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SANSA NEWS

No 27

SEPT-DEC 2016

Inside this issue:

Reminder: AFRAS colloquium….…..1 SANSA 20 years old...……...............1 Bontebok National Park………….....2 Table Mountain National Park…...3-4 National Museum……………........5-6

Field observation Q and A..….....7-10

Recent publications……….…….....11

New species…………………….…..12

New publications……………………12

Editors and coordinators:

Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman &

Robin Lyle

ARC-Plant Protection Research

Institute

Private Bag X134

Queenswood

0121

South Africa

E-mail: [email protected]

Charles Haddad

Department of Zoology & Ento-

mology

University of the Free State

P.O. Box 339

Bloemfontein

9300

South Africa

E-mail: [email protected]

NATIONAL SPIDER SPECIES COUNT

JANUARY 2015 — 2171 species JUNE 2015 — 2192 species OCTOBER 2015 — 2220 species MAY 2016 — 2234 species DECEMBER 2016 — 2239 species

2017 AFRAS COLLOQUIUM WESTERN CAPE

22-25 January 2017

The countdown to the 12th AFRAS Colloquium has begun. The Colloquium will be hosted jointly by the ARC-PPRI Spider Research Unit and the University of the Free State under the auspices of the African Arachnological Society (AFRAS). The Colloquium will be held at the Goudini Spa near Worcester in the Western Cape, and is going to be very exciting, with a number of foreign visitors that have already registered. AFRAS was initiated in 1987 and is 30 years old in 2017. It is going to be a feast!

REMINDER

SANSA 20 years old in 2017— BIG PARTY

SANSA is 20 years old in 2017 and we are going to celebrate the oc-casion at Goudini Spa during the AFRAS Colloquium. There is a spe-cial workshop organized for SANSA, packed with >22 posters and papers dealing with different research projects. The workshop is going to be held on Monday 23 January 2017. All interested peo-ple in the vicinity of Goudini should please contact us and pop in for the day to join in the festivi-ties. We would like to meet you all and thank you for your support and collaboration over the years!!

O ….what a nice party it is going to be!

V. vd Walt

SANSA NEWS 27

SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4 NATIONAL PARKS REPORTED ON IN PREVIOUS ISSUES

SANSA NEWS 23 - 1. Kruger National Park SANSA NEWS 25 - 2. Namaqua National Park, 3. Addo National Parks SANSA NEWS 26 - 4. Augrabies National Park, 5. Richterveld National Park

6. BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARK

The Bontebok National Park (BNP) was established at its cur-rent location in the Western Cape Province in 1960 to save the bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) from extinc-tion. The 3475 ha BNP is situated 8 km from the town of Swellendam (34°02’S, 20°25’E) and is located in the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains. It is bordered to the south by the Breede River. The annual rainfall is 511 mm, of which 59% falls in winter. The vegetation of the BNP is classified as Swellendam Silcrete Fynbos, a vegetation unit that exhibits floristic features of both fynbos and renosterveld, with very high plant species richness. Spiders were collected during several surveys undertaken by various museums. However, Elton le Roux, a member of SANSA, who was stationed in the park for a while, made a valuable contribution in documenting the diversity of BNP. So far 41 families represented by 137 species have been sampled (Table 1). The Araneidae (17 spp.) was the most diverse, followed by the Gnaphosidae (15 spp.) and Lyco-sidae (12 spp.).

Bontebok National Park (BNP)

FAMILY SPP. FAMILY SPP.

Agelenidae 2 Nephilidae 1

Amaurobiidae 2 Oecobiidae 1

Ammoxenidae 1 Palpimanidae 1

Anapidae 1 Phyxelididae 2

Araneidae 17 Philodromidae 2

Caponiidae 1 Pholcidae 1

Clubionidae 3 Pisauridae 4

Corinnidae 1 Prodidomidae 3

Ctenizidae 1 Salticidae 12

Cyrtaucheniidae 2 Scytodidae 3

Dictynidae 1 Selenopidae 2

Dysderidae 1 Sparassidae 4

Eresidae 2 Tetragnathidae 3

Eutichuridae 2 Theraphosidae 3

Gnaphosidae 15 Theridiidae 8

Hahniidae 1 Thomisidae 9

Hersiliidae 1 Trachelidae 1

Linyphiidae 1 Uloboridae 1

Liocranidae 1 Zodariidae 5

Lycosidae 13 Zoropsidae 1

Migidae 1

THERAPHOSIDAE Harpactira cafreriana

SPARASSIDAE Palystes sp.

E. le Ro

ux

E. le Ro

ux

TABLE 1: SPIDER FAMILIES AND SPECIES SAMPLED

FROM THE BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARK

Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected] and

Elton le Roux at [email protected]

SANSA NEWS 27

SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4

7. TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

The aim of this study, as part of a series of surveys of the National Parks of South Africa, was to compile the first checklists of the spider species in the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP). The TMNP stretches from north of Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula to the south-western extremity, the Cape of Good Hope. The flat-topped Table Mountain (1086 m a.s.l.) is the centre piece. The TMNP falls within a global biodiversity hotspot, the Cape Floristic Region. Much of the mountain is dominated by Peninsula granite fynbos, while the top of the mountain and some sides have Peninsula sandstone fyn-bos. There are also natural indigenous southern afro-temperate for-ests on the eastern and southern sides of the mountain. All historical and existing published records, as well as newly sampled records were used to compile the list. Recently collected specimens came from several surveys that were undertaken by the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town to sample spiders and other inverte-brates to address several ecological questions around the conserva-tion of biodiversity on Table Mountain (Pryke & Samways 2008, 2009a,b, 2010, 2012; Rebelo et al. 2011; Uys 2012). Research shows that while the upper slope and summit are well protected, the lower slopes are in need of urgent attention. There are also several temper-ate sandstone caves falling within the TMNP housing several spider species (Dippenaar-Schoeman & Myburgh 2009; Sharratt & Samways 2000). A total of 53 spider families represented by 180 genera and 308 spe-cies are presently known from the TMNP. The three most diverse families are Salticidae (45 spp.), Thomisidae (29 spp.) and Gna-phosidae (26 spp.) (Table 1).

Menemerus bivittatus

Chariobas cylindraceus

Avelis hystriculus

Green area showing TMNP

P. W

ebb

P

. Web

b

V. vd

Walt

N. Larsen

Presently, of the 308 spp.:

20 spp. (6.5%) were data deficient and could not be identified to species level, or could possibly being new to science.

148 spp (48.1%) have a wide distribution in the Afrotropical Re-gion and can be listed as Least Concern

197 spp (64%%) are South African endemics

98 spp (32%%) are Western Cape endemics

5 spp. (1.6%) are TMNP endemics

SANSA NEWS 27

SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 4

TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK cont. REFERENCES DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. & MYBURGH, J.G. 2009. A review of the cave spiders (Arachnida: Arane-ae) from South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Soci-ety of South Africa 64: 53–61. PICKER, M.D. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 1996. Faunal diver-sity and endemicity of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa – a first assessment. Biodiversity and Conserva-tion 5: 591–606. PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2008. Conservation of invertebrate biodiversity on a mountain in a global biodiversity hotspot, Cape Floral Region. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 3027–3043. PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2009a. Recovery of invertebrate diversity in a rehabilitated city land-scape mosaic in the heart of a biodiversity hotspot. Landscape Urban Planning 93: 54–62. PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2009b. Conservation of the insect assemblages of the Cape Peninsula bio-diversity hotspot. Journal of Insect Conservation 13: 627–641. PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2010. Significant varia-bles for the conservation of mountain invertebrates. Journal of Insect Conservation 14:247–256. PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2012. Importance of using many taxa and having adequate controls for monitoring impacts of fire for arthropod conserva-tion. Journal of Insect Conservation 16: 177–185. REBELO, T.G., FREITAG, S., CHENEY, C. & MCGEOCH, M.A. 2011. Prioritising species of special concern for monitoring in Table Mountain National ark: The chal-lenge of a species rich, threatened ecosystem. Koedoe 53: 1–14. SHARRATT, N.J., PICKER, M.D. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2000. The invertebrate fauna of the sandstone caves of the Cape Peninsula (South Africa): patterns of en-demism and conservation priorities. Biodiversity and Conservation 9: 107–143. UYS, C.J. 2012. The impact of pine plantations and alien invertebrates on native forest and fynbos inver-tebrate communities in Table Mountain National Park. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cape Town.

FAMILY GEN SPP. FAMILY GEN SPP.

AGELENIDAE 2 2 NEPHILIDAE 1 2

AMAUROBIIDAE 3 4 OECOBIIDAE 1 1

ANAPIDAE 1 2 OONOPIDAE 1 1

ARANEIDAE 13 20 ORSOLOBIDAE 1 1

CAPONIIDAE 2 2 OXYOPIDAE 2 4

CHUMMIDAE 1 1 PALPIMANIDAE 2 2

CLUBIONIDAE 1 3 PHILODROMIDAE 3 4

CORINNIDAE 2 2 PHOLCIDAE 3 7

CTENIDAE 1 2 PHYXELIDIDAE 2 2

CYATHOLIPIDAE 4 4 PISAURIDAE 6 6

CYRTAUCHENIIDAE 1 1 PRODIDOMIDAE 2 4

DEINOPIDAE 1 1 PHRUROLITHIDAE 1 1

DESIDAE 1 1 SALTICIDAE 26 45

DICTYNIDAE 3 3 SCYTODIDAE 1 3

DRYMUSIDAE 1 1 SEGESTRIIDAE 1 3

DYSDERIDAE 1 1 SELENOPIDAE 1 3

ERESIDAE 3 4 SPARASSIDAE 2 3

EUTICHURIDAE 2 6 TETRAGNATHIDAE 4 4

GALLIENIELLIDAE 1 1 THERAPHOSIDAE 2 3

GNAPHOSIDAE 14 26 THERIDIIDAE 9 15

HAHNIIDAE 1 4 THOMISIDAE 16 32

LINYPHIIDAE 7 8 TRACHELIDAE 3 5

LIOCRANIDAE 2 3 ULOBORIDAE 2 2

LYCOSIDAE 10 22 ZODARIIDAE 10 15

MIGIDAE 1 3 ZOROPSIDAE 2 2

MIMETIDAE 1 1

NEMESIIDAE 2 5

TABLE 1: Spider families and species sampled from the TMNP

ARANEIDAE GNAPHOSIDAE LYCOSIDAE

SALTICIDAE THOMISIDAE

SALTICIDAE

THOMISIDAE ARANEIDAE

GNAPHOSIDAE

LYCOSIDAE

MOST DIVERSE FAMILIES OF TMNP

Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected] and Norman Larsen at [email protected]

SANSA NEWS 27

NEWS SNIPPETS

NATIONAL MUSEUM, BLOEMFONTEIN

PSEUDOSCORPION UNIT

GETTING A GRIP ON PSEUDOSCORPION CHELAE

Pre-Devonian in origin, the Pseudoscorpiones are one of the oldest extant lineages and over the past 392 Ma have di-verged into more than 3400 known species in 26 families. Most are less than five millimetres in length, though they range from less than one millimetre in some Chthoniidae to just over ten millimetres in females of Garypus titanius Beier, 1961. They superficially resemble true scorpions, but lack the elongated metasoma (tail) and telson (sting). They do, howev-er, share the six-segmented pedipalps, with the tibia and tar-sus modified into a chela with a movable finger. The chela (or grasping claws) house some of the pseudoscorpion's most sensitive sensory structures and are used primarily for envi-ronmental awareness and subduing prey, with members of the suborder Iocheirata possessing venom teeth on either one or both of the chelal fingers. Studying these creatures, you soon realise that there are al-most as many unique chelal morphologies as there are spe-cies. Many species that inhabit the leaf litter of forest floors, for example the Pseudotyrannochthoniidae and Geogarypi-dae, have narrow and elongate chelae best suited to extend their sensory range when navigating and hunting in this dark environment. Others, such as the Gymnobisiidae, have more compact chelae with the teeth arranged on flexible lamellae and the venom tooth on the fixed finger modified into a multi-tooth structure. The Feaellidae, a sister group to all the other families, have chelae with barely any teeth and no venom apparatus.

One of the better documented habits of pseudoscorpions is their phoretic association with many flying insects, whereby the pseudoscorpion attaches itself to a host insect by grasping it with its chela, and travels along with its host to a new loca-tion where it would then detach. Since this is only an occa-sional behaviour most pseudoscorpion species that engage in, phoretic species do not have chelae specifically modified to prevent damage to the host when grasping, often leaving scars on the host’s cuticle where the pseudoscorpion was attached. But what if you depend on your host for survival? Would it not then be beneficial to reduce any potential dam-age? Examples of this can be seen with the bee-associated pseudoscorpions of the genus Ellengsenius, where they sur-vive by feeding on parasites within beehives. Thus, if a bee colony moves the pseudoscorpions have to tag along with them, without causing damage to their flying partner, since an injured worker bee may not be able to keep up with the rest of the hive. Thus, to prevent injury to their bee hosts the asso-ciated pseudoscorpions have chelae modified with both a ventrally curved movable finger and a groove on the anterior of the fixed chelal finger. Together, these modifications allow the pseudoscorpion to effectively grasp around the bee’s leg and not directly onto the leg, which could possibly cause dam-age by crushing the exoskeleton of the leg.

Many more such modifications exist. Some pseudoscorpions have chelae ornamented with spines, tubercles, deep indenta-tions, and even large protruding structures. The functions of many of these modifications have are yet to be determined, but each will undoubtedly be fascinating.

Contact: J.A. Neethling at [email protected]

Pseudotyrannochthoniidae – Afrochthonius sp. [Photo: J.A. Neethling]

Geogarypidae – Geogarypus flavus (Beier, 1947) [Photo: J.A. Neethling]

Gymnobisiidae – Gymnobisium quadrispinosum (Tullgren, 1907)

Feaellidae – Feaella capensis Beier, 1955 [Photo: J.A. Neethling]

Cheliferidae – Ellingsenius sculpturatus (Lewis, 1903) [Photo: J.A. Neethling]

REFERENCES BEIER, M. 1947. Zur kenntnis der Pseudoscorpionidenfauna des Südlichen Afrika, inbesondere der Südwest- und Südafrikanischen trockengebiete. Eos 23: 285-339. HARVEY, M.S. 1992. The phylogeny and classification of the Pseudoscor-pionida (Chelicerata: Arachnida). Invertebrate Taxonomy 6: 1373-1435. LEWIS, R.J. 1903. On an undescribed species of Chelifer. Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club 8: 497-498. TULLGREN, A. 1907. Chelonethiden aus Natal und Zululand. In: Wirén, A. (Ed.). Zoologiska studier tillagnade Professor T. Tullberg. Almquist and Wiksells, Uppsala. 216-236.

SANSA NEWS 27

NEWS SNIPPETS

NATIONAL MUSEUM BLOEMFONTEIN

SPIDER UNIT

Two publications on the Afrotropical species of the Sicariidae are in preparation

The identification of the National Museum collection to species level has taken up most of the time since the last

newsletter. Families up to Lycosidae have been worked through so far. This work has led to the identification of possi-

ble new species in all the families worked on so far.

Interesting finds in the National Museum collection:

Lycosidae: Arctosa promontorii Lycosidae: Tricassa deserticola

PUBLICATIONS ON THE WAY

LOTZ, L.N. (under review). An update on the spider ge-nus Loxosceles (Araneae: Sicariidae) in the Afrotropical region, with description of new species. Zootaxa.

LOTZ, L.N. (under review). An update on the spider ge-nus Sicarius (Araneae: Sicariidae) in the Afrotropical re-gion, with description of new species. Zootaxa.

P. W

ebb

Sicarius sp. in action

SANSA NEWS 27

FIELD OBSERVATIONS Q and A—PAGE

Male jumping spider of the subfamily Ballinae (Salticidae). Size: 4.0mm. From a leaf of Setaria megaphylla grass on the south bank of Umhlatuzana River, North Park Nature Reserve, Northdene, Queensburgh. 17th October, 2016.

For comparison: Subfamily Ballinae, female. Mt Coke State Forest, Eastern Cape. Photo: Vida van der Walt on www.jumpingspiders.co.za

The spider does not jump but runs about tirelessly, and this made photographing it with my little camera tricky, especially as it recovered very quickly indeed from a spell in the fridge. The pictures were eventually obtained by holding the plastic container against a packet of frozen peas on my lap. Not the most comfortable way to take photographs!! I have previously only found the spider on two occasions (in North Park Reserve) and in both cases it was on Gymnosporia nemorosa trees where, to my biased eye and opinion, it superficially resembled the bigger, waxy Notosacantha badia tortoise beetles (although no predator would be fooled since the spider is restlessly running about but beetle remains immobile). I append a picture of the beetle for your inter-est. If the spider is involved in any mimetic relationship, it is more likely to be with active immature stages of waxy scales such as Ceroplastes or the restlessly active ‘trash-carrying’ Chrysopidae lacewing larvae.

Pruinose Notosacantha badia (Boheman, 1850) on the dorsal leaf surface of Gymnosporia nemorosa (Ecklon & Zeyher) Szyszylowicz (Celastraceae) in North Park Nature Reserve, Northdene, Queensburgh. 10th October, 2013. Photo disc #4: DSC 00210.

Pruinescent Notosacantha badia with fresh feeding trenches on a leaf of Gymnosporia nemorosa. Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve, Yellowwood Park, Durban. 23rd August, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02175.

We receive a lot of interesting questions, as well as observations, from readers. Previously we reflected it in the newsletter, but have decided to start a separate page for it called “Field observations and questions”. There is still an enormous lack of basic information on the habitat, behaviour and prey of most spider species. So please, if you observe anything or wonder about something about arachnids, please contact us.

MORE ON THE STRANGE ‘SHEEP’ SALTICID

NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

This interesting spider is unfortunately still undescribed. It has so far been recorded from the Eastern Cape and KwaZu-lu-Natal. Another one from Limpopo resembles this species, but might be another genus. At the 11th AFRAS Colloquium at Amanzi the photo of Vida van der Walt was crowned as the best photo at the colloquium’s Photographic Competi-tion. This spider is the “best known” South African spider, with > 10 000 hits and likes on social media.

From: Hugh Heron at [email protected]

Specimen from Lekgalameetse NR

http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za

SANSA NEWS 27

Note from Hugh: “A Synaema sp. that is a relatively widespread local species in low vegetation is a minor but important predator of tortoise beetle larvae. It was briefly mentioned in an informal article dealing with arachnids preying on tortoise beetles in 1996 (Spider Club News, 11(1): 3-9). I have since then personally observed them taking seven local species (mostly larvae) as follows: Aspidimorpha confinis, A. icteri-ca, Basipta stolida, Cassida guttipennis, C. viridipennis, Conchyloctenia punctata and Laccoptera cicatricosa. The abdominal pattern appears to be variable but the spiders probably represent a single species. This spider demonstrates that cycloalexic larval behaviour (defensive circular clustering when at rest – see photo) renders the larvae more vulnerable to predation than does dispersive behaviour – at least, in the presence of this species, and I have seen one of these wait around and polish off entire clusters over a few days.”

8mm Synema sp. (Thomisidae) feeding on 3rd-instar larva of Laccoptera cicatricosa (Boheman, 1855). From dorsal leaf surface of Hewittia malabari-ca (L.) Suresh (Convolvulaceae). Former marshalling yard, Escombe, Queens-burgh. 4th November, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02297.

3.5mm Synema sp. (Thomisidae) from dorsal leaf surface in terminal shoot of Achyranthes aspera Linnaeus, var. sicula Linnaeus. Took 5th-instar larva of Cas-sida viridipennis (Boheman, 1854). Lower Morrison Road, Escombe, Queensburgh. 7th November, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02302.

Synema sp. (Thomisidae). Body length: 3.5mm. From retreat in folded Lantana camara leaf. Lower Morrison Road, Escombe. 13th September, 2016. Photo disc #10: DSC 02205.

Conchyloctenia punctata (Fabricius, 1787).

Instar-1 larvae exhibiting cycloalexic clustering

about ootheca on ventral leaf surface of Hewittia

malabarica (L.) Suresh (Convolvulaceae).

Railway bridge, Main Road, Northdene, Queens-

burgh.

15th August, 2015.

Photo disc #10: DSC 0485.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS Q and A PAGE cont.

FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF A SYNEMA SP.

NOTE FROM EDITOR

There are two Synema species that have very similar abdominal patterns that resemble the species discussed. It could be only variations, but the genus needs to be revised before a final answer on its identification can be provided.

Synema langheldi Dahl, 1907 known from South Africa, Somalia and Tanzania.

Synema vallotoni Lessert, 1923 from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Pet

er W

ebb

Lin

da

Wie

se From: Hugh Heron at hugh-

[email protected]

SANSA NEWS 27

FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS

Size: length 10mm

Abomen: ~5.5 x 8.0mm

Escombe, Queensburgh.

17th November, 2016.

Another question from Hugh: Firstly, the curiosity. It seems to be a Phrynarachne thomisid closely resembling the unlabelled photograph on page 246 of Spider Guide book, but does not seem to fit either the descrip-tion or photograph of P. rugosa on p. 247. Is it, in fact, that spe-cies? It was found on the dorsal leaf surface of a garden subject in dappled sunlight but no silk disc was present. Whenever dis-turbed it immediately assumed its “rest pose” (first picture) and it proved difficult to get any pictures of it in other poses. The spider is all-black with two short pale yellowish-white longitudi-nal dorsal bands at the base of the cephalothorax, with the col-our running onto the anterior dorsal portion of the abdo-men. Only the femurs of the 2nd, 3rd & 4th legs bear the same colour (the 2nd leg appears banded). The patella appears dis-tinctly reddish on leg 3 (4th photograph). The coloured areas are hidden and not visible when the spider is at rest.

NOTE FROM EDITOR

Unfortunately the genus Phrynarachne has not yet been revised and several species have been described from Africa. There seems to be variation between specimens of the same species, but this could only be resolved after a study of several specimens during a revision. The spe-cies P. rugosa especially is diverse, with three known subspecies.

From: Hugh Heron at [email protected]

Phrynarachne melloleitaoi Lessert, 1933

N. L

arse

n

Phrynarachne olivacea Could this be P. olivacea?

Are they all the same species?

J. R

off

Phrynarachne rugosa spongicolorata Millot, 1942

Phrynarachne marmorata What is this sp. from Ndumo?

L. W

iese

http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/41411/Phrynarachne_rugosa-spongicolorata

SANSA NEWS 27

LOOK ALIKES

PREY OBSERVATION

Asemesthes ceresicola (Gnaphosidae) Ammoxenus amphalodes (Ammoxenidae)

Peter Webb photographed

these two species in the

Irene grassland. Both of

them ran from a disturbed

soil mound.

SPINNERETS WATCH THE ACTION

At Louw photographed this

garden orb-web spider busy

covering her prey with silk.

On the last photo, a close-

up of the spinnerets shows

their activity while busy

spinning.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM PAGE

Hugh Heron photographed Mexcala

elegans Peckham & Peckham, 1903

(Salticidae) feeding on a black ant of

the genus Camponotus on a leaf of

Hewittia malabarica (L.) Suresh

(Convolvulaceae).

Railway track, Escombe, Queensburgh.

25th November, 2016.

Photo disc #10: DSC 02340.

NEW STUDY AT WELGEVONDEN IN THE WATERBERG

Note from Greg Canning

I am busy with my PhD and in short I am looking at how fire frequencies in different habitats impact spider communi-ties (as well as other ground dwelling invertebrates). I will be looking at spider densities and diversity in habitats that have burnt at different frequencies over the last 20 years and then also looking at recolonisation rates and pathways after fires in these various habitats. The purpose of this is to determine how management action (in the form of fire breaks and general fire management) impacts on these communities over the long term. This will then be incorpo-rated into a greater fire management plan that will take the impacts of these fires on these communities into consid-eration. I will also be looking at how the effects on these spider communities impact other trophic levels and whether spiders can be used as indicators of mismanagement in fire management.

Contact : [email protected]

SANSA NEWS 27

V. vd Walt

Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 is a small genus of palpimanid spiders with four species distributed in the Afrotropical region. The type species of Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893, the South African D. biplagiatus Simon, 1893, is redescribed, and the male is described for the first time. The species is diagnosed and figured in detail, includ-ing the copulatory organs of both sexes, previously undescribed for any species of the genus. New distributional data for D. biplagiatus is provided, with localities in the Western and Northern Cape Provinc-es. Most specimens were collected in karoo shrubland and fynbos with pitfall traps. ZONSTEIN, S.L., MARUSIK, Y.M. & OMELKO, M.M. 2016. Redescrip-tion of the type species of Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Chediminae). African Invertebrates 57: 93–103.

Though not uncommon in other animals, heterospecific mating is rarely reported in arachnids. The authors investigated sexual interac-tions among four closely related and syntopical African golden orb web spiders, Nephila inaurata, N. fenestrata, N. komaci and N. sene-galensis in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Female webs were often inhabited by heterospecific males that sometimes outnum-bered conspecifics. Species association of males with females was random in nature. In subsequent laboratory choice experiments, N. inaurata males chose heterospecific females in 30% of trials. We also observed natural mating interactions between N. inaurata males and N. komaci females, and between N. komaci males and N. inaurata females in laboratory experiments. While heterospecific mating in the laboratory never produced offspring, conspecific mating did. Po-tential ecological and evolutionary consequences of heterospecific mating interactions in Nephila that may be particularly costly to the rarer species, especially N. komaci, were also discussed. QUIÑONES-LEBRÓN, S.G., KRALJ-FIŠER, S., GREGORIČ, M., LOKOVŠEK, T., ČANDEK, K., HADDAD, C.R. & KUNTNER, M. 2016. Potential costs of heterospecific sexual interactions in golden orbweb spiders (Nephila spp.). Scientific Reports 6: 36908.

Recent publications

HETEROSPECIFIC SEXUAL INTERACTIONS

Juri

e K

elle

rman

Nephila senegalensis

NEW PIONOTHELE SPECIES

The South African genus Pionothele Purcell, 1902 is a poorly known member of the Nemesiidae. It has been known hitherto from only a few specimens belonging to the type species. Formerly monotypic, Piono-thele is shown to comprise two members, the type species P. straminea Purcell, 1902 and P. capensis n. sp., which is newly described. The distri-bution of both sympatric species is confined to the Cape Peninsula and adjacent territories.

ZONSTEIN, S.L. 2016. New data on the spider genus Pionothele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa. Israel Journal of Entomology 46: 31-42.

Pionothele capensis, holotype male

MORE ON THE PALPMANIDAE

SANSA NEWS 27

NEW RECORDS FOR SOUTH AFRICA

While dealing with the identification of large samples we fre-quently discover new species or new records for South Africa. These are species that have been described from the Afrotropical Region or even wider that are for the first time now also recorded from South Africa. Some of the recent new records are:

Langelurillus namibicus Wesołowska, 2011 Described from Namibia New records: Kamiesberg mountains, 23 km E of Ka-mieskroon; Tswalu Nature Reserve

Pseudicius matabelensis Wesołowska, 2011 Known from Namibia and Zimbabwe. New records: Ndumo Game Reserve

Asemesthes affinis Lessert, 1933 Described from Angola New record: Namaqua National Park

Zelotes murphyorum FitzPatrick, 2007 Known from Kenya New records: Western Soutpansberg

RECENT PULICATIONS ON THE SOUTH

AFRICAN ARACHNID FAUNA

CECCARELLI, F.S., OPELL, B.D., HADDAD, C.R., RAVEN, R.J., SOTO, E.M. & RAMÍREZ, M.J. 2016. Around the World in Eight Million Years: historical biogeography of the inter-tidal spider genus Amaurobioides (Araneae: Anyphaeni-dae). PlosONE 11: e0163740.

FOORD, S.H., DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S., JOCQUÉ, R., HADDAD, C.R., LYLE, R. & WEBB, P. 2016. South African National Survey of Arachnida: A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Lekgalameetse Nature Re-serve, Limpopo province, South Africa. Koedoe 58: a1405.

GAIGHER, R., PRYKE, J.S. & SAMWAYS, M.J. 2016. Old fields increase habitat heterogeneity for arthropod natural ene-mies in an agricultural mosaic. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 230: 242–250.

GIRIBET, G., BOYER, S.L., BAKER, C.M., FERNANDEZ, R., SHARMA, P.P., DE BIVORT, B.L., DANIELS, S.R., HARVEY, M.S. & GRISWOLD, C.E. 2016. A molecular phylogeny of the temperate Gondwanan family Pettalidae (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) and the limits of taxonomic sampling. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 178: 523–545.

PREIK, O.A., SCHNEIDER, J.A., UHL, G. & MICHALIK, P. 2016. Transition from monogyny to polygyny in Nephila senega-lensis (Araneae: Nephilidae) is not accompanied by in-creased investment in sperm. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 119: 1027–1035.

QUIÑONES-LEBRÓN, S.G. , KRALJ-FIŠER, S., GREGORIČ, M., LOKOVŠEK, T., ČANDEK, K., HADDAD, C.R. & KUNTNER, M. 2016. Potential costs of heterospecific sexual interac-tions in golden orbweb spiders (Nephila spp.). Scientific Reports 6: 36908.

VANTHOURNOUT, B., GREVE, M., BRUUN, A., BECHSGAARD, J., OVERGAARD, J. & BILDE, T. 2016. Benefits of group living include increased feeding efficiency and lower mass loss during desiccation in the social and inbreeding spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Frontiers in Physiology 7:18.

ZONSTEIN, S.L. 2016. New data on the spider genus Piono-thele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa. Israel Journal of Entomology 46: 31–42.

ZONSTEIN, S.L., MARUSIK, Y.M. & MIKHAIL M. OMELKO, M.M. 2016. Redescription of the type species of Diapho-rocellus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Chedimi-nae). Africa Invertebrates 57: 93–103.

http://wsc.nmbe.ch/reference/2178

SANSA NEWS 27

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“My November moustache” - Best wishes for 2017!

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