Micropholcommatidae

Rayforstia vulgaris, from Rix & Harvey (2010).

Belongs within: Palpimanoidea.

The Micropholcommatidae are a group of minute spiders with a strongly raised carapace found in South America and Australasia (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007). Their habits are poorly known but they are found in forests in association with mosses and leaf litter.

Characters (from Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007): Very small; three tarsal claws; ecribellate; entelegyne; six or eight eyes; cheliceral gland mound elevated; anterior booklungs reduced to either a few leaves or true tracheae.

<==Micropholcommatidae
    |  i. s.: Raveniella T13
    |--Taphiassa Simon 1880 PVD10 [incl. Parapua Forster 1959 PVD10, JD-S07; Taphiassinae PVD10]
    |    `--T. punctata (Forster 1959) [=Parapua punctata] PVD10
    |--Textricellinae [Textricellidae] PD07
    |    |--Tricella Forster & Platnick 1989 non Long 1912 (ICBN) JD-S07
    |    |--Cenotextricella Penney, Dierick et al. 2007 PD07
    |    |    `--*C. simoni Penney, Dierick et al. 2007 PD07
    |    `--Textricella Hickman 1945 JD-S07
    |         |--T. complexa PD07
    |         |--T. fulva S03
    |         |--T. luteola R14
    |         |--T. parva S03
    |         |--T. plebeia F64
    |         |--T. salmoni FF99
    |         |--T. vulgaris Forster 1959 S03
    |         `--T. wisei Forster 1964 [=T. campbellensis Forster 1964 (n. n.)] F64
    `--Micropholcommatinae PVD10
         |--Tricellina Forster & Platnick 1989 S03
         |--Olgania Hickman 1979 JD-S07
         |--Pua Forster 1959 PVD10
         |    `--*P. novaezealandiae Forster 1959 PVD10
         |--Teutoniella Brignoli 1981 PVD10
         |    `--T. cekalovici JD-S07
         |--Algidiella Rix & Harvey 2010 PVD10
         |    `--*A. aucklandica (Forster 1955) [=Textricella aucklandica] PVD10
         |--Tinytrella Rix & Harvey 2010 PVD10
         |    `--*T. pusilla (Forster 1959) [=Textricella pusilla] PVD10
         |--Taliniella Rix & Harvey 2010 PVD10
         |    |--*T. nigra (Forster 1959) [=Textricella nigra] PVD10
         |    `--T. vinki Rix & Harvey 2010 PVD10
         |--Micropholcomma Crosby & Bishop 1927 [incl. Microlinypheus Butler 1932, Plectochetos Butler 1932] R08
         |    |--*M. caeligenum Crosby & Bishop 1927 R08
         |    |--M. bryophilum (Butler 1932) [=*Microlinypheus bryophilus] R08
         |    |--M. linnaei Rix 2008 R08
         |    |--M. longissimum (Butler 1932) [=*Plectochetos longissimus] R08
         |    |--M. mirum Hickman 1944 R08
         |    |--M. parmatum Hickman 1944 R08
         |    `--M. turbans Hickman 1981 R08
         |--Eterosonycha Butler 1932 JD-S07
         `--Rayforstia Rix & Harvey 2010 PVD10
              |--*R. vulgaris (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. antipoda (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. insula (forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. mcfarlanei (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. plebeia (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. propinqua (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. salmoni (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. scuta (Forster 1959) PVD10
              |--R. signata (Forster 1959) PVD10
              `--R. wisei (Forster 1964) PVD10

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[F64] Forster, R. R. 1964. The Araneae and Opiliones of the subantarctic islands of New Zealand. Pacific Insects Monograph 7: 58–115.

[FF99] Forster, R., & L. Forster. 1999. Spiders of New Zealand and their World-wide Kin. University of Otago Press: Dunedin (New Zealand).

[JD-S07] Jocqué, R., & A. S. Dippenaar-Schoeman. 2007. Spider Families of the World. Royal Museum for Central Africa: Tervuren (Belgium).

[PVD10] Paquin, P., C. J. Vink & N. Dupérré. 2010. Spiders of New Zealand: annotated family key and species list. Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln (New Zealand).

[PD07] Penney, D., M. Dierick, V. Cnudde, B. Masschaele, J. Vlassenbroeck, L. van Hoorebeke & P. Jacobs. 2007. First fossil Micropholcommatidae (Araneae), imaged in Eocene Paris amber using X-ray computed tomography. Zootaxa 1623: 47–53.

[R14] Ramírez, M. J. 2014. The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 390: 1–374.

[R08] Rix, M. G. 2008. A new species of Micropholcomma (Araneae: Araneoidea: Micropholcommatidae) from Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 24 (4): 343–348.

[S03] Schütt, K. 2003. Phylogeny of Symphytognathidae s.l. (Araneae, Araneoidea). Zoologica Scripta 32 (2): 129–151.

[T13] Taylor, C. K. 2013. Annotated bibliography for Barrow Island terrestrial invertebrates. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 135–144.

Last updated: 24 January 2022.

Palpimanoidea

Defensive display between adult female (left) and juvenile Palpimanus gibbulus, from Líznarová et al. (2018).

Belongs within: Neocribellatae.
Contains: Micropholcommatidae, Archaeidae.

The Palpimanoidea is a clade of spiders characterised by the presence of cheliceral peg teeth, and (as recognised here) a strong reduction or loss of leg spination (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007). Many are specialised predators of other spiders and members of the Archaeidae and related families may have remarkably elongated chelicerae. The pan-tropical Palpimanidae have the first pair of legs distinctly enlarged and stronger than the remaining pairs (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007).

<==Palpimanoidea [Archaeoidea, Paurospinata]
    |--+--Huttonia Pickard-Cambridge 1879 PVD10 [Huttoniidae JD-S07]
    |  |    `--*H. palpimanoides Pickard-Cambridge 1879 PVD10
    |  `--+--Stenochilidae JD-S07
    |     |    |--Colopea Simon 1893 JD-S07
    |     |    |    `--C. malayanus JD-S07
    |     |    `--Stenochilus P.-Cambridge 1870 non Brown 1810 (ICBN) JD-S07
    |     |         |--S. crocatus JD-S07
    |     |         `--S. hobsoni JD-S07
    |     `--Palpimanidae JD-S07
    |          |  i. s.: Fernandezina L-M-HM11
    |          |         Diaphorocellus JD-S07
    |          |         Boagrius JD-S07
    |          |         Hybosida JD-S07
    |          |         Scelidocteus R14
    |          |           |--S. lamottei JD-S07
    |          |           `--S. vuattouxi R14
    |          |         Protochersis spinosus Gourret 1886 S93
    |          |--Chediminae JD-S07
    |          |--Otiothops [Otiothopinae] JD-S07
    |          |    `--O. walckenaeri JD-S07
    |          `--Palpimanus Dufour 1820 [Palpimaninae] JD-S07
    |               |--P. gibbulus (Dufour 1820) MG03
    |               |--P. schmitzi Kulczyński 1909 MG03
    |               |--P. sogdianus Charitonov 1946 MG03
    |               `--P. transvaalicus R14
    `--+--Micropholcommatidae JD-S07
       `--+--Holarchaea Forster 1955 PVD10 [Holarchaeidae JD-S07]
          |    |--*H. novaeseelandia Forster 1955 PVD10
          |    `--H. globosa (Hickman 1981) [=Zearchaea globosa] FF99
          `--+--Pararchaeidae JD-S07
             |    |--Forstrarchaea Rix 2006 PVD10
             |    |    `--*F. rubra (Forster 1949) PVD10
             |    |--Ozarchaea Rix 2006 PVD10
             |    |    `--O. forsteri Rix 2006 PVD10
             |    `--Pararchaea Forster 1955 PVD10
             |         |--*P. alba Forster 1955 PVD10
             |         `--P. rubra FF99
             `--+--Archaeidae JD-S07
                `--Mecysmaucheniidae JD-S07
                     |  i. s.: Baltarchaea Eskov 1992 SHR08
                     |           `--*B. conica (Koch & Berendt 1854) [=Archaea conica] SHR08
                     |--Zearchaeinae PVD10
                     |    |--Chilarchaea Forster & Platnick 19845 JD-S07
                     |    `--Zearchaea Wilton 1946 PVD10
                     |         |--*Z. clypeata Wilton 1946 PVD10
                     |         `--Z. fiordensis Forster 1955 PVD10
                     `--Mecysmaucheniinae PVD10
                          |--Mecysmauchenioides Forster & Platnick 1984 JD-S07
                          |--Mesarchaea Forster & Platnick 1984 JD-S07
                          |--Semysmauchenius Forster & Platnick 1984 JD-S07
                          |--Mecysmauchenius Simon 1884 JD-S07
                          |    `--M. segmentatus Simon 1884 FF99
                          `--Aoteroa Forster & Platnick 1984 PVD10
                               `--*A. magna (Forster 1949) PVD10

Palpimanoidea incertae sedis:
  Sinaranea Selden, Huang & Ren 2008 SHR08
    `--*S. metaxyostraca Selden, Huang & Ren 2008 SHR08
  Spatiatoridae SHR08
    |--Spatiator praeceps Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
    `--Adorator S93
         |--A. brevipes Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
         `--A. samlandicus Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
  Lagonomegops S02 [Lagonomegopidae SHR08]
    `--L. sukatchevae Eskov & Wunderlich 1994 S02
  Arthrodictyna [Arthrodictynidae] S93
    `--A. segmentata Petrunkevitch 1942 S93

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[FF99] Forster, R., & L. Forster. 1999. Spiders of New Zealand and their World-wide Kin. University of Otago Press: Dunedin (New Zealand).

[JD-S07] Jocqué, R., & A. S. Dippenaar-Schoeman. 2007. Spider Families of the World. Royal Museum for Central Africa: Tervuren (Belgium).

[L-M-HM11] Lo-Man-Hung, N. F., R. Marichal, D. F. Candiani, L. S. Carvalho, R. P. Indicatti, A. B. Bonaldo, D. H. R. Cobo, A. Feijoo M., S. Tselouiko, C. Praxedes, G. Brown, E. Velasquez, T. Decaëns, J. Oszwald, M. Martins & P. Lavelle. 2011. Impact of different land management on soil spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in two Amazonian areas of Brazil and Colombia. Journal of Arachnology 39 (2): 296–302.

[MG03] Marusik, Yu. M., & E. F. Guseinov. 2003. Spiders (Arachnida: Aranei) of Azerbaijan. 1. New family and genus records. Arthropoda Selecta 12 (1): 29–46.

[PVD10] Paquin, P., C. J. Vink & N. Dupérré. 2010. Spiders of New Zealand: annotated family key and species list. Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln (New Zealand).

[R14] Ramírez, M. J. 2014. The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 390: 1–374.

[S93] Selden, P. A. 1993. Arthropoda (Aglaspidida, Pycnogonida and Chelicerata). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 297–320. Chapman & Hall: London.

[S02] Selden, P. A. 2002. First British Mesozoic spider, from Cretaceous amber of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Palaeontology 45 (5): 973–983.

[SHR08] Selden, P. A., Huang D. & Ren D. 2008. Palpimanoid spiders from the Jurassic of China. Journal of Arachnology 36 (2): 306–321.

Last updated: 24 January 2022.