20th International Congress of Arachnology

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116 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 3, July 2, 2016
Cushing
its restrictive distribution. They are ground dwelling
spiders found under rocks and boulders. Due to their
secluded nature, data on these endemic spiders are very
much limited. In this paper I rediagnose and illustrate
two poorly known species based on new specimens collected
from different parts of Western Ghats. One new species of
Annandaliella is also recorded from Kerala. Photos and
new data on their distribution, habits and morphometry
are also provided. The new species Annandaliella nigra
sp. nov. is collected from Maalippara, Ernakulam district,
Kerala state, India. It can be separated from A. travanco-
rica Hirst, 1909 by the presence of twin spermathecal lobes
diverging from each other, distal end with club shaped
lateral bud and three intercheliceral spines on the opposed
surfaces of chelicerae. Regarding the known species A. tra-
vancorica Hirst, 1909, its presence in the northern district
of Kozhikode is also reported along with diagnosis of the
species. Similarly diagnosis and distributional records of
A. ernakulamensis Jose & Sebastian 2008 is also provided.
The primitive nature of these spiders makes them highly
vulnerable to extinction due to land degradation and defor-
estation. Unless urgent measures are taken to study and
protect these primitive spiders their existence will be at risk.
Keywords: Taxonomy, Mygalomorph spiders.
Oral presentation
Intraspecific variation of pedipalp and
epigyne morphology in Plebs mitratus (Simon,
1895) (Araneae: Aranediae), with comments
on the occurrence of mating plug in the genus
Mathew M. Joseph, Jimmy Paul, Pradeep M. Sankaran,
Pothalil A. Sebastian
Division of Arachnology, Department of Zoology, Sacred
Heart College, Thevara, Cochin, Kerala 682 013, India.
Plebs Joseph & Framenau, 2012 (Araneae: Aranediae) is an
orb weaving spider genus distributed in Australia-Pacific
region, South-East Asia, China, Japan, Korea and India
and currently comprises 23 spp. P. mitratus, one of the
Indian representatives of the genus, commonly prefers
mountainous habitats. Specimens of P. mitratus were col-
lected from three different tropical montane wet temperate
forests of Western Ghats in Kerala, India - Nayamakkadu
shola (Eravikulam National Park), Chembra Peak and
Aanamudi Shola National Park, all within a short geo-
graphic range of 150 km. Examination of the specimens
revealed incredible intraspecific variation in the morphol-
ogy of pedipalp and epigiyne. Examination of four male
and three female specimens revealed notable variations
especially in the morphology of the basal arch of median
apophysis, conductor, embolus, terminal apophysis,
epigyne plate, spermathecae and copulatory ducts. Detailed
examination of the epigyne also revealed the presence of
mating plugs, which were hitherto unknown in the genus.
The plug was found to be embedded in the copulatory
opening and in the cleft between the posterior and lateral
lobes of the median plate and covered the surrounding
area of the epigyne. Either left or right or both copulatory
openings were found to be plugged.
Keywords: distribution map, Shola, taxonomy, tropical
montane wet temperate forest, Western Ghats.
Student - Oral presentation
Sexually dimorphic tarsal features in
mygalomorph spiders
Juliana Paneczko Jurgilas, José Paulo Leite Guadanucci
UNESP, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de
Zoologia. Av. 24 A, 1515 - Bela Vista, Rio Claro - SP
13506-900, Brazil.
We investigated tarsi I and IV of males and females rep-
resentatives of all 16 families of mygalomorph spiders
(except for Microstigmatidae and Paratropididae, for
which only males were examined) to verify sexually
dimorphic features regarding adhesive and sensory setae.
A distinct type of sensory setae was found only in males,
additional to those sensory setae that are present in both
sexes. The male sensory setae, which are shorter and have
a distinct apical end compared to the normal sensory
setae, are located on the ventral face of tarsi. According
to the relationship hypothesis based on total evidence
for mygalomorphs, we can presume that adhesive setae
probably appeared three times independently: in Dipluri-
nae, Crassitarsae and Euctenizoidina. In Diplurinae and