Preliminary Review of Indian Eumenophorinae (Araneae: Theraphosidae) with Description of a New Genus and Five New Species from the Western Ghats

Abstract

The theraphosid spider genera Heterophrictus Pocock, 1900 and Neoheterophrictus Siliwal & Raven, 2012 are rediagnosed in this paper and a new genus, Sahydroaraneus gen. nov. is described from Southern Western Ghats. Four new species (two each of Heterophrictus and Neoheterophrictus) and one of Sahydroaraneus gen. nov. are described from the Western Ghats. Plesiophrictus mahabaleshwari Tikader, 1977 is removed from the synonymy of Heterophrictus milleti Pocock, 1900 and is treated as a junior synonym of Heterophrictus blatteri (Gravely, 1935). Plesiophrictus bhori Gravely, 1915 is transferred to the genus Neoheterophrictus, Neoheterophrictus bhori (Gravely, 1915) new combination. The genus, Sahydroaraneus gen. nov., resembles tarantula belonging to the genus, Neoheterophrictus but differs with respect to structure of tibial apophysis and spermathecae. Detailed ultra-structure of setae type of the Indian Eumenophorinae is presented for the first time along with notes on their biogeography. Common elements among Africa, Madagascar and India like the Eumenophorinae and several other mygalomorph spiders advocate mygalomorphae as an important group for evolutionary investigation due to their inability for long distance dispersal rendering the members restrictive in distribution.

A new genus <I>Gravelyia</I> with two species of the family Nemesiidae (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from India

“…There have been several notable contributions towards documentation of mygalomorph spiders that include description of several new genera and species (Mirza et al 2012(Mirza et al , 2014(Mirza et al , 2017Siliwal et al 2011). Most of these contributions are largely centered on species occurring in biodiversity hotspots like the Western Ghats, Northeast India and other areas throughout remain unexplored.…”

A new large trapdoor spider species of the genus Heligmomerus Simon 1892 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Idiopidae) from Western Ghats, India

“…Comparative material examined including male holotype of H. biharicus and female holotype and nontype male specimen of H. barkudensis are housed in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata without registration numbers. Description style follows Mirza et al (2014). The holotype (BNHS SP-118) is deposited in the collection of the BNHS and the paratypes (NCBS PZ-429, NCBS PZ-430) at the NCBS.…”

“…The Western Ghats are known for their rich and endemic fauna being a biodiversity hotspot which is relatively less explored in terms of its invertebrate fauna (Myers et al 2000;Mirza et al 2014;Sanap and Mirza 2014). During a recent field trip, trapdoor spider specimens of the genus Heligmomerus were collected from southern Western Ghats which represent an undescribed species based on literature review and comparison of museum material.…”

A new genus and new species of diplurid spider (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Dipluridae) from northeast India

“…These spiders possess long posterior lateral spinnerets which are used to make an irregular web with a retreat within it (Schwendinger 2009). In Asia, however, their diversity seems to be poorly represented largely due to the fact that only a handful of investigations have been made on mygalomorph spiders as a whole (Coyle 1995;Mirza et al 2014;Raven 1985;Sanap and Mirza 2015;Siliwal et al 2015b). In India, this family is represented by 2 genera and 4 species namely: Indothele dumicola Pocock, 1900; Indothele mala Coyle, 1995;Indothele rothi Coyle, 1995;Ischnothele indicola Tikader, 1969 (Hadole andRajoria 2012).…”