Symposium “Spiders of the Greater Mekong Region” Arawan Riverside Hotel, Pakse, Champasak, Laos 12.-15.11.2012 Organisation: Peter Jäger, Bounthob Praxaysombath, Liphone Nophaseud Linguistic editor: Emma Shaw On-site coordination: Gerry Duckitt Sponsors: www.biopat.de www.senckenberg.de INDEX 1 WELCOME 2 PROGRAMME 3 ABSTRACTS 4 LIST OF PARTICPANTS 5 MAPS 6 INFORMATION 7 LIST OF USEFUL PHRASES 1 WELCOME Pakse, Champasak, Laos Dear participants, It is a pleasure for us to welcome you at the Symposium “Spiders of the Greater Mekong Region” in Laos. This first meeting in this region is intended to bring arachnologists together to exchange their results and to facilitate future collaborations. It was planned in the year 2012 also as preparative meeting for the first International Congress of Arachnology in Asia (Taiwan, Kenting, 23.–28.6.2013). In Pakse we found a nice venue at the banks of the river Mekong and in close proximity to habitats for a post-symposium workshop. The first part —three days of presentations, poster sessions and discussions— will be attended by more than 50 colleagues from fifteen countries. In the second part at Tad Etu, more than 30 persons will search for spiders, take photos, identify and, again, discuss results. We hope that all participants will enjoy the time in Laos and gain valuable experiences. Since it is the first time we organise such a meeting in Laos we apologise if everything does not flow smoothly. We try to help wherever we can, so do not hesitate to contact us during the meeting. The present compilation list includes the programme, abstracts, contact data of all participants, some maps and hopefully useful information for your stay. At this point we would like to thank Dr Emma Shaw for kindly polishing abstracts and other texts linguistically, and Gerry Duckitt for helping in organising on-site issues! We also would like to thank BIOPAT e.V. (Germany) for their generous financial support in covering travel grants, local transport and the venue costs. The Senckenberg Research Institute provided staff and hosted the website. We are looking forward to meet you all in person and wish you a good time in Laos, PETER JÄGER BOUNTHOB PRAXAYSOMBATH LIPHONE NOPHASEUD 2 PROGRAMME Symposium at Arawan Riverside Hotel, Pakse 11.11. Sunday 18.00 Ice-Breaker at the pool area of Arawan Hotel 12.11. Monday 10.00–12.00 Registration 12.00–13.00 Lunch Break 13.00–13.30 Symposium opening 13.30–14.00 Jäger, Ono & Li: Starting the “Asian Society of Arachnology” Part I 14.00–14.20 Hippargi: Spider dynamics in thorn forest and grassland ecosystem of Solapur, Maharashtra, India. 14.20–14.40 Jäger & Praxaysombath: Spiders in Laos — a 10 years update. 14.40–15.00 Jeffery et al.: Spider diversity in malaria endemic area — the search for the arachnid predator of malarial vector in Peninsula Malaysia. 15.00–15.20 Short break 15.20–15.40 Koomen: Antlike jumping spiders of Borneo. 15.40–16.00 Miller & Pham: Improving the informatic value of diverse tropical arthropod inventories with digital images and DNA barcodes 16.15–17.00 Poster session 17.45 Bus to Khamfong boat restaurant [57] 18.00 Dinner at Boat Restaurant (50.000 KIP per person for a set menu with 5 dishes) 21.00 Bus back to Arawan Hotel 13.11. Tuesday 09.00–09.20 Hadole: Phylogenetic analysis of some Oxyopidae and Pisauridae from Central India (Araneae, Lycosoidea): an in silico approach. 09.20–09.40 Keswani: Diversity and population density of spiders in banana field ecosystems from India. 09.40–10.00 Lanka: Bio-diversity of spiders from Radhanagari Wild Life Sanctuary, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. 10.00–10.20 Mohamed Dzarawi & Hashim: A survey of the trap door spider genus Liphistius in peninsular Malaysia. 10.20–10.40 Short break 10.40–11.00 Mohd Ghazali et al.: Highland spiders in Malaysia. 11.20–11.40 Muslimin et al.: Genetics of Malaysian spiders. 11.40–12.00 Abdul Aziz et al.: The wolf spider Pardosa sp. as a model for invertebrate developmental neurobiology. 12.00–14.00 Lunch Break 14.00–14.20 Ono: Spider fauna of Vietnam with a special reference to Mesothelae. 14.20–14.40 Petcharad et al.: The effects of rubber plantation-forest edge on the composition of understorey web-building spiders at Khuan Khao Wang Forest Park, Songkhla Province, Southern Thailand. 14.40–15.30 Ono, Li & Jäger: Starting the “Asian Society of Arachnology” Part II 16.00 Bus to Tad Paxuam [57], dinner, collecting, visit to the museum 22.00 Bus back to Arawan Hotel 14.11. Wednesday 09.00–09.20 Mohd Ghazali et al.: Non-intrusive spider photography. 09.20–09.40 Quasin & Uniyal: Diversity of spiders along an altitudinal gradient in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, western Himalaya. 09.40–10.00 Siliwal: Recent advances in mygalomorph studies in India. 10.00–10.20 Stenchly: Spider communities in Indonesian cacao agro-forestry diversity, web density and spatio-temporal turnover. 10.20–10.40 Short break 10.40–11.00 Chomphuphuang et al.: Diversity of spiders in a secondary forest and agricultural area, Nan province, Thailand. 11.20–11.40 Vankhede: Araneomorphs from India. 11.40–12.00 Vichitbandha: Relationships of spiders and their environments: cases in agro- ecosystems. 12.00–14.00 Lunch Break 14.00–15.00 Poster Session 15.00–15.20 Phomprasith: Spiders from Khao Chon, Takhli, Nakhonsawan Province. 15.20–15.40 Bodkhe: Ecology and distribution of spiders in Lonar crater sanctuary from India. 15.40–16.00 Shaw: A technique for long term in-situ monitoring of tropical Theraphosidae. 16.00–16.20 Cai: Diversity of spiders in tropical urban habitats. 16.20–16.40 Short break 16.40–17.40 Li, Ono & Jäger: Starting the “Asian Society of Arachnology” Part III 17.40–18.00 Closing the symposium 19.00 Dinner at Arawan Hotel (Pool Area) [preset menu for 50.000 KIP per person] 15.11. Thursday Excursions, shopping, and relaxing... - For the excursion to Wat Phou 20 persons have registered so far. A bus for 20 persons will cost approx. 170 US dollars [i.e. 7–8 US Dollar per person for the trip plus an entrance fee of 30.000 KIP per person]. Don’t miss the beautiful Argiope dang, recorded from Wat Phou! It is recommended to start early in the morning to avoid the high temperatures and too many tourists during the ascent to Wat Phou. More destinations, e.g. for collecting, may be arranged according to prior agreement with participants. See also Map Pakse and Surroundings. - The other group could stay in Pakxe and visit the habitats at the Phou Salao (nos. 2 and 17 respectively in the first two maps). If necessary a van or bus can be organised. We are hoping to arrange a joint dinner to accommodate all participants. Excursion and Workshop at Tad Etu 16.11. Friday 09.30 Bus to Tad Etu [34] 10.30 Arrival at Tad Etu and check-in 17.11. Saturday 18.11. Sunday 19.11. Monday 20.11. Tuesday 09.00 Bus to Pak Song [29] 10.30 Bus to Tad Fane 21.00 Bus back to Tad Etu 21.11 Wednesday 22.11. Thursday 23.11. Friday 10.00 Bus back to Pakse (various hotels, airport, bus station) [27] I leave most of our activities unscheduled. We can discuss day by day, what we plan to do and you can add by pen. Breakfast and dinner are supposed to take place at Tad Etu (except for dinner on Tuesday, at Tad Fane). Lunch can be planned also at Tad Etu in case it is needed. Probably some fruits and water in the field will be suitable. It is likely that I will rent a bike for the duration, just in case. See also Map Tad Etu. 3 ABSTRACTS (oral presentation [o], poster [p], presenting author) The wolf spider Pardosa sp. as a model for invertebrate developmental neurobiology Noraishah Mydin Abdul-Aziz, Kamil-Ali Obeid Braima, Mustakiza Muslimin, John Jeffery, Amir- Ridhwan Mohd-Ghazali, Y.L. Lau & M. Rohela [o] We have found the wolf spider Pardosa sp. to occur in abundance in urban and suburban areas of human dwellings close to the Batu Caves, well known as a hotbed for spider fauna in Peninsula Malaysia. We have collected these spiders and their egg-sacs, dissected them and have done careful staging of its developmental levels encompassing cumulus migration, germ band formation, prosomal limb buds elongation, inversion, postembryonic staging and 1st instar. Furthermore, we have utilised the murine T-cadherin gene as an mRNA probe and have found that this gene may be important as a tool for evolutionary development as it is expressed in the region of L1-L2 (presumptive legs level 1-2) during prosomal limb buds elongation. The T-cadherin gene has previously been shown to be expressed in the trunk region of chicks. We summarise the possibility of having the Pardosa sp. as a potential model to study genes for developmental biology as its embryos are relatively easy to manipulate. Ecology and distribution of spiders in Lonar crater sanctuary from India. Atul Bodkhe [o] Lonar is the world’s No. 3 crater, formed 50 million years ago, due to meteorite impact. The government of India declared Lonar as a Wildlife Sanctuary on 8th June 2000. Total reserved forest = 266.08 ha, water body = 77.39 ha, cultivation = 39.75 ha, Total = 383.22 ha. It is the smallest sanctuary in India but the habitat is very typical and it is very close to a human settlement.