中国学者在越南发现大量蜘蛛新物种

2010年2月26日,动物分类学权威刊物Zootaxa发表了中国科学院动物研究所李枢强实验室报道的21种蜘蛛新种。在越南北部3个国家公园中,通过1年多的持续调查,共发现23种隙蛛亚科蜘蛛,其中21种被证实是科学上新发现的新物种。据悉,其它2个已知种也是中国学者近年才报道的。     

中国蜘蛛物种多样性分析

基于2011年1月更新的世界蜘蛛名录第11．5版,本文对中国蜘蛛的物种多样性进行了统计和分析：（1）目前中国共记述蜘蛛67科670属3667种,种数占世界蜘蛛的8．72％,仍有许多物种尚待发现;（2）目前中国特有蜘蛛物种共计2376种,占中国蜘蛛种数的64．79％、世界蜘蛛种数（42055种）的5．65％,表明中国蜘蛛特有物种极为丰富,为中国生物多样性的保护、环境及气候的历史演变和蜘蛛的系统演化研究起到重要作用;（3）已知蜘蛛物种数最多的省份为云南（728种,占19．85％）、湖南（612种,占16．69％）、四川（454种,占12．38％）等,一定程度上表明上述各省生物多样性丰富,但这一结果也与各地蜘蛛多样性研究不均衡有关。蜘蛛各科名录及统计数据可参见“中国蜘蛛特有物种网”。     

蜘蛛的巢

全球蜘蛛已知约3万种,分布于大陆的每个角落。造网性蜘蛛仅约占蜘蛛总数的一半,很多蜘蛛并不张网,狼蛛、盗蛛、跳蛛、蟹蛛、管巢蛛和平腹蛛等,一般都不张网,终生过着游猎生活,在生态学上称为游猎性蜘蛛,或称其徘徊性蜘蛛。但不管张网与否,它们在生活中都利用蛛丝,丝不仅用来张网,而且可以用来捕食、营巢、产卵和育幼。幼蛛还利用蛛丝“飞航”到很远的地方、借以扩大分布范围,寻找更适宜的生境。因此可以说纺丝是蜘蛛最基本的生物学特征。蜘蛛的巢常营造于隐蔽之处,并有良好的保护色和拟态,不易被它们的敌害所发现。在造     

蜘蛛的分类

蜘蛛作为农林害虫的天敌已引起全国各地广泛重视。我国已知蜘蛛的种类约一千余种,估计可达三千种。对于初学者来说,进行分类并非一件易事。本文介绍有关蜘蛛分科的基仁常识以供读者参考。内容包括蜘蛛的外部形态以及亚目和科的检索表两部分。一、蜘蛛的外部形态身体分头胸部和腹部两部分,以腹柄相连(图1,2)。图1蜘蛛背面模式图(雄性)图2蜘蛛腹面模式图(雌性)(仿Forster,1967,修改)(仿Forster,1967,修改)(一)头胸部:由头部和胸部合成。背面覆以背甲,背甲一般有一“U”形颈沟,颈沟前方为头部,后方为胸部。头部有眼。胸部中央在颈沟后方另有…     

蜘蛛与蜘蛛、蜘蛛与猎物之间的信息联系机制

作为农林生态系统中首要的捕食性节肢动物的蜘蛛,只有单眼和听毛,并没有复眼和听器。因而在一定的距离之外,蜘蛛要高效、成功寻觅其理想的猎物,仅仅凭视觉、触觉、听觉均无法实现和完成这一功能。因此,蜘蛛的嗅觉即化学通信于蜘蛛种间和种内的信息联系中扮演着举足轻重的角色,现已有大量的研究用行为学的方法证明蜘蛛与猎物之间,蜘蛛与蜘蛛之间能够通过信息化学物质进行信息联系,但蜘蛛的嗅觉即化学信息素的释放与接收机制以及信息素的结构成份等方面的研究甚少,有待进一步深人。对蜘蛛与猎物之间,蜘蛛与蜘蛛之间的信息化学联系机制的研究进展做一综述。     

我国粗螯蛛科蜘蛛新纪录

粗螯蛛科Prodidomidae蜘蛛已知分布于大洋洲、非洲、美洲、欧洲南部及亚洲(印度、日本)等地。过去在我国未曾发现。我们在湖南长沙住宅内堆放的藕煤和柴堆中先后采到本科一种蜘蛛的雌、雄成熟个体,经初步鉴定为:     

蜘蛛趣谈

家族庞大见奇异提起蜘蛛,人们并不陌生。但对于庞大的蜘蛛家族,了解的人就不多了。据史籍记载,远在人类诞生的数亿年前,蜘蛛就已经在地球上“耀武扬威”了。截至目前为止,地质学家在石炭纪岩层中已发现的蜘蛛化石达二百多种。现生的庞大的蜘蛛家族里,共有四万种。其中约有三千种生长在中国。据英国昆虫学家莱姆博士估计,每年夏天,地球上的蜘蛛总数高达四千亿只,是世界人口总数的一百倍!在屋里、庭园、水田、旱地、森林、甚至高山、海边,凡生物生活的地方,都有蜘蛛的足迹。     

蜘蛛的习性及其在农业中的作用

蜘蛛属于节肢动物门蛛形纲(Arachnida)蜘蛛目(Araneida或Araneae)。蜘蛛在中学教学中虽仅占极小的一个章节,但在日常生活中却是除昆虫以外最常见的一类无脊椎动物。全世界已知种类约三万种,我国约一千种。不但种类多,个体数量也多,在捕杀蚊蝇和农业害虫方面起的作用较大,应当予以重视。蜘蛛和昆虫的区别在于它有4对足,而不是3对。但这是蛛形纲的共同特征,例如蝎目的蝎以及蜱螨目的红蜘蛛。蜘蛛和其他蛛形纲动物的区别在于身体分头胸部和腹部,两部分之间通过窄细的腹柄相连;腹部不分节;有纺器。     

广西蜘蛛名录

本文报道广西蛛形纲Arachnida,蜘蛛目Araneae40科166属410种,并分别记述各种蜘蛛的地理分布和生境。     

蜘蛛飞航研究进展

种群扩散能够避免生物类群在同一栖息地中的资源竞争和同类相残, 促进基因流动, 具有重要的进化和生态意义。相比于昆虫的迁飞行为, 某些不具翅的节肢动物也能够借助细丝的作用而实现远距离扩散, 即飞航。蜘蛛为肉食性动物, 是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分, 在生态系统中防控害虫方面作用显著。飞航是蜘蛛的一种重要扩散方式, 在其物种形成、生态位分化及害虫防控等方面具有重要意义, 但有关其飞航扩散的报道较少。本文回顾了蜘蛛飞航的研究历程, 大致可分为三个阶段; 总结了其研究现状, 包括飞航蜘蛛的优势类群及特征、飞航过程中的三个环节(即起飞、空中航行和降落)及影响因子、两种飞航机制及四种相关模型、飞航蜘蛛采集和研究方法。同时基于过往研究, 指出了未来蜘蛛飞航研究的重点领域: 加强飞航蜘蛛类群鉴定工作, 继续深度挖掘飞航数据与环境因子间的关系, 探索蜘蛛飞航的全过程(包括起飞、空中航行和降落), 更加明确蜘蛛飞航作为一种扩散方式的意义。本综述将为蜘蛛飞航的知识普及、资源保护和利用等方面提供重要参考。     

中国蜘蛛分科检索表

蜘蛛的物种多样性是极其丰富的,但目前只有一小部分的蜘蛛种类被描述。世界上已描述的蜘蛛种类已超过40000种,隶属于110个科。在我们居住的小范围内,可能至少有30个科的数百种蜘蛛。就中国而言,估计可能有40000种以上的蜘蛛种类,但目前也只有大约4000种被命名。本检索表首次列出了中国现有67个蜘蛛科的答定特征．以及不同科之间的相似处和不同处。     

Bromeliad architectural complexity and vertical distribution predict spider abundance and richness

Habitat complexity is a main predictor of the distribution of arthropods on vegetation. However, it remains poorly known whether plant architecture and fine‐scale spatial distribution affect the species richness and composition of associated arthropod guilds. In this study, we extensively sampled bromeliad species with a variety of rosette architectures in a megadiversity region. The aims were to investigate whether (i) possible differences in spider species composition among bromeliad species are related to the distinct architectures of the plants, and (ii) bromeliad architectural complexity (an intrinsic feature) and vertical distribution (an extrinsic feature) are good predictors of spider abundance and richness. Contrary to our expectations, spider species composition did not vary significantly among bromeliad species with different architectures. We found a positive effect of the mean number of leaves on spider abundance and species richness, but it occurred indirectly through spider abundance; factoring out the indirect effect revealed a negative effect of leaf number on species richness. Bromeliad species with wider vertical distributions harboured more spider species. Our results suggest that the dominance of a few spider species and reduced space for orb‐web spiders to attach their webs are the main explanations for lower spider richness on bromeliad species with higher architectural complexity. Our findings highlight the importance of both intrinsic and extrinsic plant features as co‐determinants of predator arthropod diversity.     

Effects of Spider Chemotactile Cues on Arthropod Behavior

Predation risk can strongly affect the behavior of prey species. However, empirical evidence for changes in behavior driven by spider cues is restricted to relatively few taxa. Here, we conducted a series of behavioral experiments to test for changes in activity among a wide range of terrestrial arthropods. We confronted 13 insect and eight spider species with chemotactile cues of three spider species. We applied two different experimental setups: In the ‘no-choice experiment’ prey individuals were either put on control filter papers or on filter papers previously occupied by a spider. In the ‘choice experiment’, the prey individuals were able to choose between filter paper halves with and without spider cues. In both setups, the response to spider cues depended significantly on prey species, with some species increasing and others decreasing their activity. Surprisingly few prey species responded to the spider cues at all. Our results indicate that predator recognition upon contact with cue bearing filter papers is strongly prey-specific and that behavioral effects driven by spider chemotactile cues are an exception rather than the rule among terrestrial arthropods.     

Screening of Necrotizing Spiders in Korea Using Nonradioactive Sphingomyelinase Assay (I) Wandering Spiders

There are now more than 40,000 identified spider species in the world, and considered about 100 species as actually dangerous to human. Spider bites cause a range of symptoms from simple swellings to disfiguring necrotic lesions, and occasionally death. While spider bites are not a major medical problem in Korea, it would be of great value to know which species of spiders pose a threat to human health. A middle molecular weight protein, sphingomyelinase D, has been identified in the venom of the brown recluse spider and strong evidence suggests that they have a major role in spider bite necrosis. For the identification of necrotizing species, we have investigated using recently developed non‐radioactive assay of sphingomyelinase for rapidly screening the necrotizing venoms. Here, we demonstrate the fetal toxicity of total 57 species (32 genera, 9 families) of the wandering spiders among 622 identified spider species in Korea. It has been revealed that two species of the Thomisidae spider, Ozyptila nongae (0.2467) and Diaea subdola (0.2020) have the strongest sphingomyelinase activities among themselves. In addition one species of the family Pisauridae, Dolomedes sulfureus (0.2341) has also relatively higher value comparing to other wandering spiders. However comparing to that of the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa (1.814) in North America the necrotizing activities of these Korean wandering species are still very low state, so there seems to be little possibilities to create serious medical problems by the necrotizing arachnidism in Korean peninsula.     

Five new genera of the subfamily Psilodercinae (Araneae:Ochyroceratidae) from Southeast Asia

Five new genera of the spider family Ochyroceratidae with remarkable palpal and epigynal characters are described:Luzonacera Li & Li,gen.nov.,Qiongocera Li & Li,gen.nov.,Relictocera Li & Li,gen.nov.,Sinoderces Li & Li,gen.nov.,and Thaiderces Li & Li,gen.nov.Six new species are described based on specimens collected in China,Philippines,Vietnam,and Thailand:Luzonacera chang Li & Li,sp.nov.,Luzonacera duan Li & Li,sp.nov.,Qiongocera hongjunensis Li & Li,sp.nov.,Relictocera qiyi Li & Li,sp.nov.,Sinoderces nawanensis Li & Li,sp.nov.,and Thaidercesjian Li & Li,sp.nov.In addition,two Psiloderces species are transferred to other genera:Sinoderces exilis (Wang & Li,2013) comb.nov.and Thaiderces vulgaris (Deeleman-Reinhold,1995) comb.nov.All type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing.     

Spider Fauna of Jeju Island in Korea

A critical check list of the spiders in Jeju island, Korea is presented with review of published reports from 1936 to 2001 and identification of the authors' specimens collected from 1964 to 2001. Total 166 genera 347 species belonging to 36 families of spiders was classified in Jeju Island. The species composition of spiders in Jeju island comprises about 52% of total number of Korean spider species. Dominant spider families with species abundance were Araneidae, Salticidae, Theridiidae, Linyphiidae and Lycosidae. The spider fauna of Jeju island is under strong influence of northern species which are Holarctic and Palearctic species.     

Spider (Aranei) assemblages in bog-forest ecotone of the northern taiga subzone (Eastern Fennoscandia)

Soil-dwelling and ground spiders were studied in oligotrophic and mesotrophic bog-forest ecotones of the northern taiga (Eastern Fennoscandia) in 2005–2007. The number of spider species was greater in the forest as compared to the bog. The spider assemblages of the bogs and swampy forests was characterized by the prevalence of Lycosidae both in abundance and in species richness, whereas members of the family Linyphiidae prevailed in the forest. The species diversity of soil-dwelling spiders was lower in oligotrophic bogs than in mesotrophic ones. In all the bog-forest ecotones studied, the spider assemblages showed no edge effect (an increase in diversity and abundance), indicating a high degree of interpenetration of the spider complexes from adjacent ecosystems. Stenotopic spider species were not found in the ecotones studied either. The major ecological factors responsible for the specific features of spider assemblages in the biotopes studied are the temperature regime and soil humidity.     

张家口土壤蜘蛛群落结构及多样性研究

1996年8月中旬,在张家口地区4种生境中共捕获土壤蜘蛛461头,隶属于12科54种(属)。研究表明:4种生境中的土壤蜘蛛群落相似性很小,群落结构组成不同,丰富度、多样性指数、均匀度、优势度也不同。植被类型、疏密程度是影响群落结构的主要生态因子,农事活动是另一个重要影响因素。     

A review of the catfish genus Pterocryptis (Siluridae) in Vietnam, with the description of two new species

Of the silurid catfish genus Pterocryptis in Vietnam, a total of four species are recognized as valid, of which Pterocryptis crenula and P. verecunda are described here as new. The type locality of P. cochinchinensis is restricted to central Vietnam, and the species is redescribed from topotypic material. Pterocryptis crenula (from northeastern Vietnam) can be differentiated from its congeners in having visibly confluent anal and caudal fins while P. verecunda (from Cat Ba Island in northeastern Vietnam) can be differentiated from its congeners in having the genital papilla concealed behind the anus. Notes on the identity of other nominal Pterocryptis species are also provided.     

Group size and stability: Why do gibbons and spider monkeys differ?

Gibbons and spider monkeys have similar diets, body size, and locomotor patterns. They are therefore expected to be subject to similar socioecological rules. However their grouping patterns differ. Gibbons live in small stable groups, whereas spider monkey form unstable sub-groups that vary from small to large during different seasons. If similar principles apply to the two species, food abundance should vary more for spider monkeys than for gibbons; food density should be similar for the two species when spider monkey sub-groups are the same size as gibbon groups; and the highest level of food abundance should be higher for spider monkeys than for gibbons. These predictions are upheld for a comparison of particular populations ofHylobates muelleri andAteles geoffroyi.