Metagonia spiders of Galápagos

AutorInnen:

Huber, Meng, Acurio, Astrin, Inclán, Izquierdo, Valdez-Mondragón

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Vollständiger Titel:

Metagonia spiders of Galápagos: blind cave-dwellers and their epigean relatives (Araneae, Pholcidae)

ZFMK-Autorinnen / ZFMK-Autoren:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber, Guanliang Meng, Dr. Jonas Astrin

Org. Einordnung:

Arachnida, Biobank

Publiziert in:

Invertebrate Systematics

Publikationstyp:

Zeitschriftenaufsatz

DOI Name:

10.1071/IS21082

Bibliographische Angaben:

Huber, B.A., Meng, G., Acurio, A.E., Astrin, J.J., Inclán, D.J., Izquierdo, M. and Valdez-Mondragón, A. (2022): Metagonia spiders of Galápagos: blind cave-dwellers and their epigean relatives (Araneae, Pholcidae). - Invertebrate Systematics 36, 647-678.

Abstract:

The spider genus Metagonia has been represented on the Galápagos Islands by two blind species inhabiting lava tubes on Isabela and Santa Cruz. Epigean relatives had not been found on Galápagos and were thus thought to be extinct. During a collecting trip in 2019 we found two epigean species and a third blind hypogean species. Here we describe these new species based on males and females, redescribe both previously known species, and add all five species to the recently published molecular phylogeny of Pholcidae, together with more than 30 further congeners from the mainland. Galápagos Metagonia is recovered as a monophyletic group within the South American–Caribbean M. potiguar group. Galápagos Metagonia is divided into an epigean clade and a hypogean clade. Each species is restricted to an individual island (Isabela or Santa Cruz; with one possible exception), suggesting that the epigean Metagonia species are native rather than introduced.