20th International Congress of Arachnology

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38 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 3, July 2, 2016
Cushing
indicated that before any talks: 65% of the children did
not know about native harvestmen, 45% were afraid of
spiders, 65% disliked them and 62% ran away or killed
them in an encounter. Significantly more children learned
about harvestmen in the spider group (40%). We did not
find differences in comparisons using the other param-
eters. These findings remark how meaningful a single talk
can be in children’s learning, but also indicate the need
of a much deeper educational work to demystify false con-
cepts about spiders and nature in general.
Keywords: children education, fear, survey, spiders
Student - oral presentation
Comparative spigot ontogeny and mor-
phology across the Lycosoidea
*Rachael Alfaro
Division of Arthropods Museum of Southwestern
Biology, Arthropods 1, University of New Mexico,
MSC03 2020, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001
Adult spigot morphology has provided useful taxonomic
characters in many morphological datasets in spider
systematics; however, the ontogeny of silk spigots is very
under-studied across spider taxa. Silk spigot numbers and
active glands change at varying stages throughout the spider
life cycle. Recent phylogenomics studies have confirmed the
paraphyly of the Orbiculariae and suggest that orb weaving
cribellate spiders are sister to the highly diverse RTA clade,
not the sticky silk orb weavers (Araneoidea). The majority of
spiders within the RTA clade, including lycosoids, have lost
the use of silk as a foraging tool, and some have retained
the cribellum. Given this paradigm shift in spider systemat-
ics, it is important to look for homologous spigot structures
between orb weavers and lycosoids during development.
Here, I describe the spigot ontogeny for three species:
Tengella perfuga Dahl, and for the first time, Dolomedes
tenebrosus (Hentz) and Hogna carolinensis (Walckenaer).
Lab colonies were established and specimens collected from
every instar. Spinnerets from each spider (2nd instar to adult)
were dissected and prepared for SEM imaging by critical
point drying, mounting and sputter-coating the specimen in
gold. SEM images were used to determine the quantity, type
and functionality of spigots present on each spinneret
for every instar in each species. SEM imaging and spigot
mapping are currently underway. T engella perfuga are
cribellate and possess a triad of spigots (modified spigot
with flankers) on the PLS which may be homologous to
the PLS triad (aggregate and flagelliform spigots) in arane-
oids, while H. carolinensis and D. tenebrosus do not. These
data, along with published datasets within Araneoidea and
Lycosoidea, and an unpublished Phyxelida tangenensis
(Simon & Fage) dataset (Carlson & Griswold) will be used
in comparative phylogenetic analyses, using the Lycosoidea
phylogeny (Polotow et al.) to explore silk use evolution.
Keywords: cribellum, spinnerets, modified spigot, silk
use evolution
Student - Poster Presentation
Documenting the subtribe Aelurillina
from the Hindu Kush region of Pakistan
(Araneae: Salticidae)
Pir Asmat Ali1,2, Wayne P. Maddison1,3 , Muhammad Zahid2
1Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada; 2Department of Zoology, Islamia
College University, Peshawar, Pakistan; 3Department of
Botany and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
The subtribe Aelurillina includes 262 species of jumping
spider (family Salticidae) in 11 genera worldwide, with all
but one distributed in Africa and Eurasia. We provide the
first report of species in the group from Pakistan, and in
fact one of the few reports of any salticids in Pakistan. In
recent collecting in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Northern area
and Federally Administrative Tribles Areas (F.A.T.A.) of Paki-
stan we have discovered at least 6 species of aelurillines, in
varied habitats but mostly on stony ground of lower bare
Hindu Kush mountains. The species found include Aeluril-
lus cf. logunovi Azarkina, 2004, Aelurillus sp., Langona cf.
bhutanica Proszynski, 1978, Langona cf. pallida Proszyn-
ski, 1993, Phegra cf. bresnieri (Lucas, 1846), and a species
of Stenaelurillus new to science. Further studies are needed
to determine the species identifications precisely.
Keywords: Jumping spiders, Salticidae, taxonomy, Pakistan