Abstract
Abstract Mouse spiders (genus Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) are a lineage of trapdoor spiders with males of many species having a brightly coloured red cephalic region, an abdomen that is tinged metallic blue, and the habit of wandering during the day in search of a mate. A total of 17 species of Missulena have been described in Australia to date but most descriptions are based exclusively on males and always small numbers of specimens. Here, we describe three new species of Missulena from the Pilbara and Goldfields regions of Western Australia based on morphology and genetic data: Missulena davidisp. nov. (male and female), M. iugumsp. nov. (male) and M. manningensissp. nov. (male). One of them is presently known only from its type locality and another one from a small range based on two specimens but M. davidi sp. nov. has a linear range of almost 300 km and is genetically highly structured. We use genetic data for 75 specimens as a foundation to evaluate morphological variability in this species and note substantial variation in several characters commonly used to identify species such as body size, colouration, rastellum shape and eye distances. This variation does not necessarily relate to phylogeographic structure as inferred from the genetic data, but rather seems to reflect natural variability both within and between localised populations. Overall, our results stress the need to evaluate a large series of specimens for mygalomorph taxonomy and provide an interesting example of intraspecific variability in hard-to-collect species that are usually underrepresented in museum collections.
Highlights
Mouse spiders are a lineage of trapdoor spiders from Australia and Chile
We describe three new species of Missulena from the Pilbara and Goldfields regions of Western Australia based on morphology and genetic data: Missulena davidi sp. nov., M. iugum sp. nov. and M. manningensis sp. nov
One of them is presently known only from its type locality and another one from a small range based on two specimens but M. davidi sp. nov. has a linear range of almost 300 km and is genetically highly structured
Summary
Mouse spiders (genus Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) are a lineage of trapdoor spiders from Australia and Chile. Unlike other trapdoor spiders (Mygalomorphae), at least within an Australian context, the males of many mouse spider species have been recorded to wander during the day in search of a mate Correlated with this diurnal activity pattern, they have striking colour patterns, such as a red or orange cephalic region and metallic or iridescent patterning on the abdomen (Framenau et al 2014; Harms and Framenau 2013; Miglio et al 2014). We describe three new species of Missulena from central and north-western Western Australia Two of these new species follow the “typical” pattern of rarity in research collections and taxonomic descriptions that are based on a few males from single localities, the morphological descriptions are backed up by a molecular phylogenetic framework. A qualitative description of the morphological characters that are rather conserved versus those that show substantial variability within species will aid future species descriptions
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