SANSA NEWS Library/SANSA News...Esther van der Westhuizen (o-organizer) at [email protected] Norman...

SANSA NEWS

Editors and coordinators:

Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman & Robin Lyle ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute Private Bag X134 Queenswood 0121 South Africa E-mail: [email protected] Charles Haddad Department of Zoology & Entomology University of the Free State P.O. Box 339 Bloemfontein 9300 South Africa E-mail: [email protected]

No 25

JAN –MAY 2016

Inside this issue:

2017 AFRAS colloquium ….....1 International Congress …….....1 National Botanical Gardens….2-4 Namaqua National Park……....5

Addo National Park ………......6

National Museum……………..7

ARC-PPRI………………….….8

Student project……………......9

Spider snippets…………..…..10

New species…………………..11

Unknowns……………………..12

Literature……………………....12

Last Word…………………......13

NATIONAL SPIDER SPECIES COUNT

JANUARY 2015 — 2171 species JUNE 2015 — 2192 species OCTOBER 2015 — 2220 species MAY 2016 — 2234 species

2017 AFRAS NEXT COLLOQUIUM—WESTERN CAPE

The AFRICAN ARACHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY (AFRAS) is a scientific society devoted to the study

of spiders, scorpions and other arachnids in Africa. It was initiated in 1986 in Pretoria and

was first called "The Research Group for the Study of African Arachnida". In 1996 the name

was changed to the African Arachnological Society. Membership of AFRAS is free of charge

and is mainly used to report on and facilitate arachnid research undertaken in Africa. This is

done through an annual newsletter, website and a colloquium held every three years.

The 12th Colloquium of the African Arachnology Society will be hosted by Esther van der

Westhuizen and Norman Larsen, and will be held in January 2017 at the Klipbokkop Nature

Reserve near Worcester in the Western Cape, South Africa, about an hour’s drive from Cape

Town. This promises to be an exceptional event, with an amazing array of tourist attractions

in the region and the opportunity to sample arachnids in a global biodiversity hotspot, the

Cape Floral Kingdom. The first circular will be distributed shortly through various organiza-

tions and to the AFRAS membership.

As AFRAS is a non-profit organization, there are unfortunately no travel grants or bursaries

to cover attendance costs of delegates. Please make timely arrangements to ensure you are

able to make the trip and attend this event!

For more information on AFRAS also see back issues of the newsletter at the website (http://

afras.ufs.ac.za).

CONTACT: Charles Haddad (Chairman) at [email protected]

Esther van der Westhuizen (Co-organizer) at [email protected]

Norman Larsen (Co-organizer) at [email protected]

Visit the AFRAS website at http://afras.ufs.ac.za to apply to become a member .

The 2016 joint meeting of the

International Society of Arachnol-

ogy and the American Arachno-

logical Society will be held from

July 2 – 9, 2016 in beautiful Gold-

en, Colorado

(http://www.cityofgolden.net/) –

“Where the West Lives”.

SANSA NEWS 25

Free State National Botanical Garden (FSNBG) This garden, on the outskirts of Bloemfontein, spans a valley between picturesque dolerite

koppies. The natural vegetation comprises tall grassland and woodland, dominated by mag-

nificent wild olive and karee trees. The Garden covers 70 hectares, and is home to about

400 species of plants, mainly from the Free State, Northern Cape and Lesotho.

The Gardens are an ideal study site in which arachnid biodiversity patterns can be more

intensely studied. As part of the 3rd year Entomology course at the University of the Free

State, several students have conducted studies to investigate spider diversity in leaf litter,

grass tussocks, the soil surface, and on various shrubs at the gardens over the past few

years. Additional collecting by hand, litter sifting and pitfall trapping has also been conduct-

ed. All of the surveys and hand collecting conducted so far have yielded 186 species of

spiders representing 44 families. Collecting at the NBGB has resulted in the discovery of

several new species.

Spiders were collected by sifting leaf litter of three common tree species, Cussonia panicula-

ta sinuata, Olea europaea africana and Searsia lancea, in an undisturbed grassland habitat

in central South Africa. In total, 1385 spiders were collected, representing 26 families and 56

species. Four species, Obatala sp. (Amaurobiidae, 22.7%), Camillina maun Platnick & Mur-

phy (Gnaphosidae, 17.0%), Proevippa sp. (Lycosidae, 11.4%) and Zelotes frenchi Tucker

(Gnaphosidae, 9.2%) dominated the fauna (Butler et al. 2011).

In a study of foliage-dwelling spiders (Neethling & Haddad 2013), a total of 1909 spiders

representing 17 families and 54 species were collected from Acacia karroo, S. lancea, O. e.

africana and Buddleja saligna trees. The fauna was dominated by Miturgidae (23.1%), Ara-

neidae (17.7%), Thomisidae (16.7%) and Philodromidae (15.4%). A study of grass-dwelling

species collected from the tussocks of Themeda, Eragrostis and Cymbopogon grasses

found the fauna dominated by Philodromus sp. imm. (Philodromidae, 11.3%), Chresiona sp.

(Amaurobiidae, 9.2%) and Poachelas striatus (Trachelidae, 6.4%).

There is a large sample of nearly 7000 spiders collected during a year-long pitfall survey

that still needs to be sorted, which will add a considerable number of species to the checklist

of the gardens. In addition, the National Museum has collected extensively in the FSNBG

and additional data can be sourced from that material.

FURTHER READING

BUTLER, V.P. & HADDAD, C.R. 2011. Spider assemblages associated with leaf litter of three tree species in central South Africa (Arachnida: Araneae). African Journal of Ecology 49: 301–310. HADDAD, C.R. ,LOTZ, L.N., NEEETHLING, J.-A. BUTLER , V.P. , LUWES, C. & FER-REIRA, I. 2011. Spiders of the National Botanical Gardens, Bloemfontein. SANSA NEWS 14: 5. NEETHLING, J.A. & HADDAD, C.R. 2013. Arboreal spider assemblages associated with four tree species in the Grassland Biome of central South Africa (Arachnida: Araneae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 68: 123–131.

Contact: Charles Haddad at [email protected]

I. THE NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDENS

The formation of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in September 2004 through the proclamation of the National Environ-mental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) provided the ideal opportunity to showcase the biological diversity held within South Africa’s nine national botanical gardens. With the organization's main focus having been on documenting, studying and conserving South Africa’s indigenous plants since Kirstenbosch was established in 1913, there are inevitably many gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the faunal diversity conserved in our gardens. In most cases there is a fairly comprehensive understanding of the avian diversity in the national botanical gardens. Our knowledge of the lesser known, and very often less visible, groups such as insects, spiders, reptiles, amphibians and even mammals, is in several cases, however, still very restricted. Clearly, there are still many opportunities for individuals to study and document the faunal diversity associated with South Africa’s national botanical gardens. Contact: Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected]

At the moment we have 495 records from 44 families that have been recorded from the nine gardens. As part of SANSA several surveys in the National Botanical Gardens are underway. If you

want to participate feel free to contact us.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL SURVEY OF ARACHNIDA

BOTANICAL

GARDEN FAMILIES SPECIES

Free State 44 186

Hantam 14 18

Harold Porter 6 6

Karoo 2 2

Kirstenbosch 36 83

KwaZulu-Natal 3 4

Lowveld 27 99

Pretoria 25 78

Walter Sisulu 13 19

TOTAL 495

Heliophanus pistaciae (Salticidae), one of

seven Heliophanus species recorded

from the FSNBG

Natta horizontalis (Salticidae) , a common

ground-dwelling spider in the FSNBG

Salticids of the FSNBG

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SANSA NEWS 25

Hantam National Botanical Garden (HNBG) This garden in the Northern Cape comprises a vast area of over 6000 ha,

which includes representative patches of Nieuwoudtville Shale Renoster-

veld, Nieuwoudtville-Roggeveld Dolorite Renosterveld and Hantam Succu-

lent Karoo. Only ad hoc collecting took place in this garden and we pres-

ently have a list of 18 species from 14 families.

Harold Porter National Botanical Garden (HPNBG) This garden at Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape is situated in a secluded

area between mountain and sea, in the heart of the Cape Fynbos region

within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. It consists of 10 hectares of

cultivated fynbos garden and 190 hectares of pristine natural fynbos. It

encompasses mountain slopes with wind-clipped heathlands, deep gorg-

es with relict forests, flats and marshes with restios, sedges and bulbs, as

well as dunes adjacent to the beach with specialised salt-adapted plants.

Very little is known of this garden and only six species of spiders are

listed.

Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden (KDNBG) The Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden at Worcester is a

truly unique garden in the Western Cape. It cultivates and displays

a wide variety of desert and semi-desert plants. The 154 hectare

Garden lies at the foot of the Hex River Mountain range, 120 km

north of Cape Town. Only 11 hectares are cultivated and the re-

maining 143 hectares are comprised of natural vegetation. Very

little is known of the arachnids in the garden and only two species

of spiders are listed. However, 36 spp. have been sampled from

Worcester and surroundings and might also be present in the

garden.

Lowveld National Botanical Garden (LNBG)

This tree-rich garden in the Mpumalanga Province is shaped by the two

main rivers that cut across it, namely the Crocodile and Nels Rivers.

Before these two rivers converge in the Garden, they form spectacular

waterfalls. This is one of the gardens where sampling took place over

the years and Astri and John Leroy of the Spider Club are responsible

for most of the sampling in the garden. The first survey already started

in 2002. Presently we list 99 spp. from 27 families from the garden.

Contact: Astri Leroy at [email protected]

KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Garden KNBG) The KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Garden is situated along Mayor's

Walk, in the western suburbs of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It was

established in 1874. Plants from eastern South Africa and from the

Northern Hemisphere are cultivated here. Pietermaritzburg has been

well sampled (Lawrence, Croeser and Griswold) but very little is known

from the garden.

Tyrotama incerta (Hersiliidae) found in HNBG

Afroceto martini (Trachelidae) found in HPNBG

Baryphas ahenus (Salticidae) found in the KNBG

Leucauge festiva (Tetragnathidae) from LNBG

Poecilomigas abrahami (Migidae) from KNBG

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Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden This Botanical Garden was founded in 1982, but has been a popular

venue for outings since the 1800's. The natural vegetation of the area is

known as the 'Rocky Highveld Grassland' and consists of a mosaic of

grassland and savanna, with dense bush in kloofs and along streams.

The variety of habitats accommodates over 600 naturally occurring plant

species. Presently only 19 spp known from the garden.

Contact: Astri Leroy at [email protected]

http://www.sanbi.org/node/3931

SANSA NEWS 25

NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDENS cont.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (KNBG) Kirstenbosch was established in 1913 to promote, conserve and display the extraordinarily rich and diverse flora of southern Africa, and was the first botanic garden in the world to be devoted to a country's indigenous flora. The first report on the spiders of Kirstenbosch was published in 1920 by Tucker when he reported on 14 families. After that mainly ad hoc collecting took place until the students of both University of Cape Town and Stellen-bosch started with surveys in the Table Mountain National Park. Pryke & Samways (2009) investigated the invertebrate response (including spiders) to alien pine plantations, their removal in comparison with natural vegetation, recovering indigenous forests, and Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden around Cape Town. Their study strongly supports the removal of alien pines in an urban context, and also emphasizes that an urban botanical garden of indig-enous plants has major invertebrate conservation value. Uys (2012) collect-ed arachnids and other ground-dwelling invertebrates in the Table Mountain National Park, including Kirstenbosch. Her study aimed to (1) determine the impact of Cape Peninsula pine plantations on species richness and commu-nity composition of native and alien invertebrates, (2) investigate turnover of native and alien invertebrates across pine, native forest and fynbos, and (3) assess the recovery and restoration of litter invertebrate communities and the response of Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) post-felling of pine. Sev-eral spider species were sampled and added to the checklist In 2013 Elton le Roux was appointed at Kirstenbosch and they started to sample in the garden using photographs and small plastic containers. They looked for spiders in trees, debris, under rocks and in places whereby hardly any movement occurred; some were even spotted on walls. When finding the spider, they took pictures of it in its natural habitat, took down gps co-ordinates, gave it a specific/ unique number, wrote down certain features that would help identifiers distinguish it from the rest, i.e. a general description. The specimens were caught in small plastic containers with ethanol to pre-serve the species for identification. About 100 specimens sampled were identified in Pretoria. A total of 36 families and 83 species have been collect-ed. With other surveys undertaken in the garden, the total number of species so far recorded are 83.

Contact: Elton Le Roux at [email protected] and Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected]

FURTHER READING PRYKE, J.S. AND SAMWAYS, M. J. 2009. Recovery of invertebrate diversity in a rehabilitated city landscape mosaic. Landscape and Urban Planning 93: 54–62. TUCKER, R.W.E. 1920. Spiders of Kirstenbosch. Journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa 6: 21–24. UYS, C.J. 2012. The impact of pine plantations and alien invertebrates on native forest and fynbos invertebrate communities in Table Mountain Nation-al Park. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cape Town.

Pretoria National Botanical Garden (PNBG)

Not only is the SANBI Head Office in the two buildings on Meint-jieskop in the centre of the Pretoria National Botanical Garden (PNBG), but it is a 76 ha urban oasis that is a mere stone's throw away from the ever-growing masses, busy roads and new development. The PNBG is a pristine protected area, which includes natural indigenous habitat for plants and animals. There are different biomes and vegetation types such as savanna, forest, fynbos and some plants of other biomes, making it a haven for research. Some surveys that have already been un-dertaken in the PNBG were on plants, birds, amphibians, mam-mals, reptiles and some insects, such as butterflies and ants, but the spider survey is the first. It started in 2007, and the following sampling methods wee used: pitfall traps, sweeping, tree traps (bubble wrap and corrugated wrapping) and active searching. Since this is a public garden traps needed to be placed and marked to prevent tampering. So far 25 spider families, represented by 78 species, have been collected. However, it is still an ongoing process and we try to vary traps to sample most of the areas. However, this first report indicates a rich and interesting fauna. Some interest-ing findings are the high numbers of Amaurobiidae collected, a group of spiders not commonly sampled, as well as the first official record of a violin spider from Pretoria. Although the work is undertaken by individuals of ARC-PPRI, the Spider Club and other enthusiasts, as well as Christopher Willis, Chief Director of the National Gardens of SANBI, spent a day at the PNBG to collect arachnids.

Contact: Robin Lyle and Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman

Thomisus stenningi (Thomisidae) Menemerus bivittatus (Saticidae)

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Peucetia nicolae (Oxyopidae)

Saturday morning collecting at the PNBG

G. M

uller

Allen

Jon

es

SANSA NEWS 25

SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 2

In Dippenaar-Schoeman (2015) we gave the first report on the diversity of

the Arachnida in the National Parks of South Africa (SANSA News 24).

Since the publication of the newsletter in 2015, sampling in some of the

national parks started and is still underway.

NAMAQUA NATIONAL PARK Namaqua National Park (NNP) is situated approximately 495 km north of

Cape Town and 22 km northwest of Kamieskroon. It has an area of more than

700 km² located in the northwest corner of the Northern Cape Province. The

park is part of Namaqualand, an area covering 55,000 km² located within the

semi-desert Succulent Karoo Biome, one of the most unusual biomes in the

world. This biome is a biodiversity hotspot, with the largest concentration of

succulent plants in the world. The park also has an arid environment with

succulent plants. The park was created to protect its flowers. Only a very

small percentage of the Succulent Karoo is protected in the NNP. During most

of the year, very little flora except hardy shrubs can be seen in Nama-

qualand's arid landscape. However, in August and September, after the win-

ter's rains, wildflowers bloom in a spectacular fashion. The park is semi-

desert, with hot and dry summers and cold winters and variable, generally

sparse rainfall.

Sampling in the park started in 2015 and is undertaken by Reginald Christi-

aan, who received funding from SANBI. Reginald has sampled several

arachnid orders from the park and so far the spiders are the most diverse,

represented by 26 families and 61 species.

Namaqua National Park

Reginald Christiaan sampling spiders from shrubs

The objectives of the project is to enhance the knowledge of the

distribution and habitat preferences of the spider and scorpion spe-

cies in the Namaqua National Park, to provide this information to the

park management for conservation planning and management, and

to raise awareness among the park visitors and the broader public

about the diversity and ecological value of these species.

Contact: Reginald Christiaan at [email protected] and

Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected]

Psammorygma sp. (Zodariidae) Diaphorocellus biplagiatus

(Palpimanidae)

Paradonea variegata Eresidae)

R.C

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SANSA NEWS 25

SANSA: PROTECTED AREAS - NATIONAL PARKS 2 cont

ADDO NATIONAL PARK

Linda Wiese of Jeffrey’s Bay started the first survey of arachnids from the Addo Elephant National Park. The relatively poor knowledge of the arachnids of the Eastern Cape provided the impetus to set up a checklist for the AENP. Although specimens of all of the arachnid orders (excluding Acari) are collected, the primary focus of this study is on the spiders (Araneae), which is done with the aim of providing a baseline for future ecological research. This study forms part of the SANSA projects in protected areas and the Thicket Biome.

The AENP covers an area of 164 000 ha, is 34 km from Port Eliza-beth in the Eastern Cape Province, and was proclaimed as a protect-ed area in 1931. It lies in the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River region and contains several of the South African floral biomes. Linda and her husband Wybrand use sweep-netting (grasses), beat-ing (bushes and trees) and pit traps (ground) to surveys the arach-nids. They started in June 2009 and are still busy sampling. So far a total of 246 spider species from 50 families have been recorded.

Surveys in the AENP are undertaken in the following areas:

the semi-arid Sundays River succulent karoo area around

Darlington Dam

the fynbos and Afromontane forests of the Zuurberg Moun-

tains

the subtropical thickets of Kabouga area just north of Kirk-

wood

the Woody Cape area

and the main camp in the Sundays River Valley

AREA NO. SPIDER SPECIES

Darlington Dam 105

Zuurberg Mountains 74

Kabouga area 52

Woody Cape 60

Main Camp 65

Woody Cape area

Kabouga area

Contact: Linda Wiese at [email protected] and

Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman at [email protected]

Sampled specimens are identified in Pretoria and Ansie is still busy

with the last sampling effort. What is wonderful is that Linda takes

a photograph of all the specimens sampled, and we hope to make

them available on the SANSA website.

Oxyopes sp. (Oxyopidae)

L. Wiese

L. W

iese

L. Wiese

L. Wiese

L. Wiese

Thomisops bullatus (Thomisidae) Baryphas ahenus (Salticidae)

SANSA NEWS 25

SPIDERS

The Afrotropical species of the Sicariidae are being worked on. Two publications

on this family is nearing completion, only waiting for two more loans to go through.

The identification of the Free State spiders in the National Museum collection have

been extended to the spiders of the other provinces as well. This will help extend the information in the Spider Atlas and help with lists of species collected in pro-tected areas.

Galina Azarkina, from Russia, visited the collection to study Salticidae.

Contact: Leon Lotz at [email protected]

NEWS SNIPPETS

NATIONAL MUSEUM BLOEMFONTEIN

PSEUDOSCORPIONS

International Visitors

Three arachnologists from the Charles University in Prague recently visited South Africa from the Czech Republic to sample Arachnida for a massive phylogenetic and karyotype study. During this time, Dr Franticek Stahlavsky, Dr Vera Opatova and Mr Pavel Just were accompanied by Mr Jan Andries Neethling of the National Museum in Bloemfontein on a fieldwork trip through the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal from 9-18 October 2015.

Sampling locations included Hogsback, Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve, Silaka Nature Re-serve, Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve, as well as the Royal Natal National Park. These locations not only served as beautiful scenery while samples were taken, but also yielded an amazing diversity of Araneae (spiders), Pseudoscorpiones (false-scorpions), Opiliones (harvestmen), Scorpiones (scorpions) and Amblypygi (whipspiders). Hand collecting and leaf litter sampling were the methods of choice, and it has to be said that there is a genuine sense of accomplishment in first locating a burrow entrance and then successfully tunnel-ling out a large baboon spider!

In-field sample preparation was done each evening in a make-shift laboratory for the karyo-type analysis, whereby the gonads of male specimens were dissected and the cells fixed on microscope slides for later staining and chromosome analysis. Samples were then also prepared for genetic analysis. Final species determinations are still ongoing and specimens will finally be deposited in the collections of either the National Museum in Bloemfontein or the Charles University in Prague.

The importance of these collaborative excursions should never be underestimated, as not only do they allow the exchange of knowledge and experience among the participants, they bring people with similar interests together strengthening the camaraderie within the Arach-nology community.

Contact: Jan-Andries Neethling at [email protected]

Having some fun at Hogsback. Front to back: Dr Vera Opatova, Mr Pavel Just and Dr Fran-ticek Stahlavsky.

Dr Stahlavsky sifting leaf litter

Dr Opatova and Mr Just hand collecting specimens. Dr Stahlavsky busy preparing specimens for the karyotype study.

All photos courtesy of J.A. Neethling.

Jan Andries Neethling, Trudie Peyper,

Galina Azarkina and Leon Lotz

mailto:[email protected]

SANSA NEWS 25

NEWS SNIPPETS

FREE STATE UNIVERSITY

ARC– PLANT PROTECTION

IDENTIFICATION OF SPIDER SURVEYS After Ansie’s retirement she was still on contract at the ARC for two years, involved in several activities. Her contract ended in October 2015 but she was reappointed as a research associate at the ARC. As a NRF B-rated scientist she still receives incentive funding to continue with research activities. Most of these activities are identification of sampled specimens for the SANSA database. Present activities in-clude identification of specimens sampled during the following sur-veys:

Benfontein Nature Reserve (ARC-paper in preparation)

Tswalu Nature Reserve (ARC- paper in preparation)

Blouberg (Stefan Foord -paper in preparation)

Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve (SANSA -paper under review)

Spiders of the Eastern Cape (Jan Venter)

Namaqua National Park (Reginald Christiaan)

Addo Elephant National Park (Linda Wiese)

Kirstenbosch National Park (Elton le Roux)

Kliprivierberg Nature Reserve (Joan Faiola)

Fernkloof Nature Reserve (Victor Hamilton-Atwell)

PROVINCIAL DIVERSITY A checklist of the diversity of Gauteng Province is presently being

compiled. This includes information on :

Kliprivierberg Nature Reserve

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

Ezemvelo Nature Reserve

Roodeplaat Dam Nature Reserve

Tswane reserves: Groenkloof, Serene Valley, Faerie Glenn,

Tswaing Crater.

Pretoria National Botanical Garden

NATIONAL PROJECTS

Ansie and Robin Lyle are very busy with the Red Listing of all the

spiders. This project is done in collaboration with SANBI.

The spider Unit under leadership of Robin Lyle is involved in two

NRF Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme (FBIP)

projects. The first involved the effect of habitat fragmentation on

faunal diversity of Eastern Cape forests (2016-2018). Petro Ma-

rais was already involved in the first sampling effort. The second

project - “BioGaps: Filling biodiversity information gaps to support

development decision making in the Karoo” - also runs from 2016

-2018.

The Spider Unit provided information from the SANSA database

for a joint paper that has recently been published: “Soil biota in a

megadiverse country: current knowledge and future research

directions in South Africa”

Congratulations to

Robin Lyle and Garsen

with their beautiful

new baby THEA.

New generation Spider women: Galina, Robin and Petro

Bottles...bottles…….this is a view from Ansie’s study.

A total of 3600 new accessions have already been

added to the NCA database this year

Charles Haddad hosted three visitors (Dr Franticek Stahlavsky, Dr Vera Opatova and Mr Pavel Just) from Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic for a three-week visit in October 2015. The visitors processed material for karyological studies on South African arachnids collected in the Free State by Charles and Peter Webb in Limpopo, in addition to collecting additional material in the Free State. They were also accompanied by Jean-Andries Neethling on a 10-day field trip to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to sample material. The visit was a great success, with more than 500 slide preparations of arach-nid meiotic cells prepared. During October and November, Galina Azarkina also spent some time identifying salticids from various collec-tions as part of her taxonomic research.

During May 2016, Jean-Louis Juakaly (University of the Free State) visited the University of the Free State for two weeks for training in the identification of spiders. He brought with him material from Masako Forest and the Yoko Forest Reserve near Kisangani. Approximately 100 species were sorted from the material, including several new species and new records for the D.R. Congo.

Contact: Charles Haddad at [email protected]

Charles with Jean-Louis Juakaly and Zingisile Mbo, M.Sc student

mailto:[email protected]

SANSA NEWS 25

GALINA AZARKINA Galina, a specialist on the taxonomy of jumping spiders, visited South Africa

for two and a half months during 2015. The purpose of her visit was to identify

material from various collections and examine the type specimens of species

included in genera currently under revision. During the trip she spent consider-

able time working on the collections of the National Collection of Arachnida in

Pretoria (NCA), National Museum in Bloemfontein (NMBA), KwaZulu-Natal

Museum in Pietermaritzburg (NMSA), Iziko South African Museum in Cape

Town (SAM) and the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (TMSA).

She also spent a few weeks working with Charles Haddad at the University of

the Free State and Stefan Foord at the University of Venda.

A massive amount of data was generated, with the identifications making a

significant contribution towards the South African National Survey of Arachnida

(SANSA), with improved distribution data for many species. Several taxonomic

papers will be published based on this work

NEWS SNIPPETS

STUDENT PROJECT IN FYNBOS

Spider conservation in fynbos remnants Jurie Theron is presently busy with his MSc at the University of Stel-

lenbosch.

Anthropogenic activities, such as habitat destruction and fragmentation,

have diverse impacts on biological diversity. Habitat specialists tend to

disappear when large intact habitats become fragmented, where habitat

generalists become more abundant. Nevertheless, conservation of

remnant patches is important, and holistic and adaptive management

should be identified to conserve the ecosystem services remnants pro-

vide. Habitat destruction and fragmentation is an unavoidable side-

effect of a production landscape, and academics are busy to identify the

ecological value of remnant fynbos patches. Relatively few studies have

investigated the biodiversity value and dynamics of fynbos remnants,

and this MSc therefore aims to strengthen our understanding thereof.

Spiders were selected as target organism to study the dynamics of

fynbos remnants. Spiders are hyperdiverse with roughly 2170 species

occurring throughout South Africa. According to the South African Na-

tional Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), only 636 species have been

recorded from the fynbos biome. Spiders are one of the largest

insectivore groups that exist and have the ability to control insect

populations. The diverse nature of spiders makes it possible to study

their functional guilds, to better understand how the dynamics of fynbos

remnants influce spiders.

Spiders can be divided into two general functional guilds, namely web

builders and ground dwellers. These general guilds can further be sub-

divide into different guilds to represent all the niches spiders exploit in

nature. Two sampling methods will be used for this study based on the

two general guilds. D-vaccing will be used to capture web builders and

pitfall trapping for the ground dwellers. Plant diversity forms an im-

portant aspect of this study, therefore plant surveys will be conducted

using the line transect method. A total of 36 natural sites (18 core and

18 edge) will be sampled for the first study. In the second study a total

of 36 natural sites (18 core and 18 edge), as well as 36 matrix sites (18

core en 18 edge), will be sampled. Sampling will be replicated between

two seasons.

This thesis will be divided into two chapters. The first chapter will

investigate the landscape characteristics which influence spider

diversity, including remnant size and shape, effect of isolation, spatial

arrangment of remnant, effect of the surrounding landscape of remnant

edge, and other environmental variables (aspect, slope and elevation).

The second chapter will look at the local scale characteristics influenc-

ing spider diversity. Variables include plant diversity, plant structure,

Poster of a salticid given to Galina as a present by Vida

Bottelary area—fynbos fragment

topographic complexity, soil compaction and remnant history. The

potential of a spillover effect (into vineyards, old fields and invaded

sites) will be investigated, as well as the importance of functional

redundancy in explaining a spillover effect.

It has been well documented that large remnants can support

higher amounts of biodiversity, compared to smaller remnants.

The smaller remnants are also important. Arthropods and other

insects use these remnants as a refuge to escape disturbance

within the production landscape. Smaller remnants tend to be-

come more “relaxed” over time. Ecological relaction is the phe-

nomenon where species slowly become extinct due to inbreeding

caused by isolation. Remnants that are in close proximity to one

another have greater connectivity and will not become “relaxed” as

quickly. Disturbance from the surrounding landscape (the produc-

tion landscape) causes edge effects. Remnant edges differ greatly

compared to the interior.

Remnant history (intact and natural or invaded and rehabilitated)

is a good indicator of remnant quality, in terms of biological diver-

sity. High plant diversity provides abundant microniches for spi-

ders and other insects to exploit. Research on the importance of

different plant life forms (trees, shrubs, geophytes) for web build-

ing spiders is limited. This will provide information on which plants

are important for web building spiders. Topographic complexity,

for this study, refers to how the slope of the patch changes

through space. This represents microniches, important for spiders

and plants, and can possibly be used to identify areas of conser-

vation importance.

Contact: Jurie Theron at [email protected]

SANSA NEWS 25

SPIDER SNIPPETS

Prey capture by an Oxyopes sp.

The following observation was made on the Tshisimane farm, Western Soutpansberg. Termites had emerged just after a short, intense thun-derstorm lasting approximately 25 minutes. I noticed that Oxyopes, the most abundant spider on shrubs in the woodland at the time, occupying the upper third of the plants. I observed on two occasions, these spi-ders leaping out and seizing a termite on the thorax, that came within approximately 1.5 centimetres. The spider would rely on a safety thread to retract back to the plant again.

What was very evident on both occasions was how quickly the termite was subdued, or paralysed. From the time the prey was seized, until total paralysis, approximately 3-5 seconds. To compare this prey item with other species of prey, I presented an active Oxyopes in the farm-house windowsill with a live fly of similar size using tweezers. The spi-der seized it and paralysis also set in, approximately 3-5 seconds later.

These findings suggest that Oxyopes venom to be extremely efficient, even in comparison with other hunting spiders using similar tactics, such as salticids and lycosids. The quick venom response was also seen in members of the Clubionidae. This could maybe due to the size of the fangs, and the amount of venom injected. Since Oxyopes fangs are significantly shorter than those of clubionids, the other two possibili-ties are the nature and strength of the venom, and quantity injected. These comparisons are merely superficial; more data comparison is required for confirmation.

Contact: Rupert Harris at [email protected]

A DIGITAL CAMERA VIEWS

V. vd

Walt

P. W

ebb

One of the typical grass lynx spiders Spinneret movement in a gnaphosid

See how the tarsi fold back when walking in Diaphorocellus biplagiata

TWO SALTICID SPECIES THAT CAN EASILY BE CONFUSED

In H. adansoni, a cosmopolitan species that is frequently found in houses, the male palp is decorated with a white band, almost forming a horizontal line, and the carapace has a semicircular white band.

The South African species Rumburak laxus resembles H. adan-soni in the markings on the palp and body. However, the white marking on the palps is much shorter. Members of Rumburak are endemic to South Africa (Wesolowska et al. 2014).

Hasarius adansoni Rumburak laxus

Vida van der Walt, while managing her salticid website [http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za/gallery.html], was informed that

the Hasarius adansoni she had placed on the site was not this species but something else. She investigated and found that H.

adansoni and the species Rumburak laxus resemble each other very closely.

V. vd

Walt

P. W

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P. W

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SANSA NEWS 25

NEW ZODARIID GENUS FOR LIMPOPO PROVINCE

Ballomma, a new genus, was described in the Zodariidae by Jocqué & Henrard (2015). Ballomma is so far only found in the montane forests of the Limpopo Province in northern South Africa. They have been sampled from riverine to mixed woodland using leaf litter sifting. One of the most remarkable characters of the genus is the position of the ALE, which are very close together, an eye arrangement which is particularly rare.

The type species B. erasmus is known from both sexes from Abel

Erasmus Pass.

B. haddadi from Woodbush Forest, Polokwane district.

B. neethlingi from Medike Mountain Reserve, and

B. legala from Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve.

FURTHER READING JOCQUÉ, R. & HENRARD, A. 2015. Ballomma, a new Afrotropical genus in the Cryptothelinae (Araneae, Zodariidae): eyes on the run. European Journal of Taxonomy 163: 1–24.

NEW RECORDS FOR SOUTH AFRICA

While dealing with the identification of large samples we frequently discov-er new species or new records for South Africa. These are species that have been described from the Afrotropical Region or even wider that are for the first time now also now recorded from South Africa. Some of the recent new records are:

Ocyale dewinterae Alderweireldt, 1995 (Lycosidae) from Malawi and Namibia, now recorded from Lephahlale in the Limpopo Province

Asemesthis affinis Lessert, 1933 (Gnaphosidae) from Angola, now rec-orded from the Namaqua and Richterveld National Parks

Oxyopes subabebae di Caporriacco, 1941 (Oxyopidae) from Ethiopia is recorded for the first time from Wakefield farm in the Midlands of KZN

Phycosoma martinae (Roberts, 1983) (Theridiidae) known from Sey-chelles, India, China, Korea, Ryukyu Is., Philippines, and is now also rec-orded from South Africa

Xysticus cribratus Simon, 1885 (Thomisidae) from Mediterranean to Korea and Sudan, for the first time recorded from the Namaqua Nation-al Park

Stiphropus niger Simon, 1866 (Thomisidae) from West Africa, now rec-orded from Kloofendal, Roodepoort, Gauteng

Diaea livens Simon, 1876 (Thomisidae) from USA, Central Europe, Greece to Azerbaijan, now from Addo Elephant National Park and Wynnford in the Free State

Diaea dorsata Fabricius, 1777 (Thomisidae), with a Palaeartic distribu-tion, was recorded from the Addo Elephant National Park

Phycosoma martinae (Theridiidae)

Ballomma erasmus

Ballomma haddadi

ASD

NAME CHANGE: Runcinia affinis Simon, 1897 = Runcinia insecta (Koch, 1875), see Szymkowiak, 2014: 450.

Stiphropus niger (Thomisidae)

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Diaea dorsata (Thomisidae)

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LOOKING FOR THARINA BIRD

You can find Tharina at: Department of Biological Sciences and Biotech-

nology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology

(BIUST), Private Bag 16, Palapye, BOTSWANA. OR Department of Arach-

nology, National Museum of Namibia, P.O. Box 1203/ Robert Mugabe

Av. 59, Windhoek, NAMIBIA.

Diaea livens (Thomisidae)

SANSA NEWS 25

UNKNOWNS

RECENT AND IN PRESS PULICATIONS ON SOUTH AFRICAN ARACHNID FAUNA

A possible new sp. of Selenopidae from

Kampfersrust, photographed by John Kruger

A spider that have everybody (Ansie, Rudy, Mark) confused

An Oecobiidae with only two spots sampled from trees by Peter Webb at

Pafuri

Interesting photographs by Ethne Engelking

An araneid Cyrtophora sp. from Otjiwarongo, Namibia. Astri Leroy sampled a similar specimen from Witsand Nature Reserve, in the Northern Cape Province

CECCARELLI, F.S., HADDAD, C.R. & RAMÍREZ, M.J. (in press). First record of endosymbiontic Rickettsiales (Alphaproteo-bacteria) from the spider genus Amaurobioides (Araneae: Anyphaenidae). Journal of Arachnology. CONRADIE, D. 2016. Stung by a scorpion: A true-life horror story. Spider Club Newsletter 32: 21–24. HADDAD, C.R. (in press). Diversity and ecology of spider assem-blages associated with Vachellia xanthophloea bark in a South Afri-can reserve (Arachnida: Araneae). African Entomology. HADDAD, C.R., BRABEC, M., PEKÁR, S. & FOURIE, R. 2016. Seasonal population dynamics of a specialized termite-eating spider (Araneae: Ammoxenidae) and its prey (Isoptera: Hodotermitidae). Pedobiologia 59: 129–174. HARVEY, M.S., HUEY, J., HILLYER, M., MCINTYRE, E. & GIRIBET, G. 2016. The first troglobitic species of Gymnobisiidae (Pseudoscorpiones, Neobisioidea), from Table Mountain (Western Cape Province, South Africa) and its phylogenetic position. Inverte-brate Systematics 30: 75–85. KEISER, C.N., PINTER-WOLLMAN, N., AUGUSTINE, D.A., ZIEM-BA, M.J., HAO, L., LAWRENCE, J.G. & PRUITT, J.N. 2016. Indi-vidual differences in boldness influence patterns of social interac-tions and the transmission of cuticular bacteria among groupmates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283: 20160457. KEISER, C.N., WRIGHT, C.M. & PRUITT, J.N. 2016. Increased bacterial load can reduce or negate the effects of keystone individu-als on group collective behaviour. Animal Behaviour 114: 211–218.

A strange green Theridiidae from Addo National Park

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a Wiese

NEETHLING, J.A. & HADDAD, C.R. (in press). Revision of the South African pseudoscorpions of the family Geogarypidae (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones). Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum, Bloemfon-tein. JANION-SCHEEPERS, C., et al. 2016. Soil biota in a megadiverse country: Current knowledge and future research directions in South Africa. Pedobiologia 59: 129–174. JOCQUÉ, R. & HENRARD, A. 2015. Ballomma, a new Afrotropical genus in the Cryptothelinae (Araneae, Zodariidae): eyes on the run. European Journal of Taxonomy 163: 1–24. FOORD, S.F. & DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN, A.S. (in press). The effect of elevation and time on mountain spider diversity: a view of two as-pects in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa. Journal of Biogeog-raphy. PRUITT, J.N., WRIGHT, C.M., KEISER, C.N., DEMARCO, A.E., GRO-BIS, M.M. & PINTER-WOLLMAN, N. 2016. The Achilles’ heel hy-pothesis: misinformed keystone individuals impair collective learning and reduce group success. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283: 20152888. SEITER, M., SCHRAMM, F.D. & BARTHEL, A. 2016. The South Afri-can scorpion Pseudolychas ochraceus (Hirst, 1911) (Scorpiones: Buthi-dae) can reproduce by parthenogenesis. Journal of Arachnology 44: 85–87. WRIGHT, C.M., KEISER, C.N. & PRUITT, J.N. 2016. Colony person-ality composition alters colony-level plasticity and magnitude of defen-sive behaviour in a social spider. Animal Behaviour 115: 175–183.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405616300087

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405616300087

SANSA NEWS 25

Peter Webb

LAST WORD...

Irene Spider circus arena

READ MORE IN THE NEXT ISSUE

Surveys in the NATIONAL PARKS to continue

Richtersveld Natonal Park

Table Mountain National Park

Bontebok National Park

Feed back on the NORTHERN CAPE DIAMOND ROUTE surveys

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve

Benfontein Nature Reserve

Rooipoort Nature Reserve

Feedback on the GAUTENG PROVINCE surveys

Kliprivierberg Nature Reserve

Ezemvelo Nature Reserve

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

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