Dispatch from the field: ecology of ground-web-building spiders with description of a new species (Araneae, Symphytognathidae)
Author
Miller, Jeremy A.
Author
Schilthuizen, Menno
Author
Burmester, Jennie Lilliendahl
Author
van der Graaf, Lot
Author
Merckx, Vincent
Author
Jocque, Merlijn
Author
Kessler, Paul Joseph Antonius
Author
Fayle, Tom Maurice
Author
Breeschoten, Thijmen
Author
Broeren, Regi
Author
Bouman, Roderick
Author
Chua, Wan-Ji
Author
Feijen, Frida
Author
Fermont, Tanita
Author
Groen, Kevin
Author
Groen, Marvin
Author
Kil, Nicolaas Johannes Cornelis
Author
de Laat, Henrica Allegonda
Author
Moerland, Michelangelo Sergio
Author
Moncoquet, Carole
Author
Panjang, Elisa
Author
Philip, Amelia Joyce
Author
Roca-Eriksen, Rebecca
Author
Rooduijn, Bastiaan
Author
van Santen, Marit
Author
Swakman, Violet
Author
Evans, Meaghan N.
Author
Evans, Luke J.
Author
Love, Kieran
Author
Joscelyne, Sarah H
Author
Tober, Anya Victoria
Author
Wilson, Hannah F.
Author
Ambu, Laurentius N.
Author
Goossens, Benoit
text
Biodiversity Data Journal
2014
2
1076
1076
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1076
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1076
1314-2828-2-1076
CB5CBD732E804026AA220AD5743FB509
CB5CBD732E804026AA220AD5743FB509
Crassignatha danaugirangensis
sp. n.
Materials
Type status:
Holotype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140304.1:57H
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
1
; sex:
1 male
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-04
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140304.1:57
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
4
; sex:
4 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-04
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:59
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
8
; sex:
2 males
,
3 females
,
3 juveniles
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:113
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
12
; sex:
5 males
,
3 females
,
4 juveniles
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:121
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
2
; sex:
2 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:60
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
2
; sex:
2 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:100
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
7
; sex:
2 males
,
5 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140301.1:104
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
7
; sex:
1 male
,
6 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140225F2
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
2
; sex:
2 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, Mallotus trail
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°25'N 118°2.08'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4666
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-02-25
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140225M1
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
1
; sex:
1 male
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, Mallotus trail
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°25'N 118°2.08'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4666
; decimalLongitude:
118.0347
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-02-25
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140304.1:104
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
16
; sex:
4 males
,
10 females
,
2 juveniles
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 1
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.75'N 118°2.35'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4125
; decimalLongitude:
118.0392
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-01
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status:
Paratype
. Occurrence: catalogNumber:
20140302.4:50
; recordedBy:
J. Miller, C.M. van der Graaf, C. Burmester
; individualCount:
7
; sex:
2 males
,
5 females
; Taxon: scientificName: Crassignathadanaugirangensis; order: Araneae; family: Symphytognathidae; genus: Crassignatha; specificEpithet: danaugirangensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Miller et al. 2014; Location: island: Borneo; country:
Malaysia
; stateProvince: Sabah; locality:
Danau Girang Field Centre, plot 4
; verbatimCoordinates: 5°24.5'N 118°2.4'E; decimalLatitude:
5.4083
; decimalLongitude:
118.04
; Event: samplingProtocol:
dusting for webs
; eventDate:
2014-03-02
; Record Level: institutionID: Universiti Malaysia Sabah; collectionID: Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Borneensis; institutionCode:
UMS
; collectionCode:
BORN
; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Description
Coloration and gross somatic morphology as in Fig. 1a, b, c, d, e. Six eyes in three diads. Carapace dark brown, rough texture, raised in male (Fig. 1d). Sternum brown. Legs orange, femora I and II slightly swollen basally in female. Patellae each with a dorsal macroseta. Dorsal tibial macrosetae 2-2-1-1, tibia I with prolateral macroseta. Male tibia II clasping spur a single ventral macroseta, male metatarsus II shape unmodified (Fig. 1f, contrast with
Miller et al. 2009
, fig. 80E). Abdomen ovoid in dorsal view, subtriangular in lateral view with spinnerets oriented ventrally, tan with narrow bowed black longitudinal stripes running about 3/2 the length and a thicker black lateral band running all around, dorsal area with several long sparsely placed setae (Fig. 1a, b, c, d); male with single orange scutum laterally and posteriorly (Fig. 1d), female without sclerite around spinnerets.
Male palp
Median apophysis (MA) with multiple lobes. Embolus (E) long, flexible, runs distally from median apophysis, then turns to run in proximal direction (Fig. 4). Cymbium (CB) covers most of retrolateral face of bulb, with dark tooth-like processes (CT) near proximal dorsal part.
Vulva
Scape small and rounded. Round spermathecae separated by more than three times their diameter (Fig. 2).
Measurements
Male: Total length 0.7; carapace length 0.3, width 0.3, height 0.2. Female: Total length 0.9; carapace length 0.3, width 0.3, height 0.2.
Diagnosis
Distinctive abdominal coloration separates this from all other
Crassignatha
species (Fig. 1a, b, c, d); only this species and
Crassignatha haeneli
Wunderlich, 1995 have longitudinal bands on abdomen (a broad light band on an otherwise dark gray abdomen in
Crassignatha haeneli
,
Wunderlich 1995
). Distinguished from
Crassignatha haeneli
by the unicolor legs (banded in
Crassignatha haeneli
,
Wunderlich 1995
); male further distinguished from
Crassignatha haeneli
by the presence of an abdominal scutum in the male (Fig. 1d; absent in
Crassignatha haeneli
,
Wunderlich 1995
). Male distinguished from all except
Crassignatha haeneli
by the tibia II clasping spur consisting of only a single ventral macroseta (Fig. 1f; 2-4 in other species). Female distinguished from all other
Crassignatha
species by the widely spaced spermathecae (separated by more than three times their diameter in this species, not more than 1.5 times their diameter in other species).
Etymology
Named for the Danau Girang Field Centre, the type locality for this species.
The taxonomic authority for this species is attributed to all authors of this publication. In accordance with ICZN Recommendation 51C (
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999
), this species may be referred to as
Crassignatha danaugirangensis
Miller et al., 2014, provided the full citation of this publication appears in the bibliography or elsewhere in the referring work. At a time when scientific research in general is becoming more collaborative and multidisciplinary, it should not be surprising to find increasing numbers of authors responsible for nomenclatural acts. Arguably, the convention in zoology of referencing the authors of a taxonomic name (ICZN Article 51) rather than the source publication is anachronistic in contemporary multidisciplinary, collaborative science (
Costello 2009
).
Distribution
Known only from the forest of the Danau Girang Field Centre.
Ecology
This species builds a horizontal orb web approximately 4 cm in diameter, close to the ground (Fig. 3).