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Oral presentation
Ecological studies of spider fauna of
Awka, Anambra state
Daniel Nwankwo Ogonna
1
, Ewuim Sylvanus Chima
2
1Animal & Environmental Biology Dept., PMB 374,
Federal University Oye-ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria;
2
Zoology Dept. PMB 5025, Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
daniel.nwankwo@fuoye.edu.ngA twelve-month study of spider communities in farm-
land, fallow, marshy and forest habitats was conducted
in Awka, eastern Nigeria. Pitfall trap, sweepnet and
jarring methods were used and the influence of some
abiotic factors investigated. Eight of the nineteen fami-
lies found were new to Nigeria while only
Pochyta
sp.,
Evarcha dotata
and
Baryphas
sp. out of the 24 species
found have been previously recorded in Nigeria. Fallow
habitat with 15 families and 337 individuals was the
most productive habitat among the four, while the
farmland showed the highest diversity index of 2.11.
Lycosidae was the most dominant family, in terms of
population, species diversity and distribution within
and across habitats. All the four families recorded in the
forest were also found in all the other habitats except
zodariidae which was not found in the marshy habitat.
Uloboridae was the only exclusive family to farmland,
while fallow and marshy had 4 and 2 exclusive families
each. ANOVA showed that there was no significant dif-
ference between the sampling methods effort, however
Duncan test showed that there was a difference between
pitfall trap effort and the other methods. Correlation
coefficient showed significant relationship between
sweep net, jarring methods effort and temperature.
Spiders caught by pitfall trap from fallow and marshy
showed significant relationship with rainfall. Lycosidae,
Zodariidae, Theridiidae, Gnaphosidae, Eutichuridae,
Uloboridae, Miturgidae and Nesticidae were the new
addition to the list of the very little known Nigeria
spiders. Lycosidae was found to be the most suited as
biocontrol agent in the area. While all the methods
were good, pitfall trap was the most efficient and the
only method to collect zodariidae group. Rainfall and
temperature showed some level of influence on the
population and distribution of spiders in marshy and
fallow habitats particularly.
Keywords: habitat, sampling, pitfall trap
Student - poster presentation
A dated molecular phylogeny for
Austropur-
cellia
, short-range endemic mite harvestmen
(Cyphophthalmi, Pettalidae) from the Aus-
tralian Wet Tropics
*Jill T. Oberski
1
, Kaelyn A. Lemon
1
, Prashant P. Sharma2,
Sarah L. Boyer
1
1
Macalester College Biology Department 1600 Grand
Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55105, USA;
2
University of
Wisconsin-Madison Department of Zoology 352 Birge
Hall 430 Lincoln Drive Madison, WI 53706, USA
jilloberski@outlook.comThe Australian Wet Tropics in northern Queensland are
heralded as a model region for studying the relation-
ship between geological and evolutionary history. Mite
harvestmen of the genus
Austropurcellia
(Opiliones:
Cyphophthalmi: Pettalidae) have come to attention in
recent years as a study system for understanding the
biogeography of the Wet Tropics. The limited dispersal,
excellent persistence, and ancient age of this lineage
make it a particularly useful group for historical
biogeographic study. Although phylogenetic relation-
ships within this genus have been explored in recent
years, previous studies did not achieve full taxonomic
or biogeographic sampling across the genus. Using
recently collected specimens from species and areas
not represented in previous analyses, we inferred phy-
logenetic trees using Bayesian methods, and completed
maximum likelihood analyses with bootstrap resam-
pling. Molecular clock methods implemented in BEAST
were used to determine divergence dates. We explore the
relationship between the evolutionary history of
Aus-
tropurcellia
and the geological history of northeastern
Australia, including Miocene aridification and Pleisto-
cene glacial cycling.
Keywords: Australia, Cyphopthalmi, Pettalidae, molecu-
lar clock, Miocene, Pleistocene, Wet Tropics
146
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE
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No. 3, July 2, 2016
Cushing