Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome
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...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny |
| Online Access: | https://arthropod-systematics.arphahub.com/article/62332/download/pdf/ |
| _version_ | 1797427259020148736 |
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| author | Marleen R. Greenberg Joel A. Huey Volker W. Framenau Danilo Harms |
| author_facet | Marleen R. Greenberg Joel A. Huey Volker W. Framenau Danilo Harms |
| author_sort | Marleen R. Greenberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 davidi sp. nov. (male and female), M. iugum sp. nov. (male) and M. manningensis sp. 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:42:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2f222963ae3b40a684a5373bf1e71887 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1864-8312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:42:40Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny |
| spelling | doaj.art-2f222963ae3b40a684a5373bf1e718872023-12-02T16:29:57ZengSenckenberg Gesellschaft für NaturforschungArthropod Systematics & Phylogeny1864-83122021-10-017950953310.3897/asp.79.e6233262332Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biomeMarleen R. Greenberg0Joel A. Huey1Volker W. Framenau2Danilo Harms3Universität HamburgWestern Australian MuseumMurdoch UniversityLeibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeAbstract 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 davidi sp. nov. (male and female), M. iugum sp. nov. (male) and M. manningensis sp. 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.https://arthropod-systematics.arphahub.com/article/62332/download/pdf/ |
| spellingShingle | Marleen R. Greenberg Joel A. Huey Volker W. Framenau Danilo Harms Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny |
| title | Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| title_full | Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| title_fullStr | Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| title_short | Three new species of mouse spider (Araneae: Actinopodidae: Missulena Walckenaer, 1805) from Western Australia, including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| title_sort | three new species of mouse spider araneae actinopodidae missulena walckenaer 1805 from western australia including an assessment of intraspecific variability in a widespread species from the arid biome |
| url | https://arthropod-systematics.arphahub.com/article/62332/download/pdf/ |
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