Systematics and biogeography of the sheet-web building wolf spider genus Venonia (Araneae:Lycosidae)

Abstract

The Australian/Oriental wolf spider genus Venonia Thorell, 1894 (type species V. coruscans Thorell, 1894) belongs to one of the few true web-building genera within the Lycosidae. Their small sheet-webs with funnel-like retreats are generally found in the ground layer of vegetation, such as on lawns and meadows, but also in depressions of soil and under roots of trees. Members of the genus Venonia are easily identified within the Lycosidae due to a unique combination of somatic and genitalic characters. Most conspicuous is a posterodorsal white spot on the abdomen just above the elongated posterior spinnerets on an otherwise uniformly coloured, small, and relatively slender spider. The cymbium of the male pedipalp is highly asymmetrical appearing retrolaterally truncated. Its tegular apophysis is membranous. The female epigyne is generally not sclerotised and has a posterior central incision. Our revision recognises fifteen species of which seven are new to science: V. chaiwooi, sp. nov.; V. choiae, sp. nov.; V. cinctipes (Simon, 1898); V. coruscans Thorell, 1894; V. infundibulum, sp. nov.; V. joejim, sp. nov.; V. kimjoopili, sp. nov.; V. kokoda Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979; V. micans (Simon, 1898) (= Venonia gabrielae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995, new synonymy); V. micarioides (L. Koch, 1877); V. milla Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979; V. muju (Chrysanthus, 1967); V. nata, sp. nov.; V. sungahae, sp. nov.; and V. vilkkii Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979. A phylogenetic analysis including representatives of the venoniine genera Anomalosa Roewer, 1960 and Allotrochosina Roewer, 1960 with Pirata subpiraticus (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) as outgroup suggests a Gondwanan origin of the Venoniinae and one dispersal event within Venonia from the Australian region into Wallacea and only one dispersal event by V. coruscans into the Oriental region. Venonia spirocysta Chai, 1991 from China is not a true Venonia and is here considered incerta sedis. We reject the inclusion of the genus Zoica Simon, 1898 in the subfamily Venoniinae Lethinen & Hippa, 1979 due to considerable morphological differences in representatives of this genus (in particular in the male pedipalp), and therefore consider the subfamily Zoicinae Lehtinen & Hippa, 1979 as valid.

Patterns in the composition of ground-dwelling spider communities in the Pilbara bioregion, Western Australia

“…The Australian fauna has received considerable taxonomic attention over the last decade and is now recognised to consist of four subfamilies: Zoicinae (e.g. McKay 1979), Venoniinae (Framenau 2006b;Yoo and Framenau 2006), Artoriinae (e.g. Framenau 2005;Framenau 2007), and Lycosinae (e.g.…”

“…Baehr 2003a, b, 2004Baehr and Churchill 2003), Lycosidae (e.g. Framenau 2005Framenau , 2006aFramenau , 2007Yoo and Framenau 2006;Framenau and Baehr 2007;Langlands and Framenau 2010), Ammoxenidae (Platnick 2002), Cithaeronidae (Platnick 2002), Gallieniellidae (Platnick 2002), Trochanteriidae (Platnick 2002) and Pholcidae (Huber 2001). These revisions have allowed us to achieve a much higher level of taxonomic accuracy in determining the Pilbara collection.…”

A revision of the African wolf spider genus Amblyothele Simon

“…Asia. More recently, Yoo and Framenau (2006) revised the genus Venonia Th orell, 1894 and revalidated Venoniinae in the restricted sense of Lehtinen and Hippa (1979), on the basis of the distinctive palpal morphology including the distal position of a well sclerotised conductor. However, this does not correspond with the defi nition of the subfamily provided by Dondale (1986).…”

Wolf spiders of the Pacific region: the genus Zoica (Araneae, Lycosidae)

“…The Artoriinae Framenau 2007 are represented by Artoria Thorell 1877, Lycosella Thorell 1890, and Syroloma Simon 1900 and are currently reported from New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Samoa, and French Polynesia (e.g., Simon 1900;Berland 1929Berland , 1934Framenau 2007). Two species of Venonia Thorell 1894 in the subfamily Venoniinae Lehtinen & Hippa 1979 have been reported from Palau (Yoo & Framenau 2006). It appears that the lycosid fauna of the Pacific has strong affinities with Australia and Southeast Asia as, for example, Venoniinae and Artoriinae do not occur in the Americas to the east.…”

“…Dondale (1986) synonymized this subfamily with the Venoniinae; however, this synonymy was rejected & the subfamily revalidated in a recent revision of Venonia (Yoo & Framenau 2006). Zoicinae include five genera from the Indo-Australasian region: Zoica Simon 1898, Lysania Thorell 1890, Zantheres Thorell 1887, Margonia Hippa & Lehtinen 1983, and Shapna Hippa & Lehtinen 1983(Hippa & Lehtinen 1983Yoo & Framenau 2006). Lehtinen & Hippa (1979;p.…”