 4 Revision of the Wolf Spiders of genera, Af/otrochosina Roewer, 1960 and Australia - an Update Venatrix Roewer, 1960, have been found to be valid and after a recent revision appear to be limited to the Australasian 1 region (Vink, 2001, Framenau & Vmk, V. W. Framenau • M.S. Harvey'. 2001). A. D. Austin 2 Similarly, Dingosa Roewer, 1960 (type species: Dingosa simsoni (Simon, 1898)) 1 Department of Terrestrial Invertebrates, and Tasmanicosa Roewer, 1960 (type Western Australian Museum, species Tasmanicosa tasmanica (Hogg, Francis St, Perth, WA 6000 1905) will most likely remain part of the Australian lycosid landscape. Current 2 Department of Environmental Biology, results of our three-year Australian University of Adelaide, Biological Resource Study (ABRS) funded North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000 study 'Revision of the Australian Wolf Spiders' which commenced in December 2002, indicate that most species currently Who could imagine names for spider listed in Northern Hemisphere genera, genera that sound more Australian than such as Lycosa and Trochosa, are Dingosa or Tasmanicosa? These misplaced. Up to date, Volker Framenau nomenclatural highlights are part of the has examined more than 10,000 samples legacy left by Carl F. Roewer, who shook of Lycosidae in most Australian up the lycosid world in the late 1950's Museums, including the Museum Victoria when he attempted a worldwide revision (Melbourne), the Australian Museum of wolf spiders (Roewer 1955, 1960). This (Sydney), the ANIC (Canberra), and the was a brave attempt, even by today's Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery standards, but unfortunately it was (Launceston). An examination of the misguided as C. F. Roewer ignored collections in Hobart, Brisbane and genitalic characters in his generic Darwin are planned for the second year of diagnoses and based his classification on our projecl. The collection of the Western rather uninformative characters such as Australian Museum in Perth is particularly eye measurements, number and valuable for our study due to the arrangement of chelicera! teeth, and the collecting efforts of Barbara Y. Main and relative length of legs. He recognized her husband Bert since the late 1940s, some 93 genera worldwide in the and of Roily McKay during his subfamily Lycosinae alone, about halt of appointment in the early 1970s. which were new. Subsequently, a large The main aim of this study is to provide a number of his genera have been generic overview of the Australian synonymised (Piatnick 2003), but purely Lycosidae and to place these genera m a by priority, a large number of his ill­ worldwide phylogenetic framework. Not defined genera will stay name-bearing surprisingly, this worldwide framework within the Lycosidae. Two of these has to be established as well, as there is Australasian Arachnology No. 68 Page5 considerable disagreement even on 'Hogna' immansueta (Simon, 1909); subfamily level (Dondale 1986, Zyuzin 'Hogna' burti (Hickman, 1944); 'Lycosa' 1993). We will base our results on the ariadnae McKay, 1979; 'Lycosa' phylogenetic analysis of both australico/a (Strand, 1913); and 'AIIocosa' morphological and molecular data, in palabunda (L. Koch, 1877). Tasmanicosa cooperation with Cor Vink (San Diego appears to be the valid generic name for State University). In addition, we aim to a large group of Australian wolf spiders re-describe the 145 currently recognized with a 'Union-Jack-pattern' on the species of Australian wolf spiders and to carapace. The type species, Tasmanicosa describe selected new species, in tasmanica (Hogg, 1905) is a junior particular, those which can be easily synonym of 'l..ycosa' godeffroy; L. Koch, confused with current species and very 1865 (unpublished data), one of the most common Australian lycosids. Complete common lycosids in the southern half of revisions of smaller genera, such as the Australia. Other species belonging to this 'serrata'-group (McKay, 1979, 1985) or genus are: 'Lycosa' /euckartii (Thorell, Tetra/ycosa Roewer, 1960 (see below) 1870); 'Lycosa' gilberta Hogg, 1905; will complement our project. 'Lycosa' musgravei McKay, 1974; and The Australasian lycosid fauna is 'Hogna' subrufa (Karsch, 1878). Dingosa dominated by two subfamilies, the is currently monospecific, however there Lycosinae (sensu Dondale, 1986) and an are a number of undescribed species undescribed subfamily containing the related to the type species of the genus, genera Artoria Thorell (Framenau 2002), D. simsoni (Simon, 1898), within Anoteropsis L. Koch and Notocosa Vink Australian collections. Another lycosine (Vink 2003). Trochosa' expo/fta L. Koch is 'Roewer -genus' awaits resurrection: also a representative of the latter McKay (1973, 1975) established the subfamily but does not fit into any of the 'bico/or-group' for wolf spiders with three listed genera. spectacularly coloured females mainly from the dry interior of mainland Within the Lycosinae, valid generic Australia. Roewer (1960) designated names representing Australian species, 'Lycosa' errans Hogg, 1905 as type of his are Venatrix Roewer (revised in new genus Hoggicosa, which appears to Framenau & Vink 2001), Venator Hogg, be the valid name of the 'bico/or-group'. 1900, and Tasmanicosa Roewer. Venator This genus currently contains nine contains currently only 2 species, but species (e.g. 'Lycosa' bicolor Hogg, 1905; must be regarded as one of the most 'Lycosa' duracki McKay, 1975; and diverse genera in Australia. A large 'Lycosa' forresti McKay, 1973). Another number of species can be attributed to large group of Australian Lycosinae this genus, which is characterized by an shows close affinities to the Northern overall brownish colouration and black Hemisphere genus Hogna Simon, 1885, patches of different shape on the surface both in genitalic and somatic characters. of the venter. Venator may include, for A morphological and molecular example, the common Venator spenceri comparison of these species with the type Hogg, 1900 (as the type of the genus), of the genus, Hogna radiata Latreille, Australasian Arachnology No. 68 Page 6 1817 will hopefully reveal its relationship References to the Australian representatives, such as 'Lycosa' crispipes L. Koch, 1877; 'Lycosa' Dondale, Charles D. (1986). The coral/ina McKay, 1974; 'Pardosa' pexa subfamilies of wolf spiders (Araneae: Hickman, 1944; and 'Lycosa' salifodina Lycosidae). X Congresso lnternationale McKay, 1976. de Aracnologia, Jaca/Spain. The subfamily Pardosinae (sensu Dondale 1986) currently contains only two Framenau, V. W., Gotch, T. B. & Austin, genera world-wide, Pardosa and A. D. (in prep). The wolf spiders of Acantholycosa.