Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Researchers studying nearly 400 colonies in Madagascar have discovered 10 never-before-seen species of subsocial coweb spiders, most of which belong to the genus Anelosimus, according to a new paper published Tuesday in the open-access scientific journal ZooKeys.
In addition, many of the new species are single forest endemics, and the study authors said in a statement that the number of previously undiscovered spiders found in an otherwise increasingly deforested region of Madagascar demonstrates the need for additional samplings in the area.
Furthermore, lead investigator Dr. Igni Agnarsson, an assistant professor in the University of Vermont’s Department of Biology, and his colleagues wrote that the fact that the discovery is evidence the biodiversity in this part of the world, especially in terms of spiders and other types of arthropods, is “mostly unexplored and undescribed.”
New species reveal new relationships between spider groups
Five of the newly-discovered spider species were named in honor of some of the most famous figures in the field of evolutionary biology, including Buffon, Hooker, Huxley, Lamarck and Wallace, the researchers said. One of them, Anelosimus darwini (featured image above), as named in honor of the father of evolutionary biology himself, Charles Darwin, they added.
Dr. Agnarsson and his co-authors wrote that they conducted a thorough survey of approximately 350 colonies from the Analamazaotra (or Périnet) Special Reserve and three pilot surveys into the Ambohitantely, Ranamofana, and Montagne d’Ambre forests in Madagascar. Their work led to a subsocial clade include the 10 new species as well as six previously identified ones.
Madagascan cobweb spider species, Anelosimus moramora, named after the Madagascan motto ‘no rush’ or ‘take it easy’.
(Credit: Ingi Agnarsson)
The known species are identified as A. andasibe, A. may, A. nazariani, A. sallee, A. salut, and A. vondrona, while the 10 new species have been named A. ata, A. buffoni, A. darwini, A. hookeri, A. huxleyi, A. lamarcki, A. moramora, A. tita, A. torfi and A. wallacei. All of the species, except for A. may and A. vondrona, appear to be single forest endemics, the authors noted.
“While additional sampling is necessary, these data imply a much higher local richness and endemism in Madagascan forests than in any other comparable area globally,” they wrote. “The phylogenetic results establish a sister clade relationship between the subsocial Anelosimus in Madagascar and the American ‘eximius group’, and between the solitary A. decaryi on Madagascar and a solitary American clade.”
This is a female Madagascan cobweb spider, Anelosimus ata, and her web. (Credit: Ingi Agnarsson)
“These findings imply duplicate colonizations from America, an otherwise rare biogeographical pattern, calling for more detailed investigation of Anelosimus biogeography,” they added.
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