Abstract
The phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data demonstrate that all “micronetine” species of a desmitracheate system form a monophyly. Macrargus Dahl, 1886 is a “micronetine” genus, the species of which have a haplotracheate system in general, while Macrargus alpinus Li & Zhu, 1993 was found to have a desmitracheate system; this makes its generic placement problematic. According to the results of phylogenetic analysis, we transfer Macrargus alpinus to another genus as Nippononeta alpina (Li & Zhu, 1993), comb. n., and provide a redescription of its genital characters and somatic features. Comparisons with other “micronetine” species with a desmitracheate system are provided. Putative synapomorphies for Nippononeta, the clade Nippononeta + Agyneta, and for the “desmitracheate micronetines” clade, as well as their relationship with Helophora, are provided and discussed.
Highlights
Linyphiidae Blackwall, 1859 is a species-rich family of spiders which has species-specific genitalia but more conservative somatic features in general
The seven subfamilies currently accepted in Linyphiidae are delimited largely based on genital characters, except for Erigoninae Emerton, 1882, which was originally defined by having a simple type male palp (Merrett 1963, Millide 1977), and redefined on the basis of its desmitracheate system (Blest 1976, Millidge 1984)
Our results show that all desmitracheate “micronetines” form a monophyly, and Macrargus alpinus falls into the Nippononeta clade, distantly related to Macrargus rufus (Fig. 1)
Summary
Linyphiidae Blackwall, 1859 is a species-rich family of spiders which has species-specific genitalia but more conservative somatic features in general. The seven subfamilies currently accepted in Linyphiidae are delimited largely based on genital characters, except for Erigoninae Emerton, 1882, which was originally defined by having a simple type male palp (Merrett 1963, Millide 1977), and redefined on the basis of its desmitracheate system (Blest 1976, Millidge 1984) Such a classification for “erigonines” has long been puzzled by the observations that some “erigonine” species have genitalia of simple type, but possess haplotracheate systems (Hormiga 2000, Miller and Hormiga 2004), while some “micronetine” species have genitalia of complex type, but possess desmitracheate systems (Millidge 1984, Dupérré 2013, Yan et al 2015). Putative synapomorphies for Nippononeta and the desmitracheate “micronetine” groups proposed by Yan et al (2015) are revised for further studies
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