Reuniting males and females: redescriptions of Nuisiana arboris (Marples 1959) and Cambridgea reinga Forster & Wilton 1973 (Araneae: Desidae, Stiphidiidae)
Author
Vink, Cor J.
Author
Fitzgerald, Brian M.
Author
Sirvid, Phil J.
Author
Dupérré, Nadine
text
Zootaxa
2011
2739
41
50
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.276582
06ddf46d-ac31-4d6b-a342-f55f6ccc0be5
1175-5326
276582
Nuisiana arboris
(
Marples 1959
)
(
Figs 1–6
)
Maniho arboris
Marples 1959
: 352
, fig.
III.6
(description of female).
Forsterina arboris
(Marples)
;
Lehtinen 1967
: 235
(transfer to
Forsterina
).
Matachia magna
Forster 1970
: 32
, figs 53, 56 (description of male).
NEW SYNONYMY.
Nuisiana arboris
(Marples)
;
Forster & Wilton 1973
: 302
, figs
1060–1062
(transfer to
Nuisiana
).
Type
specimens.
Holotype
Ψ, not examined,
NEW
ZEALAND
: Southland:
Tuatapere [
46°07'S
,
167°41'E
],
May 1956
, R.R. Marples leg., Otago Museum,
New Zealand
.
Holotype
ɗ,
Matachia magna
. Not examined.
NEW
ZEALAND
: Coromandel:
Cuvier Island [
36°26'S
,
175°46'E
],
22 June 1943
, R.R. Forster leg., Otago Museum,
New Zealand
.
We did not examine the
types
of
Maniho arboris
and
Matachia magna
; the illustrations and descriptions in
Forster (1970)
and
Forster & Wilton (1973)
are clear enough to be sure of the species identity.
Other material examined.
NEW
ZEALAND
: Mid Canterbury:
Orton Bradley Park [
43°40.22'S
,
172°42.90'E
],
13 June 2001
, M.H. Bowie, C.J. Vink & J.C. Banks leg., 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ (
LUNZ
).
North Canterbury:
View Hill (
43°17.20'S
,
172°04.53'E
)
6 June 2001
, M.H. Bowie & J.C. Banks leg., 1 Ψ (
LUNZ
).
Coromandel:
Korapuki Island [
36°39.5'S
,
175°51'E
],
5 December 1995
, C.J. Green leg., 1 ɗ (
MONZ
AS
.001618);
4 December 1996
, B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001626);
5 December 1996
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 Ψ + spiderlings (
MONZ
AS
.001625);
5 December 1996
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001622);
5 December 1996
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 2 immatures (
MONZ
AS
.001624);
26–28 November 1997
, C.J. Green leg., 8 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001619);
26 November 1997
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ with spiderlings (
MONZ
AS
.001620);
27 November 1997
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 ɗ, 2 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001621);
25 February 1998
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001627);
1 March 1998
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 penultimate ɗ (
MONZ
AS
.001628);
25 February
&
2 March 1999
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ, 1 penultimate ɗ (
MONZ
AS
.001617);
28 November 2000
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ,
164 eggs
(
MONZ
AS
.001639);
29 November 2000
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ,
146 eggs
(
MONZ
AS
.001638);
30 November 2000
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001623);
30 November 2000
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ, 135 spiderlings (
MONZ
AS
.001637); 1 Ψ,
146 eggs
(
MONZ
AS
.001636);
4 December 2000
, C.J. Green leg., 1 Ψ,
186 eggs
(
MONZ
AS
.001634); 1 Ψ, egg sac (
MONZ
AS
.001635); 1 Ψ,
214 eggs
(
MONZ
AS
.001633).
Northland:
Peach Cove [
35°51.4'S
,
174°33.9'E
],
17 October 2001
, B.M. Fitzgerald leg., 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001616). Mas Olivier [
35°51.84'S
,
174°10.15'E
],
6 April 2010
, O.J.-P. Ball leg., 1 ɗ (
MONZ
AS
.001597) (GenBank
HM439085
);
21 April 2010
, O.J.-P. Ball leg., 1 Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001598) (GenBank
HM439086
);
21 April 2010
, O.J.-P. Ball leg., 1 ɗ,
1 subadult
Ψ (
MONZ
AS
.001599) (GenBank
HM439087
,
HM439088
).
Other locality records.
NEW
ZEALAND
: Mid Canterbury:
Ahuriri Scenic Reserve [
43°39.97'S
,
172°37.44'E
] (
Bowie & Frampton 2004
). Hoods Bush [
43°28.4'S
,
171°48.5'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
North Canterbury:
Foxs Creek [
43°12'S
,
172°36'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Nelson:
Nelson [
41°16'S
,
173°18'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Wairarapa:
Waituna [
41°19'S
,
175°10'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
). Solway [
40°58'S
,
175°37'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Coromandel:
Little Barrier Island [
36°12'S
,
175°05'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Auckland:
Algies Bay [
36°26'S
,
174°44'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Northland:
Hen
Island
[
35°57.8'S
,
174°43.3'E
] (
Forster & Wilton 1973
).
Diagnosis.
Nuisiana arboris
can be distinguished from other
New Zealand
Desidae
, particularly
Matachia
Forster 1970
, by features of the male pedipalp (
Figs 1, 2
), especially the the shape of the retrolateral tibial apophysis. In
Matachia
the tibiae are comparatively short and bulbous (see
Forster 1970
: figs 55–60). The internal genitalia are less convoluted and with much broader ducts than in
Matachia
(
Figs 4–6
, c.f.
Forster 1970
: figs 61–65). The third pair of legs in female of
N. arboris
is directed rearwards, while in females of
Matachia
it is directed forwards.
Redescription.
Colour: carapace yellow-brown, darker around eyes and cephalic region; sternum yellowbrown; abdomen light grey-brown with darker median folium on dorsal surface, widest medially; legs yellowbrown.
Chelicerae of male porrect, with two retromarginal teeth, one at mid-point, and other basal, opposite four or five promarginal teeth. Chelicerae of female not porrect, with two widely-spaced retromarginal teeth and five or six promarginal teeth. Eyes subequal in size, posterior row procurved. Cribellum present in females and males, wider than long, spinning field present in female but reduced or absent in male. Calamistrum well developed in female but vestigial or absent in male. Male pedipalp (
Figs 1, 2
) with elongate retrolateral tibial apophysis with spinous lobe and distal plate forming single process (
Fig. 2
); cymbium tip longer than bulb and distal spinous portion of conductor extending almost to tip of cymbium; median apophysis long and bent back on itself. Epigynum with median lobe extending to epigastric furrow, flanked by pair of strong, blunt projections (
Fig. 3
); internal genitalia relatively simple with broad, thin-walled copulatory ducts that are sclerotised prior to spermathecae (
Figs 4–6
). Legs 1243; first three pairs of legs directed forwards in males but only first two pairs directed forwards in females.
FIGURES 1–6.
Nuisiana arboris
(Marples 1959)
. 1. Male pedipalp, ventral view; 2. Male pedipalp, retrolateral view; 3. Epigynum, ventral view; 4. Internal genitalia, ventral view; 5. Internal genitalia, dorsal view; 6. Schematic course of internal ducts. Scale bars for figures 1, 2 = 1.0 mm, 3–5 = 0.5 mm. Abbreviations used: C, cymbium; E, embolus; MA, median apophysis; RTA, retrolateral tibial apophysis; ML, median lobe.
Dimensions
. Female Coromandel, Korapuki Island (MONZ
AS
.001621) (male Coromandel, Korapuki Island (MONZ
AS
.001618)): total length 9.75 (9.99); carapace length 4.18 (4.64), width 2.94 (3.41), height 2.01 (1.70); abdomen length 5.57 (5.42), width 4.03 (2.79); sternum length 2.32 (2.48), width 1.78 (1.86). Size range: female body length 9.1–11.0 (mean 10.4, n=12), male body length 8.3–11.6 (mean 10.1, n=5).
DNA sequences.
Mitochondrial COI (GenBank accession numbers
HM439085
–
HM439088
). The four sequences varied by only 0.9%, which is well within intraspecific variation observed in other spiders (
Robinson
et al.
2009
). We observed nine variable nucleotide positions; eight transitions and one non-synonymous transversion.
Biology.
Nuisiana arboris
have been found living beneath the bark of large
totara
trees (
Podocarpus totara
G. Benn. ex D. Don
) where they build a small web (
Marples 1959
). On Korapuki Island they were found under bark and in holes on large pohutukawa trees (
Metrosideros excelsa
Gaertn.
). They have also been found under wooden disks on the ground (
Bowie & Frampton 2004
) and in tree-mounted artificial refuges designed to shelter and monitor weta (
Orthoptera
:
Anostostomatidae
and
Rhaphidophoridae
) (
Green 2005
;
Bowie
et al.
2006
;
Hodge
et al.
2007
). A female, with an egg sac containing
259 eggs
, was found at Peach Cove, under a light web on the face of a large, undercut rock. Five egg sacs from Korapuki Island contained, on average,
171 eggs
(range 146–214) and another two, 135 and 139 spiderlings. In contrast, the egg sacs of species of
Matachia
contain, on average, ten or twelve eggs (
Forster & Forster 1999
). Adults of
N. arboris
have been found throughout the year.
Distribution.
Throughout
New Zealand
(Southland, Mid Canterbury, North Canterbury, Nelson, Wairarapa, Coromandel, Auckland, Northland).
Remarks.
Forster & Wilton (1973)
noted that it was “probable”
Matachia magna
was the male of
N. arboris
. After examining males and females from Korapuki Island, Mercury Group, Forster (
in litt.
23 July 1997
) concluded “that the Cuvier Island
Matachia
is the male of
Nuisiana
” and that the two genera were valid. Male and female specimens found together at different localities, the same colour pattern in both sexes, and COI sequences that vary by only 0.9%, lead us to conclude that
M. magna
is a junior synonym of
N. arboris
. Female
N. arboris
does not have the morphological adaptations (an elongated cephalothorax and the third pair of legs directed forward) that
Matachia
has for living in holes. However, most of our specimens were obtained from natural holes or artificial shelters, indicating that
Nuisiana
is just as much a hole-dweller, as are species of
Matachia
. There are many similarities between
N. arboris
and
Matachia
species.
Forster & Wilton (1973: 301)
thought that they were “very closely related” and that the rather simple genitalia of female
N. arboris
were “readily derived from those of
Matachia
”. The male pedipalp of
N. arboris
is very close to that of some
Matachia
species, except for the elongate tibia of the pedipalp. Despite these similarities, we have retained the monotypic genus
Nuisiana
. A proper assessment of the validity of the genus
Nuisiana
is beyond the scope of this study, but could be resolved by a phylogenetic analysis of
New Zealand
Desidae
that includes
Nuisiana
,
Matachia
and other similar genera (
Desis
Walckenaer 1837
,
Goyenia
Forster 1970
,
Helsonia
Forster 1970
,
Notomatachia
Forster 1970
,
Panoa
Forster 1970
).