Out of the twilight zone: phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of the orb-weaving spider family Mysmenidae, with a focus on spinneret spigot morphology in symphytognathoids (Araneae, Araneoidea)

Abstract

This paper provides the first comprehensive comparative morphological study of symphytognathoid spiders, with an emphasis on the family Mysmenidae. Hypotheses of primary homology, particularly at the level of male genitalia, are proposed for a total of 65 taxa (42 mysmenids), compiled into a morphological data set of more than 350 characters. Male palpal structures (paracymbium and tegular conductor), considered absent for the family by previous workers, are actually present in Mysmenidae. The pattern of interfamilial relationships based on the morphological data differs from the hypothesis based on the total evidence (morphology plus multigene sequence data) in the placement of Theridiosomatidae. We have based all formal taxonomic and nomenclatural decisions on the results of analysis of the total evidence from a previous study, except in the cases in which only morphological information was available. Based on such phylogenetic results, the following generic transfers from Mysmenidae are proposed: Crassignatha, Iardinis (to Symphytognathidae); Leviola (to Zodariidae); and Phricotelus (Araneoidea incertae sedis). Mysmenidae is redelimited to include at least eight genera: Mysmena, Microdipoena, Maymena, Trogloneta, Isela, Mysmenopsis, Brasilionata, and Mysmeniola, which are re‐diagnosed. Mysmenella and Anjouanella are synonymized with Microdipoena. Calodipoena, Itapua, Calomyspoena, Tamasesia, and Kekenboschiella are synonymized with Mysmena. Two mysmenid subfamilies are here proposed: Mysmenopsinae subf. nov. and Mysmeninae. In addition, diagnostic features for all symphytognathoid families are provided. One significant outcome of this comparative review is the entelegyne internal genitalic conformation for the family Anapidae (as opposed to haplogyne): all anapid representatives examined possess fertilization ducts. We provide some comments on the evolution of the morphology of spinneret spigots in symphytognathoids. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London

Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target‐gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb‐weaving spiders with a new family‐rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea)

“…Micropholcommatidae Hickman, 1944 (implied but not formalized in Brignoli () and Schütt (); synonymy formally proposed in Lopardo et al. (); see also Lopardo and Hormiga ()).…”

“…Additional morphological synapomorphies are discussed and illustrated in Lopardo et al. () and Lopardo and Hormiga ().…”

“…In spite of her clear argumentation, her results were not widely accepted. More recently several studies, some of which included molecular data (Lopardo and Hormiga, , ; Rix et al., ; Rix and Harvey, ; Lopardo et al., ) have firmly placed micropholcommatines within Araneoidea, and Wood et al. (, ) definitively distinguished Palpimanoidea and Araneoidea.…”

The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target‐gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling

“…Spinning organs and genital systems represent two of the main sources of characters in spider systematics (e.g. Agnarsson, ; Griswold et al., ; Álvarez‐Padilla and Hormiga, ; Ramírez, ; Lopardo and Hormiga, , among numerous others).…”

The spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Ecological Reserve Costanera Sur, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina

“…Familia MYSMENIDAE Nota de identificación: Esta familia no había sido citada formalmente para la fauna de la Argentina hasta muy recientemente, aunque diversos representantes de la misma fueron colectados en campañas de las últimas décadas. Varias de esas especies -aún innominadas-han sido citadas en el estudio filogenético de la familia (Lopardo & Hormiga, 2015). Casi toda la taxonomía del grupo es todavía desconocida, aunque sabemos por Lara Lopardo (com.…”