The scorpion-tailed orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Araneidae, Arachnura) in Australia and New Zealand

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4706 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-170
Author(s):  
PEDRO DE S. CASTANHEIRA ◽  
RAPHAEL K. DIDHAM ◽  
COR J. VINK ◽  
VOLKER W. FRAMENAU
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Single Female ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Nomen Dubium ◽  
The Pacific

The scorpion-tailed orb-weaving spiders in the genus Arachnura Vinson, 1863 (Araneidae Clerck, 1757) are revised for Australia and New Zealand. Arachnura higginsii (L. Koch, 1872) only occurs in Australia and A. feredayi (L. Koch, 1872) only in New Zealand. A single female collected in south-eastern Queensland (Australia) is here tentatively identified as A. melanura Simon, 1867, but it is doubtful that this species has established in Australia. Two juveniles from northern Queensland do not conform to the diagnoses of any of the above species and are illustrated pending a more thorough revision of the genus in South-East Asia and the Pacific region. An unidentified female from Westport (New Zealand) does not conform to the diagnoses of A. feredayi and A. higginsii, but is not described due to its poor preservation status. Arachnura caudatella Roewer, 1942 (replacement name for Epeira caudata Bradley, 1876), originally described from Hall Sound (Papua New Guinea) and repeatedly catalogued for Australia, is considered a nomen dubium. 

Asian and south-western Pacific continental terranes derived from Gondwana, and their biogeographic significance

1991 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Burrett ◽  
N Duhid ◽  
R Berry ◽  
R Varne
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Australian Continent

The recent recognition of numerous small geological terranes in the Indo-Pacific region has revolutionised our understanding of geological and biogeographic processes. Most of these terranes rifted from Gondwana. The Shan-Thai terrane rifted from Australia in the Permian and collided with Indo-China in the Triassic. Parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan may have rifted from Australia in the Cretaceous and carried an angiosperm flora north. Other terranes, now dispersed in South-East Asia and in the Pacific were, at various times in the Cenozoic, part of the Australian continent. Faunal and floral mobilism to Fiji via the Solomons and Vanuatu was probably not difficult up to the late Miocene.

scholarly journals The genus Euphorbia in Australia

1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
DC Hassall
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Chromosome Numbers ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Interspecific Relationships ◽  
New Hebrides

In Australia the genus Euphorbia L., sensu stricto, is represented by seven indigenous species in three subgenera. One species has been reported from Papua New Guinea and parts of South-east Asia, another from the New Hebrides; the remaining species are endemic to Australia. Two taxa are described as new species, viz. Euphorbia parvicaruncula and Euphorbia planiticola, and two former species are reduced to infraspecific rank, viz. Euphorbia tannensis subsp. eremophila, and Euphorbia tannensis subsp. eremophila var. finlaysonii. Observations are made on geographical distributions, interspecific relationships, and chromosome numbers.

Phylogeny of the Hebe Complex (Scrophulariaceae: Veroniceae)

1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 457 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Garnock-Jones
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South America ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
New Combinations ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
Occurrence Of Species

The southern segregates of Veronica (Hebe, Parahebe, Chionohebe, Dementia, and Detzneria) form a monophyletic assemblage of c. 144 species found in New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Rapa, and South America. Most of the species occur in New Zealand, where Hebe is the largest genus and a characteristic member of many vegetation types. Cladistic analysis of the Hebe complex, based on 45 characters and 22 terminal taxa, indicates that: (1) Hebe is monophyletic if Hebe 'Paniculatae' is excluded and H. formosa is included; (2) Parahebe is paraphyletic; (3) Chionohebe is monophyletic, but is part of a larger clade which includes alpine Parahebe and possibly the monotypic Detzneria; (4) Hebe 'Paniculatae', Derwentia, and New Guinea Parahebe are monophyletic basal groups in the complex. According to this study, recognition of monophyletic genera would require six genera in the complex, supporting the recognition of Derwentia and separation of Hebe 'Paniculatae' from Hebe. Leonohebe Heads is considered polyphyletic and is not accepted; new combinations are provided for two species of Leonohebe with no name at species rank in Hebe. Competing biogeographic hypotheses have implied (1) a Gondwanan origin, or (2) migration from South-east Asia via New Guinea. An origin in Australasia from Asian ancestors best explains the topology of the basal parts of the cladogram, but at least seven dispersal events from New Zealand are postulated to explain the occurrence of species of Hebe in South America and Rapa and Parahebe, Hebe, and Chionohebe in Australia. An hypothesis which did not allow dispersal would require that nearly all the evolution in the complex occurred before the Tertiary, and hardly any since.

The systematics and biology of the spider genus Nephila (Araneae:Nephilidae) in the Australasian region

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Harvey ◽  
Andrew D. Austin ◽  
Mark Adams
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
East Asia ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Allozyme Data ◽  
New Synonyms ◽  
Nephila Plumipes ◽  
Australasian Region

Five species of the nephilid genus Nephila Leach are found in the Australasian region, which for the purposes of this study was defined as Australia and its dependencies (including Lord Howe I., Norfolk I., Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is), New Guinea (including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of West Papua), Solomon Is, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, New Zealand and other parts of the south-west Pacific region. All species are redescribed and illustrated. Nephila pilipes (Fabricius) occurs in the closed forests of eastern and northern Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Is and Vanuatu (through to South-East Asia); N. plumipes (Latreille) is found in Australia (including Lord Howe I. and Norfolk I.), New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Is and New Caledonia; N. tetragnathoides (Walckenaer) inhabits Fiji, Tonga and Niue; N. antipodiana (Walckenaer) occurs in northern Australia (as well as Christmas I.), New Guinea and Solomon Is (through to South-East Asia); and N. edulis (Labillardière) is found in Australia (including Cocos (Keeling) Is), New Guinea, New Zealand and New Caledonia. Epeira (Nephila) walckenaeri Doleschall, E. (N.) hasseltii Doleschall, N. maculata var. annulipes Thorell, N. maculata jalorensis Simon, N. maculata var. novae-guineae Strand, N. pictithorax Kulczyński, N. maculata var. flavornata Merian, N. pictithorax Kulczyński, N. maculata var. flavornata Merian, N. maculata piscatorum de Vis, and N. (N.) maculata var. lauterbachi Dahl are proposed as new synonyms of N. pilipes. Nephila imperialis var. novaemecklenburgiae Strand, N. ambigua Kulczyński, N. sarasinorum Merian and N. celebesiana Strand are proposed as new synonyms of N. antipodiana. Meta aerea Hogg, N. meridionalis Hogg, N. adelaidensis Hogg and N. meridionalis hermitis Hogg are proposed as new synonyms of N. edulis. Nephila picta Rainbow is removed from the synonymy of N. plumipes and treated as a synonym of N. edulis, and N. nigritarsis insulicola Pocock is removed from the synonymy of N. plumipes and treated as a synonym of N. antipodiana. Allozyme data demonstrate that N. pilipes is distinct at the 80% FD level from N. edulis, N. plumipes and N. tetragnathoides. Nephila plumipes and N. tetragnathoides, deemed to represent sister-taxa owing to the shared presence of a triangular protrusion of the male pedipalpal conductor, were found to differ at 15% FD in the genetic study. No genetic differentiation was found between 10 populations of N. edulis sampled across mainland Australia. Species of the genus Nephila have been extensively used in ecological and behavioural studies, and the biology of Nephila species in the Australasian region is extensively reviewed and compared with studies on Nephila species from other regions of the world.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document