Male Palp Research Articles

A New Species of the Spider Genus Aculepeira(Araneae:Araneidae) from Japan.

A new species of the spider genus Aculepeira (Araneidae) is described on the basis of the materials obtained from Mt. Higashi-nupukaushinupuri, Hokkaido, Japan. The species closely resembles Aculepeira carbonarioides (KEYSERLING, 1892), but can be distinguished by the shape of the male palp. The genus is new to the Japanese fauna.

Five New Small-sized Species of the Genus Cybaeus (Araneae: Cybaeidae) from the Chugoku District, Honshu, Japan.

Five new species of the spider genus Cybaeus are described from the Chugoku district, western Honshu, Japan, under the names C. hiroshimaensis, gonokawa, tsurusakii, nojimai, and okayamaensis. These species are relatively small (2.5-3.5mm in body length) and resemble each other in the general appearances, although each of them can be clearly distinguished from the other by their structures of male palp and female genitalia. Their distributions are allopatric or parapatric with each other. They can be considered as members of a single super-species or a closely related species-group.

Two New Species of the Genera Anelosimus and Achaearanea (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Singapore and Indonesia.

Two new species of the spider family Theridiidae are described from Singapore and Indonesia under the names, Anelosimus kohi (Singapore) and Achaearanea triangula (Singapore and Indonesia). Anelosimus kohi sp. nov. is distinguished from the related species, A. crassipes and A. taiwanicus, by the straight embolus and long tibia of male palpus, and Achaearanea triangula sp. nov. is distinguished from A. camura, A. mundula, A. vervoorti, A. wau and A. kaindi, described from New Guinea by the triangular conductor.

Clubiona kasanensis PAIK (Araneae: Clubionidae)New to the Japanese Fauna

A Korean clubionid spider, Clubiona kasanensis PAIK, 1990, is newly recorded from Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Its systematic position in the species group of Clubiona corticalis is discussed. The male palp is illustrated on the basis of the Japanese material.

Ontogeny and Homology in the Male Palpus of Orb Weaving Spiders and their Relatives, with Comments on Phylogeny (Araneoclada: Araneoidea, Deinopoidea)

Ontogeny and Homology in the Male Palpus of Orb Weaving Spiders and their Relatives, with Comments on Phylogeny (Araneoclada: Araneoidea, Deinopoidea)

THE SPIDER GENUS ANELOSIMUS (ARANEAE: THERIDIIDAE) IN JAPAN AND TAIWAN

Three new species belonging to the family Theridiidae are described from Japan and Taiwan, under the names of Anelosimus taiwanicus, A. iwawakiensis and A. exiguus. The female genitalia and the male palpus of the Japanese species, A. crassipes (BÖSENBERG et STRAND), are illustrated. A key to these four species is given.

A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF GNAPHOSID SPIDER FROM KOREA

Coreodrassus coreanus, a new genus and species, is described from Korea. This new genus is very closely allied to Orodrassus and Haplodrassus, but can be easily distinguished from them by presence of a patellar apophysis on the male palp, by having a dorsal spine on the tibia III, and by absence of ventral spines on the tibiae I and II. Type species: Coreodrassus coreanus sp. n.

Communication via substratum-coupled stridulation and reproductive isolation in wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Our studies of a new spider species, Schizocosa rovneri (Uetz & Dondale), and its sibling species, S. ocreata (Hentz), provide an example of how sexual communication functions as a species isolating mechanism. Sexual communication by substratum-coupled stridulation proves to be a critical factor in the reproductive isolation of these species. In laboratory pairings, males of both species court conspecific and heterospecific females indiscriminately. However, females only respond receptively and copulate with conspecific males. A forced mating technique that employed anaesthetized females tested for interfertility. Heterospecific pairings of female S. rovneri with male S. ocreata and female S. ocreata with male S. rovneri resulted in the production of egg sacs and offspring in each case. We designed a series of experiments to isolate the various components of sexual communication in S. rovneri. For the male S. rovneri, olfactory and/or tactile cues from the female's silk are sufficient to release courtship behaviour. For the female S. rovneri, substratum-coupled sound production (stridulation of the male palps) is necessary and is by itself sufficient to induce receptive behaviour.

A NEW SPIDER OF THE GENUS LEPTONETA (ARANEAE: LEPTONETIDAE) FROM KOREA

Up to the present, six species of the genus Leptoneta SIMON, 1872, L. coreana, L. hogyegulensis, L. simboggulensis, L. soryongensis, L. yongdamgulensis and L. hongdoensis, have been recorded in Korea. In this paper, the auhors described a new species, L. namhensis, from Namhae-do Isl., Kyeongsangnam-do, Korea. The present species is very similar to L. tsushimensis YAGINUMA, 1970 from Tsushima, Japan, but can be distinguished by the structure of tibial spur of male palp and the number of teeth of fang furrow.

A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS COELOTES (ARANEAE, AGELENIDAE) FROM THE YAEYAMA ISLANDS, OKINAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN

A new species of the genus Coelotes from the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture is described under the name of Coelotes yaeyamensis. The present species resembles Coelotes insidiosus L. KOCH, 1878 known from Japan (from Kyushu to Hokkaido) and Korea, but the former is distinguished from the latter by the shapes of the embolic conductor of the male palp and the internal genitalia of the female.

SPERMIOGENESIS AND SPERMATOPHORE INTELEMA TENELLASIMON (ARANEAE: TELEMIDAE)—AN ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDY

The spermatophore of the cave-spider Telema tenella is elaborated in the vas deferens. It has the shape of a long inverted gutter with two rows of digitations and spermatozoa piled up inside. The spermatozoon possesses a 9 + 3 axoneme, retracted in the cytoplasm to form from 4 to 4.5 peripheral whorls; the elongated nucleus and its acrosomal rod make 1.5 whorl. The spermatozoa keep the main part of their cytoplasm. The spermatophore is inserted in the male palp, then transferred to the female during coition. With the exception of this family, all other male Araneae transfer free spermatozoa during coition.

A Taxonomic Study of European and East African Species of the Genera Pelecopsis and Trichopterna (Araneae, Linyphiidae), with Descriptions of a New Genus and Two New Species of Pelecopsis from Kenya

On the basis of the results of an analysis primarily of the morphology of the male palps and palpal organs the delimitation of the erigonine genera Pelecopsis Simon and Trichopterna Kulczyński and the phylogenetic relationships between European and East African species of these genera are discussed. For the East African species Pelecopsis convexa (Holm), and P. bacelarae (di Caporiacco), together with two undescribed species from Nigeria, the new genus Locketia is established. Pelecopsis humiliceps sp.n. and P. albifrons sp.n., both from Kenya, are described and P. tenera (Holm, 1962), preocc. P. tenera (Schenkel, 1927), is replaced by P. tenuipalpis nom.n. Viewpoints are presented on evolutionary trends and phylogeny of European and East African Pelecopsis species.

Spiders of the genus Micaria Westr. from the Torneträsk area in Northern Swedish Lapland

AbstractMicaria tripunctata n. sp. from the Abisko National Park in the Torneträsk area is described and M. pulicaria (Sund.) and M. aenea Thor. are reported from this area for the first time. Diagnoses and descriptions of their copulatory organs are given as also of M. alpina L. Koch, the only species of the genus previously known from the same area. A functional relationship between the retinaculum of the bulb of the male palp and a pair of small grooves, here designated as the retinacular pockets, is suggested.

Studies on Species of HolarcticPardosaGroups (Araneae, Lycosidae). I:Redescription ofPardosa albomaculataEmerton and description of two new species from North America, with comments on some taxonomic characters

AbstractPardosa albomaculataEmerton is found to be a distinct species (previously treated as synonym toP. groenlandica(Thorell)); comments are given on synonyms, variation and distribution.P. lowrieisp.n. is described on material from Washington state, USA, and British Columbia, Canada;P. buckleisp.n. on material from Saskatchewan, Canada.P. albomaculataandP. lowrieiare closely related, differing in certain features of the male palps, notably the shape of the conductor, the terminal apophysis, and the embolus, as well as details of the epigynes. These two species andP. buckleibelong to the provisionally namedglacialis/groenlandicacomplex, including several Nearctic and Palae‐arctic species still not investigated in detail taxonomically. Comments are given on some taxonomic characters in the copulatory organs. In this respect emphasis is given to the importance of the shape of the mentioned palpal parts, which have hitherto been very little studied inPardosaspecies. Viewpoints on some species group characters are also given.

Two New Spiders of the Genus Sarutana (Leptonetidae: Araneae) from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

The present paper deals with the descriptions of two new species of the genus Sarutana, S. silvicola and S. abensis. These species have following generic characters.1. The outer margins of the maxillae, in the male, are strongly concave and the same shape is found in Masirana. In Falcileptoneta and Europian species, the maxillae are normal.2. The chelicera bears 8 teeth on the promargin of fang furrow, as in S. glabla and S. kawasawai, There are 8-11 in Falcileptoneta and 10-11 in Masirana.3. In the male palp, the femur with three rows of many spines on dorsal, ventral and prolateral.4. The apical end of the retrodorsal side of palpal tibia bears a special apophysis. The apophysis, in Sarutana, divergent and the shape is the characteristic of species.5. The emboli of S. silvicola and S. abensis have many teeth, as in S. kawasawai, while Falcileptoneta and Masirana have a sickle-like emboulus.

A new genus of Bulgarian cave spiders (Protoleptoneta bulgarica n.g., n. sp., Leptonetidae)

A new genus Protoleptoneta (P. bulgarica n. g., n. sp.) is described, which was collected in caves of the Western Balkan mountains - Bulgaria. The new genus unites features of the genera Leptoneta and Paraleptoneta but there are many differences, which divide it from these genera. It differs from Leptoneta as follows: the tarsus of male palp does not possess the characteristic apophysa of Leptoneta; the tarsus is less depressed and does not branch out; the teeth of chelicerae are equable and equidistant. It differs from Paraleptoneta as follows: the femora of male palp is spineless; near the top of tarsus, on ectal side, there is a thicker spot, provided with a strong spine longer than others; the tarsus is more depressed. Paraleptoneta italica is placed in the new genus Protoleptoneta. The origin and relationships between the genera Protoleptoneta, Leptoneta and Paraleptoneta are discussed; a hypothesis is that the genera Leptoneta and Paraleptoneta had been developing as independent phyletic groups and the origin of the two had been Protoleptoneta.

Copulation in Ixodid Ticks

Copulation of Hyalomma excavatum and Rhipicephalus sanguineus belonging to the Metastriata group of the Ixodidae has been studied. Methods of observation and inducing copulation off the host are described. Similarities and differences in male behavior of the Ixodidae have been compared with Argasidae. It has been found that the pattern of copulation in Metastriata differs not only from that of the Argasidae, but also from the Prostriata which belong to the same family (i.e., the Ixodidae). Furthermore, it has been observed that the fourth article of the male palp is essential for copulation, since males without it do not copulate. Copulation in ticks has been studied mainly in Argasidae (Nuttall and Merriman, 1911; Robinson, 1942; Feldman-Muhsam, 1969); in Ixodidae few observations are available (Bodkin, 1918; Moorhouse, 1966). This is probably due to the fact that Argasidae copulate eagerly in the laboratory, while in Ixodidae copulation is very difficult to obtain. Arthur (1962) claims that coupling and insemination in these groups (i.e., genera belonging to the Ixodidae, Metastriata group) require very much more investigation, as Nuttall and Merriman indicated as far back as 1911. Our observations show that there are both similarities and differences in the pattern of copulation between the two families. In the following, our present observations on Ixodidae will be compared with our previous observations (Feldman-Muhsam, 1969; Feldman-Muhsam et al., 1970) on copulation in Argasidae. Ixodid ticks of the Metastriata (or Amblyomminae) group are known to copulate on their hosts. Adults are frequently found attached to the host in couples, a male and a female feeding venter to venter, and in this position they copulate in the middle of their meal. The female completes engorgement only after copulation. If a female does not copulate, she does not fully engorge and may remain on the host awaiting a male for several weeks, instead of several days if she has been fertilized. The ixodid female which oviposits only once in her lifetime theoretically needs only one supply of sperm. Counts of two spermatophores of Hyalomma excavatum amounted to 80,000 and Received for publication 8 December 1970. * Supported by NIH grant AI-07711; U. S. Public Health Service. 120,000 sperms, respectively, whereas the number of eggs oviposited by one female generally does not exceed 10,000. Ticks of the Prostriata (Ixodidae) group may copulate both on and off the host (Balashov, 1967). Argasid ticks copulate always off the host. The general pattern of reproduction-subject to variations from one species to another-requires the female to copulate and to feed anew before each oviposition. The female oviposits several times during her life. Therefore the argasid male copulates many times: fed Ornithodoros tholozani have been observed in our laboratory to copulate once a day and 0. savignyi twice a day. Even starved males of O. tholozani and 0. savignyi copulated up to 21 and 32 times, respectively, during their life (Feldman-Muhsam, 1967a). The difference between Ixodidae and Argasidae in location and number of copulations, under natural conditions, seems to be the reason why, in the laboratory, it is easy to induce copulation in Argasidae and difficult in Ixodidae.

On a Japanese spider identified with Araneus quadratus of Europe

Two species of beautifully coloured araneine spiders regarded hitherto as different are often found in the northern part of Japan; one is called Akaonigumo or Red Araneus and the other Daidaionigumo or Orange Araneus. The former has long been identified with Araneus quadratus CLERCK and the latter with Araneus pinguis (KARSCH) in this country. The writer, however, has had some doubt about the justness of this identifica-tion, in that the red species can be found more in accord in its characters with the description of Araneus pinguis than with that of Araneus quadratus. Recently, through the kindness of Dr. M. Grasshoff and Dr. H. W. Levi, he has been given an oppor-tunity to examine some typical specimens of European Araneus quadratus. As a result of his comparative study, he has now come to a conclusion that the red species (Akaonigumo) has hitherto been wrongly identified with Araneus quadratus and that both speiders, red and orange (Akaonigumo and Daidaionigumo), can actually be referred to Araneus pinguis. So far as its shape and structure of male palp (embolus, conductor, median apophysis and terminal apophysis) and those of female epigynum (scape and posterior lamellae) are concerned, Araneus pinguis is clearly distinguishable from Araneus quadratus, but it must be admitted on the other hand that the former has some notable affinity with the latter, too. Consequently, it is considered highly possible that Araneus pinguis may be either a geographic variation or a subspecies derived from a common ancestral stock. For the time being, however, the writer still prefers to regard Araneus pinguis as an independent species for the following reasons. 1. It is not definitely known yet whether Araneus quadratus has varied with a cline across Siberia or its distribution is cut off somewhere on the continent. 2. There is much difference in sexual organs between Araneus pinguis and Araneus quadratus, so that the former seems to be far above the level of a subspecies of the latter in its characteristics. 3. The species reported as Araneus quadratus from the eastern part of Siberia (Amur and Kamchatka) may also be Araneus Pinguis. This is because the species from Manchuria and Sakhalin were found identifiable as the same species with Japanese one on the writer's examination. After all, the comparative study of species, European, Siberian and Japanese, is very important, in order not only to give each respective one the correct specific name but also to research the variation, especially the speciation caused by geo-graphic isolation in such a vast area. The key to the solution of all these pro-blems, therefore, may possibly be found from the more profound and detailed study of the Siberian species.

New Species of Palpimanidae (Araneae) From the West Indies

Members of the family Palpimanidae have been reported from many parts of the vorld but the. number of genera and species remains small as compared to many other families of spiders. Five genera have long been recognized from the Western Hemisphere, as follows: Anisaedus Simon, I893 Compsopus TUllgren, I9O.5 Theringia Keyserling, I89I; Otiothops Macleay, 1839; and Palpimanus Dufour, 182o. Species assigned to the genus Otiothops far outnumber the species belonging to the remaining four genera, taken in the Vestern Hemisphere, whereas species belonging to the genus Palpimanus have been described far more frequently than in any other genus in the Eastern Hemisphere. Apparently, only one species of Anisaedus has heretofore been described from the Western Hemisphere and that was collected in Ecuador. As far as I have been able to learn, up to the present time twelve species of Otiothops have been described from South America, Central America and the West Indies.. Both sexes are now known for O. brevis Simon from Venezuela, O. macleayi Banks from Panama, O. walckenaeri MacLeay from Cuba. O. calcaratus MelloLeito from Colombia is known only from the male. The eight remaining species are known only from females. Ever since finding both sexes of O. macleayi Banks in Panama in I934 and I936 I have been interested in the family. I have taken this species in large mimbers in many different localities in Panama. I have not yet found species belonging to the genus Otiotkops in Jamaica, W. I. where I have spent considerable, time on collecting trips in the last decade. The genus did not appear in my recent collection from Puerto Rico where I had hoped to find the male of O. lutzi Petrunkevitch. I have two immature specimens taken in the spring of 1964 on St. John, U. S. Virgin Islands. which I am tentatively assigning to O. lutzi. In my collection made on the island .of Trinidad, W. I., in the spring of I964 I found a very interesting male and several females of a species which I am assigning to Otiotkops even though the male palp shows features not heretofore associated with this genus. This species is described later in this brief paper. While searching through the collection of palpimanid

Three anomalous spiders from Japan

1. Neoscona scylloides BOESENBERG et STRAND The spider was collected by Mr. Y. Suganami at Mt. Tsuchidake on August 21, 1965. The general appearance is that of an adult male: chelicerae, carapace, spination of legs and the other parts are similar to a normal male. Both palpi are equally developed, but imperfect and anomalous. The tarsus has an alveolar cavity, but the genital bulb elongates cylindrically, without any complicated structure. Paracymbium is on the ectal side of the base of the tarsus, but its shape is simple and much different from a normal one. The abdomen has a scape of epigynum which is not fully developed as in the case of subadult female. Present spider seems to be a male slightly affected by female element, that is to say, this individual may be an intersexuality with a strong predominance of maleness. 2. Tetragnatha praedonia L. KOCH The spider was collected by Mr. K. Murai at Yamaguchi City, on August 2, 1958. Subadult female. The right chelicera is normal, but the left one is very short, about a half of the right in length. This anomaly seems to be the result of regeneration of the left chelicera that was lost for some reason. 3. Coelotes antri (KOMATSU) This specimen was collected by Mr. Y. Tarumi at Minoo City near Osaka on September 15, 1966. This individual is clearly a subadult male, compared with another normal subadult male of the same color and shape as the former, both having been collected at the same place and at the same time. But each palp of the former shows anomalous development. Left palp: patellal apophysis, tibial apophysis and cymbium are normal as in an adult male, but the genital bulb is not normaly specialized. Right palp: shorter than the left palp; patellal apophysis is imperfect, and the tibial apophysis is developed anomalously; cymbium is short and thick; genital bulb is abnormal, differing from the left one and also from that of a normal adult male. This spider may be a kind of abnormal neoteny, but since there is no clear evidence to determine so, it is described here as a case of anomaly of male palp.