Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2021 | 13(8): 19177–19180
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7069.13.8.19177-19180
#7069 | Received 11 January 2021 | Final
received 20 February 2021 | Finally accepted 29 June 2021
A new distribution record of Bianor angulosus (Karsch, 1879) (Araneae: Salticidae) from Kerala, India
Nishi Babu
1, John T.D. Caleb 2 &
G. Prasad 3
1,3 Department of Zoology, University
of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvanandthapuram,
Kerala 695581, India.
2 No. 27, Saravana Nagar, Manigantapuram, Thirumulliavoyal,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600062, India.
1 nishibabu510@gmail.com, 2 caleb87woodgate@gmail.com,
3 probios1@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of publication:
26 July 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Babu,
N., J.T.D. Caleb & G. Prasad (2021). A new
distribution record of Bianor angulosus (Karsch, 1879) (Araneae: Salticidae) from Kerala,
India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 13(8):
19177–19180. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7069.13.8.19177-19180
Copyright: © Babu
et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: CSIR-UGC.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Dr. Pradeep M.S., Division of Arachnology, Sacred Heart
College, Thevara for his support and guidance. Nishi Babu (NB) likes to thank Mr. Thomas Mathew (Farmer) for
providing necessary facilities during the field work. NB thanks Mr. Binish Roopas for his constant
support and for providing the photographs of the specimen taken during the
field visit. CSIR-UGC Fellowship to NB is acknowledged.
Abbreviations: CP—central epigynal
pocket | PLE—posterior lateral eyes | RTA—retrolateral
tibial apophysis.
Globally, the salticid fauna is
represented by 6,334 species under 659 genera (World Spider Catalog
2021) and the Indian diversity by 275 species under 99 genera (Caleb &
Sankaran 2021). The cosmopolitan genus Bianor
was established by Peckham & Peckham (1885) with Scythropa
maculata Keyserling,
1883 as its type species. At present, this genus includes 27 species (World
Spider Catalog 2021) of which eight are known from
India (Caleb & Sankaran 2020). The present paper deals with the description
and first distributional record of Bianor angulosus (Karsch, 1879) from
Kerala.
The study was conducted at Kainakary (9.520N, 76.390E) in Kuttanad, Kerala. Collection and observations were made
early morning from the paddy fields in both rabi and
kharif crop seasons. The duration of the study was from July 2019 to August
2020. Specimens were photographed while alive, then collected either by hand or
using a sweeping net and preserved in 70% alcohol. Detailed examination was
done using a stereozoom microscope (Magnus, MS 24).
The epigynum was dissected, cleared in 10% KOH and mounted on a temporary slide
and observed under a compound microscope (Leica DM1000 LED) at both 10X and 20X
magnifications to study the internal structures. Male left palp was removed and
observed. All the measurements are in millimeters
(mm). The studied specimens are deposited in the Zoological Museum of the
Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom.
Genus Bianor
Peckham & Peckham, 1886
Bianor angulosus (Karsch,
1879) (Images 1–6)
Ballus angulosus Karsch,
1879: 553
Bianor angulosus
Żabka, 1988: 442,
figs. 56–58; Logunov, 2001: 231, figs. 47–74; Logunov, 2019: 101, figs. 1–3, 5–10
Bianor hotingchiehi Żabka,
1985: 210, figs. 1–15
Bianor simoni Żabka,
1985: 204, figs. 30–34
For a complete list of taxonomic
references refer the World Spider Catalog (2021).
Material examined:
KUDZEN2021.I.01a, 28.viii.2019, 2 females from Kainakary,
Kuttanad (9.52°N, 76.39°E), coll. Nishi Babu; KUDZEN2021.I.01b, 15.ix.2020, 2 males, same data as
of females.
Description: Female—total
length: 5.05, cephalothorax length: 2.04, width: 2.20. Abdomen length: 3.01,
width: 2.15. Clypeus height 0.15. Morphometry of legs given in Table 1.
Cephalothorax dark brownish, covered with straw colored
hairs medially; broadest at PLE. Eye field trapezoid, distinctly broader
posteriorly; posterior thoracic slope steep, almost vertical (Image 2). Clypeus
densely covered with small white hairs. Chelicerae with single retromarginal tooth and two promarginal
teeth. Sternum oval, reddish-brown, covered with white hairs. Maxillae, labium
and chelicerae brownish. Leg formula 1342. Leg I stronger and longer than rest.
Leg I brown, legs II-IV yellowish. Palp brown, covered with tiny white hairs.
Abdomen elongated oval. Dorsally brown, covered with white and yellow hairs
(Image 2). Posterior medial region with rows of black and white hairs. Epigyne ventrally with well-developed fossae and copulatory
openings on either side of CP; internal structures with long, coiled
insemination ducts; spermathecae tubular and elongated with fertilization ducts
set apically (Images 3, 4). Spinnerets brown.
Male—total length: 5.08,
Cephalothorax length: 2.45, width: 2.03. Abdomen length: 2.63, width 1.36.
Clypeus height 0.10. Morphometry of legs given in Table 2. Cephalothorax
punctured reticulate, shining, russet, covered with white elongate scales
forming bright white patches behind posterior lateral eyes and white marginal
stripes (Image 1). Clypeus brown with row of long white hairs. Sternum
brownish-yellow covered with white hairs. Maxillae, labium and chelicerae yellowish-brown.
Leg formula 1342. Leg I brown, legs II--IV yellowish. Palps brownish; small and
broad cymbium; embolus thin, needle-like emerging
from the proximal region of the bulb and tapering toward the tip; a membraneous region present at 3 o’ clock position; RTA
thick, broad at its base and slightly curved and pointed at the tip (Images 5,
6). Abdomen dorsally brown in colour with three pairs of white spots or a pair
of longitudinal white stripes (Image 1). Sides and ventral region yellow.
Spinnerets yellowish-brown. Rest of the characters are same as in female.
Distribution: India: Assam,
Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala (present study), Odisha, Punjab, and
West Bengal (Caleb 2019) (Image 7). The species is widespread throughout South
and Southeast Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia (World Spider Catalog
2021).
Habitat: The specimens were
collected from a foliage of paddy as indicated in the previous study (Logunov 2001). The species constructs sac like webs
and takes shelter in them.
Note: The species appears to
exhibit a wide range of variations in coloration, size and morphology (Logunov 2001: 234). Our samples fall within one of the
variations already illustrated for the species and its synonyms. The
abdominal pattern of the male with a pair of longitudinal white stripes is
similar to that illustrated by Logunov (cf. Image 1
with fig. 62 in Logunov 2001). The shape of RTA is
identical to the samples from Sumatra and Vietnam (cf. Image 6 with fig. 64 in Logunov 2001 and fig. 2 in Żabka
1985). The epigyne with slanted central pocket
appears similar to specimen from Vietnam and the internal structures are also
identical with the same (cf. Images 3, 4 with figs. 8, 11 in Żabka 1985).
Table 1. Leg measurements of
female (KUDZEN2021.I.01a).
|
Leg I |
Leg II |
Leg III |
Leg IV |
Femur |
1.48 |
1.18 |
1.54 |
1.44 |
Patella |
0.82 |
0.66 |
0.73 |
0.60 |
Tibia |
1.28 |
0.79 |
0.68 |
0.75 |
Metatarsus |
0.72 |
0.54 |
0.71 |
0.88 |
Tarsus |
0.60 |
0.45 |
0.50 |
0.43 |
Total |
4.90 |
3.62 |
4.16 |
4.10 |
Table 2. Leg measurements of male
(KUDZEN2021.I.01b).
|
Leg I |
Leg II |
Leg III |
Leg IV |
Femur |
1.46 |
1.16 |
1.51 |
1.40 |
Patella |
0.80 |
0.60 |
0.72 |
0.59 |
Tibia |
1.13 |
0.75 |
0.64 |
0.81 |
Metatarsus |
0.70 |
0.50 |
0.72 |
0.88 |
Tarsus |
0.60 |
0.43 |
0.50 |
0.40 |
Total |
4.69 |
3.44 |
4.09 |
4.08 |
References
Caleb, J.T.D. (2019). An Annotated checklist of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of India.
AkiNik Publications, New Delhi, 75pp.
Caleb, J.T.D. & P.M. Sankaran
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