Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2021 | 13(13): 20130–20132

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7642.13.13.20130-20132

#7642 | Received 02 September 2021 | Final received 13 October 2021 | Finally accepted 07 November 2021

 

 

 

New distribution data on the genus Maripanthus Maddison, 2020 (Araneae: Salticidae) from southern India

 

A. Asima 1, John T.D. Caleb 2, Dhruv A. Prajapati 3 & G. Prasad 4

 

1,4 Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavatom, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695581, India.

2 Division of Biodiversity, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College (Autonomous), Chennai 600034, Tamil Nadu, India.

3 GEER Foundation, Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382007, India.

1 asimaashrafkh15@gmail.com, 2caleb87woodgate@gmail.com, 3dhruvspidy215@gmail.com,

4 probios1@gmail.com (corresponding author)

 

 

 

Editor: Anonymity requested.            Date of publication: 26 November 2021 (online & print)

 

Citation: Asima, A., J.T.D. Caleb, D.A. Prajapati & G. Praad (2021). New distribution data on the genus Maripanthus Maddison, 2020 (Araneae: Salticidae) from southern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(13): 20130–20132. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7642.13.13.20130-20132

 

Copyright: © Asima 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, New Delhi.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi for providing funding support as junior research fellowship to the first author. Thanks to the chief wildlife warden of Kerala for issuing the collecting permit (KFDHQ-2846/2020-CWW/WL10) and the wildlife warden and field watchers of Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary. Merin Elizabeth George, Muhammad Suhail N.H., and Rahul Krishna are thanked for their kind assistance during field collection. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor for their suggestions and constructive comments on the manuscript.

 

 

Jumping spiders belonging to the tribe Baviini Simon, 1901 are confined to the Asian tropics.  They are arboreal and are characterized by their elongate bodies (Maddison 2015; Maddison et al. 2020).  The tribe Baviini in India is represented by four genera (Indopadilla Caleb & Sankaran, 2019; Maripanthus Maddison, 2020; Padillothorax Simon, 1901; Piranthus Thorell, 1895) and eight species (Maddison et al. 2020; Caleb et al. 2021, World Spider Catalog 2021).  The genus Maripanthus was recently established by Maddison (Maddison et al. 2020) with six species from the Oriental region, of which two species Maripanthus gloria Caleb, 2021 and M. jubatus Maddison, 2020 are known from India (Caleb & Sankaran 2021; World Spider Catalog 2021).  The present paper deals with the additional distributional records of M. gloria and M. jubatus from southern India.

Materials and Methods: Specimens were hand collected and preserved in 70% alcohol.  They were later examined and photographed by the Leica S8APO stereomicroscope.  All images were then processed with the aid of Leica version 4.2 software.  The female epigyne was dissected, cleared in 10% KOH and mounted on a temporary slide and observed under an Olympus CX31 compound microscope.  Male left palp was removed and photographed. The studied specimens are deposited in the reference section of museum of the Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, India (KUDZEN) and GEER Foundation, Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India (GEER).

 

Species account

Maripanthus Maddison, 2020

Type species: Maripanthus draconis Maddison, 2020

Comments: Currently the distribution of the genus in India seems to be restricted to the southwestern part. Upon systematic sampling more species may be expected.

 

Maripanthus gloria Caleb, 2021

Images 1–2, 4–7

Maripanthus gloria Caleb, in Caleb, Francis & Bhat, 2021: 201, figs. 1-20

Material examined: 1 male (KUDZEN2021.I.04a) & 1 female (KUDZEN2021.I.04b) India, Kerala, Kulathoopuzha, Kattilappara (Myristica swamp) (8.9150N, 77.1020E, 149.96 m), 29.vi.2021, coll. A. Asima; 1 female (GEER98315B), India, Karnataka, Uttar Kannada, Sirsi (14.6280N, 74.8300E, 588 m), 21.vii.2015, coll. Prajapati D.A.

Diagnosis: Males of M. gloria are similar to those of M. draconis Maddison, 2020 but can be distinguished with palp having a relatively short embolus and the RTA with a broad base (Images 4, 5). Females are similar to those of M. jubatus, but can be distinguished in having short, simple copulatory ducts and globular spermathecae (Image 7).

Distribution: Karnataka (Caleb et al. 2021; present study) and Kerala (new record) (Image 10).

 

Maripanthus jubatus Maddison, 2020

Images 3, 8–9

 

Maripanthus jubatus Maddison, in Maddison et al., 2020: 76, figs. 11, 204–214

Material examined: 1 female (GEER98315A), India, Karnataka, Uttar Kannada, 16.vii.2015, Sirsi (14.6110N, 74.8330E, 588 m), coll. Prashanthakumara, S.M.

Diagnosis: Females of M. jubatus are similar to that of M. draconis, but can be differentiated with ECP split into a pocket on each side (Images 8, 9).

Distribution: India: Karnataka (Maddison et al. 2020; present study) (Image 10).

 

For images - - click here

 

 

References

 

Caleb, J.T.D. & P.M. Sankaran (2021). Araneae of India. Version 2021. Available from: http://www.indianspiders.in (accessed 28 August 2021).

Caleb, J.T.D., C. Francis & V.K. Bhat (2021). A new baviine species of the genus Maripanthus Maddison from India (Araneae: Salticidae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 128(1): 199–205. https://doi.org/10.35929/RSZ.0045

Maddison, W.P. (2015). A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Journal of Arachnology 43: 231–292. https://doi.org/10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292

Maddison, W.P., I. Beattie, K. Marathe, P.Y.C. Ng, N. Kanesharatnam, S.P. Benjamin & K. Kunte (2020). A phylogenetic and taxonomic review of baviine jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Baviini). Zookeys 1004: 27–97.

Simon, E. (1901). Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome second. Roret, Paris, 381–668 pp.

World Spider Catalog (2021). World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbc.ch, version, 22.5 Accessed on 28 August 2021.