Arachnida

Fossil mesostigmatid mites are extremely rare. Inclusions assignable to the tortoise mites (Mesostigmata, Uropodina) are described here for the first time from Eocene (ca. 44–49 Ma) Baltic amber. This is the oldest record of Uropodina and documents the first unequivocal amber examples potentially assignable to the extant genus Uroobovella Berlese, 1903 (Uropodoidea: Urodinychidae). Further mites in the same amber pieces are tentatively assigned to Microgynioidea (Microgyniina) and Ascidae (Gamasina), both potentially representing the oldest records of their respective superfamily and family groups. This new material also preserves behavioural ecology in the form of phoretic deutonymphs attached to their carriers via a characteristic anal pedicel. These deutonymphs in amber are intimately associated with longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), probably belonging to the extinct species Nothorhina granulicollis Zang, 1905. Modern uropodines have been recorded phoretic on species b...

Arthropods
ISSN 2224-4255
arthropods@iaees.org

Volume 9, Number 4, 1 December 2020

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Articles

Biochemical characterization of digestive carbohydrases in Moroccan locust, Dociostaurus maroccanus Thunberg (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 119-128
Bahareh Rafiei, Mohammad Ghadamyari, Sohrab Imani, et al.
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Wing characters for morphological study on the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) populations among six provinces of Iran
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 129-138
Shahram Dadgostar, Jamasb Nozari, Gholamhossein Tahmasbi
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Morpho-taxonomic study of some planktonic caught megalopal stages collected from northern Arabian Sea
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 139-154
Muhammad Aslam
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Microhabitat preference and biology of Holconia insignis (Thorell, 1870) (Araneae:Sparassidae) in banana plantation agroecosystem
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 155-163
Akamu Jude Ewunkem, Christophe Parr Mbua, Nelson Neba Ntonifor
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Latitudinal gradient in species richness of Sphaerotherium
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 164-170
Mark Cooper
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First record of some jumping spiders (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae) from Pench National Park, Maharashtra State, India
Arthropods, 2020, 9(4): 171-174
Pawan U. Gajbe
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Inventory of free-living freswater arthropods, with synonymical bibliography, occurring in the Pakistani fresh waters is drawn up, almost entirely from taxonomical literature checked until now. Six hundred and thirty two taxa have been recorded since 1892, of these 239 species and sub-species are of Crustacea, 368 species and sub-species are of Insecta, 25 species and sub-species are of Arachnida as well as few unidentified species. The present inventory is composed of the collated records from the publications of the library and internet. Totally 266 selected publications are arranged as resource references.

Duran-Barrón, C.G. Generalidades de arácnido. 6-8
Desales-Lara, M.A. El Orden Araneae: Diversidad y Sistemática. 9-14.
Mendoza, J.I.M. Diversidad y Sistemática de Araneae: Mygalomorpha. 15-19.
Orozco, R. Conservación, protección y mantenimiento en cautiverio Araneae.: Theraphosidae
Tarántulas de México. 20-23.
Cruz López, J.A. Opiliones: Diversidad y Sistemática. 24-26.
Valdez-Mondragón, A. Ricinúlidos. 27.
Valdez-Mondragón, A. Esquizomidos. 28-29.
Valdez-Mondragón, A. Palpígrados. 30.
Santibáñez C.E.L. Escorpiones (Arachnida:Scorpiones) y Diversidad de Escorpiones. 31-33.
Estrada-Álvarez J.C. Amblypygi: Diversidad y Sistemática. 34-38.
Paredes, R.L. Ácaros: Diversidad y Clasificación. 39-40.
Villegas-Guzmán, G.A. Pseudoescorpiones (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones). 41-44.
Montiel-Parra, G. Uropygi: Diversidad y Sistemática. 45-48.
Montiel-Parra, G. Solifugae: Diversidad y Sistemática. 49-52.
Guzmán, M.C.C. Garrapatas (Acari: Ixodida). 53-54.
Ramírez, M.M.S. Morfología general, diversidad e importancia Ácaros acuáticos (Acari: Hydrachnidiae). 55-61.
Castañeda A.V. Acaraos de Importancia Agrícola. 62.

    En Toluca, Estado de México se celebro ARÁKHNE: ENCUENTRO DE ESPECIALISTAS EN ARÁCNIDOS, los días 12, 19 y 26 de marzo, y 2 de abril del presente año. Participaron ponentes de las siguientes instituciones: Colección Nacional de Arácnidos y Colección Nacional de Ácaros del IBUNAM; Laboratorio de Acarología “Anita Hoffman” de la Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM; Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del IPN; Laboratorio de Zoología de la Facultad de Ciencias de la UAEM; Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas de la UAEM; Tarántulas de México; y el Laboratorio de Investigación y Análisis, FUCESA. Se presentaron un total de 14 conferencias, en las cuales se tratando temas como la diversidad y sistemática de los 11 órdenes de arácnidos; conservación,
protección y mantenimiento de tarántulas en cautiverio, importancia medica y agrícola de los ácaros, entre otro temas. También se ofrecieron datos sobre la diagnosis de grupos internos de cada orden de arácnidos, riqueza supraespecífica de los arácnidos para el país,
métodos de colecta, así como los trabajos y proyectos sobre arácnidos mexicanos.

Resumen: Se presenta el listado de arañas (Araneae) conocidas de la provincia de Alicante (sureste de España). Se incluyen las citas del catálogo ibérico de arañas (Morano et al., 2019) de dicha provincia, complementando su información, así como nuevos registros procedentes de la colección del autor y que suponen la adición de una familia, 24 géneros y 38 especies a la araneofauna alicantina. El total de especies conocidas de la provincia asciende así a 170, pertenecientes a 116 géneros y 36 familias. Palabras clave: Araneae, catálogo, España, Alicante.

Preliminary catalogue of the spiders (Araneae) of Alicante province (south-eastern Spain) Abstract : A list of the spiders (Araneae) known from Alicante province (south-eastern Spain) is presented. Included are records from the Iberian spider catalogue (Morano et al., 2019) from this province, with complementary information, as well as new records from the author's collection that involve the addition of one family, 24 genera and 38 species to Alicante's spider fauna. The total of species known from Alicante province thus amounts to 170, in 116 genera and 36 families.

Patterns of segmentation and tagmosis are reviewed for Chelicerata. Depending on the outgroup, che-licerate origins are either among taxa with an anterior tagma of six somites, or taxa in which the appendages of somite I became increasingly raptorial. All Chelicerata have appendage I as a chelate or clasp-knife chelicera. The basic trend has obviously been to consolidate food-gathering and walking limbs as a prosoma and respiratory appendages on the opisthosoma. However, the boundary of the prosoma is debatable in that some taxa have functionally incorporated somite VII and/or its appendages into the prosoma. Euchelicerata can be defined on having plate-like opisthosomal appendages, further modified within Arachnida. Total somite counts for Chelicerata range from a maximum of nineteen in groups like Scorpiones and the extinct Eurypterida down to seven in modern Pycnogonida. Mites may also show reduced somite counts, but reconstructing segmentation in these animals remains challenging. Several innovations relating to tagmosis or the appendages borne on particular somites are summarised here as putative apomorphies of individual higher taxa. We also present our observations within the concept of pseudotagma, whereby the true tagmata e the prosoma and opisthosoma e can be defined on a fundamental change in the limb series while pseudotagmata, such as the cephalosoma/ proterosoma, are expressed as divisions in sclerites covering the body without an accompanying change in the appendages.

Distribution of jumping spiders (Salticidae: Araneae: Arachnida) in different states of India and union territories is presented herewith. A total of 352 species under 116 genera of Salticidae were recorded in all states and union territories of India except Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Maximum number of species were recorded from West Bengal (110 species) followed by Tamil Nadu (99 species), Kerala (92 species), Karnataka (92 species), Maharashtra (Maharashtra (84 species), Gujarat (66 species), Uttarakhand (49 species), Assam (44 species) and Odisha (44 species) and so on. Extensive survey for these spiders is required in states like Bihar, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh which are poorly represented by these spiders.

Sexual differences in size and shape are common across the animal kingdom. The study of sexual dimorphism (SD) can provide insight into the sexual-and natural-selection pressures experienced by males and females in different species. Arachnids are diverse, comprising over 100,000 species, and exhibit some of the more extreme forms of SD in the animal kingdom, with the males and females of some species differing dramatically in body shape and/or size. Despite this, research on arachnid SD has primarily focused on specific clades as opposed to observing traits across arachnid orders, the smallest of which have received comparatively little attention. This review provides an overview of the research to date on the trends and potential evolutionary drivers for SD and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in individual arachnid orders, and across arachnids as a whole. The most common trends across Arachnida are female-biased SSD in total body size, male-biased SSD in relative leg length and SD in pedipalp length and shape. However, the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits within the group is difficult to elucidate due to uncertainty in arachnid phylogenetic relationships. Based on the dataset we have gathered here, we highlight gaps in our current understanding and suggest areas for future research.

Sri Lanka is part of the Western Ghats & Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Thus, the conservation of Sri Lanka's unique biodiversity is crucial. The current study is part of an ongoing survey of pseudoscorpion fauna of Sri Lanka. We carried out an island-wide survey of pseudoscorpions using a range of collection methods to sample a diverse set of habitats around the country. This produced 32 species, four of which might be new to science, belonging to 25 genera. The family Cheiridiidae was discovered on the island for the first time. One new combination, Indogarypus ceylonicus (Beier, 1973) comb. nov., is proposed. Out of the 47 species now recorded, 20 (43 %) are potentially endemic to Sri Lanka. We provide a checklist of all known species, document their distribution and give a key to the families.

New finds of Late Palaeozoic arachnids, based on three well-preserved carapaces from the Carboniferous of Russia and Ukraine and one complete, albeit poorly preserved, specimen from the Permian of Kazakhstan, are described. The spider genus Arthrolycosa is reported from the Late Carboniferous (Late Pennsylvanian: Kasimovian–Gzhelian) of Chunya in the Tunguska Basin of Siberia; it is the first find of a spider outside the Carboniferous tropics. Another fossil assigned to the same genus comes from the Late Carboniferous (Early Pennsylvanian: Bashkirian) of Kamensk–Shakhtinsky in the Donets Basin of Russia; it is probably the oldest fossil spider known. A thelyphonid(whip scorpion) carapace is described from the Late Carboniferous (Late Pennsylvanian: Kasimovian) of the adjacent Lugansk Province of the Donets Basin of Ukraine.

The effectiveness of organic farming for promoting biodiversity has been widely documented, yet most studies have been undertaken in temperate agroecosystems with a focus on birds, insects and plants. Despite the Mediterranean basin being a biodiversity hotspot for conservation priorities, the potential benefits of organic farming for biodiversity there has received little attention. Here, we assessed the effect of farming system, landscape characteristics and habitat structure on biodiversity in Mediterranean vineyards using two taxa with different functional traits (in terms of mobility, dispersal ability and home range size): bats and arachnids. We also tested the " intermediate landscape-complexity " hypothesis, which predicts that local conservation measures have greatest success in landscapes of intermediate complexity. Our study design involved pairs of matched organic and conventional vineyard plots in the south of France situated along a landscape complexity gradient. Abundance of arachnids were higher in organic vineyards, although arachnid species richness was positively associated with the amount of ground vegetation cover. Organic farming was ineffective on its own to enhance bat activity and species richness regardless of the landscape context. Rather, our results suggested that landscape features were more important for bats than vineyard management, with significantly higher bat activity recorded on vineyard plots located at close proximity to hedgerows and rivers. When designing conservation strategies in Mediterranean farmlands, we strongly recommend the implementation of a multi-scale approach to assure benefits for a wide range of species.

Sea scorpions (Eurypterida, Chelicerata) of the Lower Devonian (~400 Mya) lived as large, aquatic predators. The structure of modern chelicerate eyes is very different from that of mandibulate compound eyes [Mandibulata: Crustacea and Tracheata (Hexapoda, such as insects, and Myriapoda)]. Here we show that the visual system of Lower Devonian (~400 Mya) eurypterids closely matches that of xiphosurans (Xiphosura, Chelicerata). Modern representatives of this group, the horseshoe crabs (Limulidae), have cuticular lens cylinders and usually also an eccentric cell in their sensory apparatus. This strongly suggests that the xiphosuran/eurypterid compound eye is a plesiomorphic structure with respect to the Chelicerata, and probably ancestral to that of Euchelicerata, including Eurypterida, Arachnida and Xiphosura. This is supported by the fact that some Palaeozoic scorpions also possessed compound eyes similar to those of eurypterids. Accordingly, edge enhancement (lateral inhibition), organised by the eccentric cell, most useful in scattered light-conditions, may be a very old mechanism, while the single-lens system of arachnids is possibly an adaptation to a terrestrial lifestyle. Eurypterids, popularly known as sea scorpions, possess conspicuously large compound eyes. Indeed, Jaekelopterus rhenaniae (Jaekel, 1914) (Fig. 1a) from the Early Devonian of Germany was perhaps the largest aquatic arthropod ever with a body length approximating 2.5 meters 1. A fully grown Jaekelopterus (Fig. 1a) was a giant even when compared to other large arthropods such as the well-known Cambrian Anomalocaris (~1 m long 2), or the meg-aneurid griffenflies (~75 cm wing span) of the Permo-Carboniferous 1,3,4 , or Hibbertopterus, another eurypterid, which probably was about 1.60 m long 5. It was only the Late Carboniferous giant millipede Arthropleura, which perhaps attained comparable proportions 6. Eurypterids appeared during the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian, 467.3 Mya 7), but probably originated earlier , and having been already severely affected by the late Devonian environmental changes, they vanished before the end of the Permian (252 Mya) 8), when up to 95% of all marine species died out 9,10. Most eurypterids were predators, as indicated by morphological attributes such as gnathobasic coxae. Some species were equipped with spinose legs and/or highly effective grasping chelicerae or claws. In J. rhenaniae these claws reached an impressive size of 46 cm 1. Forms lacking such specialized morphology, probably nectobenthic, walking on or swimming close to the sea floor. As opportunistic feeders, they dug in the mud as do modern horseshoe crabs, grabbing and shredding whatever they found to eat 11. While earlier eurypterids were marine, among the later, younger forms some were living in brackish or even fresh water (e.g. 12-15). In addition to book gills comparable to those of modern Limulus, ancillary resiratory organs known as Kiemenplatten 16 may have allowed the animals to make short visits to the land 17 , but work currently in progress suggest that these may have aided gas exchange in aquatic settings 18. Some eurypterids were ambush predators, e.g., the large pterygotid Acutiramus, based on analyses of functional morphology of its chelicerae 19 and its visual capabilities 20. On the other hand, the ecological requirements of eurypterids were apparently quite diverse and results based on analysis of a particular taxon (or species) may not apply to other clades 21,22 .

Arachnids are an important group of arthropods. They are diverse and abundant; a major constituent of many terrestrial ecosystems; and possess a deep and extensive fossil record. In recent years a number of exceptionally preserved arachnid fossils have been investigated using tomography and associated techniques, providing valuable insights into their morphology. Here we use X-ray microtomography to reconstruct members of two extinct arachnid orders. In the Haptopoda, we demonstrate the presence of ‘clasp-knife’ chelicerae, and our novel redescription of a member of the Phalangiotarbida highlights leg details, but fails to resolve chelicerae in the Group due to their small size. As a result of these reconstructions, tomographic studies of three-dimensionally preserved fossils now exist for three of the four extinct orders, and for fossil representatives of several extant ones. Such studies constitute a valuable source of high fidelity data for constructing phylogenies. To illustrate this, here we present a cladistic analysis of the chelicerates to accompany these reconstructions. This is based on a previously published matrix, expanded to include fossil taxa and relevant characters, and allows us to: cladistically place the extinct arachnid orders; explicitly test some earlier hypotheses from the literature; and demonstrate that the addition of fossils to phylogenetic analyses can have broad implications. Phylogenies based on chelicerate morphology—in contrast to molecular studies—have achieved elements of consensus in recent years. Our work suggests that these results are not robust to the addition of novel characters or fossil taxa. Hypotheses surrounding chelicerate phylogeny remain in a state of flux.

Amblypygi Thorell, 1883 has five families, of which Phrynichidae is one of the most diverse and with a wide geographic distribution. The genera of this family inhabit mostly Africa, India and Southeast Asia, with one genus known from the Neotropics, Trichodamon Mello-Leitão, 1935. Trichodamon has two valid species, T. princeps Mello-Leitão, 1935 and T. froesi Mello-Leitão, 1940 which are found in Brazil, in the states of Bahia, Goiás, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Norte. The boundaries of the species are not well established and the characters classically used in the group are poorly defined. The relationship of Trichodamon to the other genera in the family is also subject to debate. Some phylogenetic hypotheses propose Trichodamon as sister to Eurphynichus Weygoldt, 1995 and Phrynichus Karsch, 1879, in the sub-family Phrynichinae. Others suggest Trichodamon in Damoninae, sister to Damon and Phrynichodamon Weygoldt, 1996. The present work has the aim to characterize Trichodamon species, update the species distribution and ascertain the phylogenetic position of the genus in Phrynichidae using morphological characters. Our results show that the diagnostic characters of Trichodamon species, i.e. number of spines on the pedipalp, shape of the frontal process, number of teeth on the chelicerae, male and female shape of gonopods, are highly variable. A gradual colour variation from the northern to the southern areas of the distribution is also present. In face of the high variability, the synonymy of Trichodamon froesi (syn. jun.) with T. princeps is suggested. The cladistic analysis recovered Trichodamon as sister to Phrynichus + Euphrynichus in the subfamily Phrynichinae supported by eight characters, one exclusive to the group (dorsal spines on pedipalp patella positioned on the apex of the article forming the phrynich hand). In Damoninae, Phrynichodamon Weygoldt, 1996 was found as sister to Damon, forming the tribe Damonini, a group supported by the number of ventral spines on pedipalp femur; Musicodamon was recovered as sister to Damonini, forming the subfamily Damoninae, and the clade can be recognized by the presence of sclerotization on the apex of the claw-like projection of the female gonopod. The unranked taxon Euphrynichida Weygoldt, 2000 (Phrynichinae + Damoninae) was recovered with good support and is identified by the rectangular shape of the female gonopod and by the presence of one spine on the proximal series on pedipalp femur.

Chelicerata represents one of the oldest groups of arthropods, with a fossil record extending to the Cambrian, and is sister group to the remaining extant arthropods, the mandibulates. Attempts to resolve the internal phylogeny of chelicerates have achieved little consensus, due to marked discord in both morphological and molecular hypotheses of chelicerate phylogeny. The monophyly of Arachnida, the terrestrial chelicerates, is generally accepted, but has garnered little support from molecular data, which have been limited either in breadth of taxonomic sampling or in depth of sequencing. To address the internal phylogeny of this group, we employed a phylogenomic approach, generating transcriptomic data for 17 species in combination with existing data, including two complete genomes. We analyzed multiple data sets containing up to 1,235,912 sites across 3,644 loci, using alternative approaches to optimization of matrix composition. Here, we show that phylogenetic signal for the mono...

A new arachnid (Chelicerata: Arachnida) from the Lower Carboniferous (Upper Visran) Szczawno Formation of
Kamienna Grra, Poland, is described as Schneidarachne saganii n. gen. et n. sp. Early Carboniferous arachnids are generally rare and this new fossil cannot be easily assigned to any of the known arachnid orders. It shares a number of features with some members of the arachnid order Solifugae (camel spiders, sun spiders): namely large, forward-projecting, chelate chelicerae with dentate fixed and free fingers, a distinct median sulcus on the carapace and an interrupted ridge of tubercles on the dorsal opisthosoma set into a loosely-defined median field. However, it lacks unequivocal autapomorphies of Solifugae. This fossil may be one of a growing number of stem-group Palaeozoic arachnids which lack the full set of diagnostic characters
seen in crown-group members of the various orders.
Thus, Schneidarachne saganii could represent a basal member of the lineage leading up to modem solifuges.