Preliminary Report on the Cave Spider Fauna of the Ryukyu Archipelago

Taxonomic notes on leptonetid spiders from the Ryukyu Archipelago with the description of two new species and the first record of the genus Longileptoneta from Japan (Araneae: Leptonetidae)

“…Consequently, we postpone the study of this species to future works when some fresh samples of both sexes are available. Apparently, F. okinawaensis can cohabits in the same caves with the more widely distributed M. longipalpis (see Shimojana 1977). We cannot directly confirm this observation since we only collected the latter species during our surveys.…”

“…10). It is apparently absent in other islands of the Ryukyu arc (Shimojana 1977) and no external records are currently known. We failed to collect any specimens of F. okinawaensis during our surveys in the Ryukyus despite searching in some of the recorded localities including the type locality cave.…”

“…In particular, M. longipalpis shows extensive morphological adaptations to the subterranean lifestyle having reduced eyes, elongated legs and palps, and lacking pigmentation. Despite the fact that the Ryukyus are known to host a diverse and scientifically interesting endemic cave fauna, including several spider species (Machida et al 2001, Shimojana 1977, the study of Leptonetidae in the islands of this archipelago has been long neglected. With the exclusion of the original descriptions by Komatsu (1972) and the records reported in the extensive preliminary research on cave spiders by Shimojana (1977), no other studies on leptonetids have been conducted in the Ryukyus.…”

“…Despite the fact that the Ryukyus are known to host a diverse and scientifically interesting endemic cave fauna, including several spider species (Machida et al 2001, Shimojana 1977, the study of Leptonetidae in the islands of this archipelago has been long neglected. With the exclusion of the original descriptions by Komatsu (1972) and the records reported in the extensive preliminary research on cave spiders by Shimojana (1977), no other studies on leptonetids have been conducted in the Ryukyus. Both recorded leptonetid species lack modern, detailed photographs of their diagnostic characters, as their recognition currently relies only on the original drawings of the male palps and habitus.…”

Two New Species of Ground Spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Okinawa Islands, Japan

“…parva Kamura, 1991;C. oculinotata (Bösenberg and Strand, 1906) (Shimojana 1977(Shimojana , 1981Kamura 1991Kamura , 1997Tanikawa and Sasaki 1999). Etymology.…”