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1, Nephila pilipes (Fabricius), adult female from Litchfield Natl Park, NT, Australia (photographed by M. S. Harvey); 2, N. pilipes (Fabricius), adult female from Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia (photographed by M. Rix); 3, N. antipodiana (Walckenaer), adult female and adult male (m) from Christmas I., Australia (photographed by V. Framenau); 4-5, N. pilipes (Fabricius), adult female from Christmas I., Australia (photographed by V. Framenau), 4, dorsal, 5, ventral; 6, N. antipodiana (Walckenaer), adult female and adult male (m) from Christmas I., Australia (photographed by V. Framenau). Figs 3 and 6 display the striking size dimorphism characteristic of all species of the genus.
Source publication
Five species of the nephilid genus Nephila Leach are found in the Australasian region, which for the purposes of this study was defined as Australia and its dependencies (including Lord Howe I., Norfolk I., Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is), New Guinea (including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of West Papua), Solomon Is, Vanuatu, New...
Contexts in source publication
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... are inevitably moist and well shaded, such as domestic gardens in coastal Northern Territory and Queensland. Nephila plumipes is often found in coastal habitats, and is particularly associated with mangroves (Austin and Anderson 1978). However, it also occurs in dry sclerophyll and low shrublands, up to several hundred kilometres from the coast (Fig. 46), although at such locations the occurrence of populations is sporadic and popula- tion densities are often low. This species is also common on islands (e.g. Great Barrier Reef, Lord Howe I. (Fig. 9)) where females often build webs near to or against buildings and other human structures. The widespread and ubiquitous N. edulis is found ...
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... ulations of both N. plumipes and N. edulis that are widely sepa- rated (up to or greater than 2000 km apart) show little or no genetic divergence (Fig. 11). The key to fully resolving the taxo- nomic status of N. tetragnathoides lies in an allozyme examin- ation of Nephila on the other Pacific islands from which the two species have been recorded (Fig. 46), or a thorough molecular phylogeny of the ...
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... Nephila differ from other nephilids by the following com- bination of characters: lateral eyes nearly contiguous, and situ- ated on a small tubercle (at least in females) (e.g. Fig. 21); sexual dimorphism pronounced, with males considerably smaller than females (Figs 3, 6, 7, 9); males with an extremely long conductor that encloses an equally long embolus (Figs 18, 25, 26, 39, 40, 53, 54, 66, 67, 80, 81); male abdomen with dorsal scute; secondary eyes with tapetum. Females and juveniles of all Australasian species except N. pilipes possess tibial setal tufts, thus presenting a plumose appearance (Fig. 7); abdomen without lobes or a flattened abdomen (Figs 1-9 ...
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... the pres- ence of a red-brown sternum easily distinguishes N. vitiana from other members of the N. antipodiana species-group (Dahl 1912), and we have examined specimens from near Benoa Harbour, Bali, Indonesia (WAM 90/605-606, 92/537-538, 92/539, 88/844-846), from Sulawesi (ZMB 25294, ZMB 198) and from Timor (ZMB 25295) that are clearly referrable to this species. (Figs 63, 64); sternum black or dark brown, with small red or yellow spots on antero-lateral corners, and on tubercles II and III . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nephila antipodiana (Walckenaer) Abdomen less than twice as long as wide (Figs 36, 37, 50, 51); sternum with distinct yellow pattern . . . . . . . . . 3 3(2). ...
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... 63, 64); sternum black or dark brown, with small red or yellow spots on antero-lateral corners, and on tubercles II and III . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nephila antipodiana (Walckenaer) Abdomen less than twice as long as wide (Figs 36, 37, 50, 51); sternum with distinct yellow pattern . . . . . . . . . 3 3(2). Carapaceal tubercles usually large (Fig. 35); ventral surface of abdomen usually without distinctive white patch (Fig. 37) . . . . . . . . ...
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... white patch (Fig. 51) (Fig. 20), or occasionally with yellow spots; carapaceal tubercles absent (Fig. 21); basal segments of pedipalps bright red (in life, Figs 1, 2, 4) or yellow (in ethanol); carapace much shorter than tibia IV (Fig. 1). . . . . Nephila pilipes (Fabricius) Sternum with large areas of yellow (Fig. 75); carapaceal tubercles large (Fig. 76); basal segments of pedipalps dark-brown; carapace same length as or longer than tibia IV (Fig. 7) . . . . . . Nephila edulis (Labillardière) Males ...
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... are morphologically indistinguishable) Conductor without subdistal triangular protuberance (Figs 25-27, 66-68, 80-82) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2(1). Conductor straight and long, about twice as long as bulb (Figs 25, 26) . . . . . . . . . . . Nephila pilipes (Fabricius) Conductor slightly curved and only slightly longer than bulb (Figs 66, 67, 80, 81) Fig. 18. ...
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... straight and long, about twice as long as bulb (Figs 25, 26) . . . . . . . . . . . Nephila pilipes (Fabricius) Conductor slightly curved and only slightly longer than bulb (Figs 66, 67, 80, 81) Fig. 18. Nephila edulis (Labillardière), male from Barrow I., WA, Australia, scanning electron micrograph, pedipalp, mesal view. ...
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... micrograph, pedipalp, mesal view. Epeira (Nephila) walckenaeri Doleschall, 1857: 412. New synonymy. Epeira (Nephila) penicillum Doleschall, 1857: 413. Epeira (Nephila) hasseltii Doleschall, 1859: 27-28, plate 13, fig. 5. New synonymy. Epeira (Nephila) harpyia Doleschall, 1859: 28, plate 14, fig. 1. Meta ornata L. Koch, 1872: 134, plate 11, fig. 6. Nephila pecuniosa L. Koch, 1872: 157-159, plate 13, fig. 2. Nephila aurosa L. Koch, 1872: 160-162, plate 13, fig. 4. Nephila procera L. Koch, 1872: 162-163, plate 14, fig. 1. Nephila sulphurosa L. Koch, 1872: 163-165, plate 14, fig. ...
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... 1857: 413. Epeira (Nephila) hasseltii Doleschall, 1859: 27-28, plate 13, fig. 5. New synonymy. Epeira (Nephila) harpyia Doleschall, 1859: 28, plate 14, fig. 1. Meta ornata L. Koch, 1872: 134, plate 11, fig. 6. Nephila pecuniosa L. Koch, 1872: 157-159, plate 13, fig. 2. Nephila aurosa L. Koch, 1872: 160-162, plate 13, fig. 4. Nephila procera L. Koch, 1872: 162-163, plate 14, fig. 1. Nephila sulphurosa L. Koch, 1872: 163-165, plate 14, fig. ...
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... plate 13, fig. 5. New synonymy. Epeira (Nephila) harpyia Doleschall, 1859: 28, plate 14, fig. 1. Meta ornata L. Koch, 1872: 134, plate 11, fig. 6. Nephila pecuniosa L. Koch, 1872: 157-159, plate 13, fig. 2. Nephila aurosa L. Koch, 1872: 160-162, plate 13, fig. 4. Nephila procera L. Koch, 1872: 162-163, plate 14, fig. 1. Nephila sulphurosa L. Koch, 1872: 163-165, plate 14, fig. ...
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... are easily recognised by the following combination of characters: carapaceal tubercles absent (Fig. 21), sternum uni- formly black or very occasionally with large yellow spots and without tubercles (Fig. 20), tibia IV longer than carapace (Fig. 1), and the basal segments of pedipalp bright red (in life, Figs 1, 2) or yellow (in ethanol). Males differ from all other Australasian species by the very long and straight conductor that is about twice as long as bulb (Figs 25, 26). ...
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... (Figs 36-38). Beige, tending slightly darker pos- teriorly; ovoid; dorsal surface with three pairs of sigillae; ventral surface with one unpaired sigilla posterior to epigastric furrow and one pair of sigillae situated between unpaired sigilla and spinnerets; book lung covers fuscous and with conspicuous grooves. ...
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... plumipes is widespread in the Australasian region, and we have examined specimens from eastern, northern and western Australia, Lord Howe I., Norfolk I., New Caledonia, Vanuatu, eastern Solomon Is, New Ireland, the Banda Is, and one unlocalised specimen from New Guinea (Fig. 46). Nephila plumipes is particularly abundant in eastern Australia, ranging from northern Queensland to central-coastal New South Wales, where it prefers mangrove habitats, especially in the southern portion of its ...
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... (Figs 56-59). Postero-medially slightly concave and smooth; posterior margin nearly straight but with thin upturned lip; lateral regions coarsely striated and with medially directed setae; copulatory duct opening laterally inserted at the end of groove; internally with one pair of large oval sperma- thecae; copulatory duct short. ...
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... only from Fiji, Tonga and Niue (Fig. 46) in the southern Pacific Ocean. We have found no specimens from Samoa and we discount Dahl's (1911Dahl's ( , 1912 record of this species from that island. The Samoan records appear to be solely based upon the locality data given for N. prolixa by Koch (1872), but as there is no unequivocal evidence that one or more of the specimens was ...
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... of N. antipodiana differ from other Australasian species of Nephila by the combined presence of large protuber- ances on the sternum (Fig. 62) and an abdomen that is much longer than broad (Figs 63, 64). Males can be recognised by the slight curvature of the conductor and embolus, and the lack of a subdistal triangular process (Figs 66, ...
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... of N. antipodiana differ from other Australasian species of Nephila by the combined presence of large protuber- ances on the sternum (Fig. 62) and an abdomen that is much longer than broad (Figs 63, 64). Males can be recognised by the slight curvature of the conductor and embolus, and the lack of a subdistal triangular process (Figs 66, 67). ...
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... (Figs 60, 62). Very dark brown to black; evenly covered with numerous extremely fine, white setae; fovea a broad, shallow depression; dorso-medial horns present; antero- lateral margins with orange crenulated mound that opposes cheliceral boss; chilum present, medially divided. ...
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... segments black. Sternum (Figs 61, 62). Black, except for two small yellow- orange patches on posterior-lateral corners; cordate, not extend- ing very far between coxae IV; large protuberance situated behind labium, four pairs of smaller protuberances situated adjacent to coxae. ...
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... (Figs 63-65). Pale yellow, with darker markings on anterior and posterior margins; much longer than broad; dorsal surface with four pairs of sigillae; ventral surface with one unpaired sigilla midway between epigastric furrow and spinnerets; book lung covers brown and with several conspicu- ous grooves; with large sclerotised patch anterior to epigyne. ...
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... cephalothorax, dorsal; 61, cephalothorax, ventral; 62, cephalothorax, lateral; 63, abdomen, dorsal; 64, abdomen, ventral; 65, abdomen, lateral. Epigyne (Figs 69-72). Dark brown to black with slightly crenulate posterior margin and evenly covered with short setae; copulatory duct opening laterally inserted at the end of groove; internally with pair of rounded spermathecae; copulatory duct short and strongly convoluted. ...
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... (Figs 66-68). Yellow, except for brown cymbium and palpal sclerites; patella and tibia each with one macroseta; tibia with three retrolateral and two dorsal trichobothria; para- cymbium small and sharply pointed; conductor and embolus slightly curved; embolus situated within conductor groove. ...
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... of N. edulis differ from all other Australasian species by the following combination of characters: sternum without tubercles or with very small tubercles (Fig. 76), and carapace approximately same length as or longer than tibia IV (Fig. 7). Males can be recognised by the lack of a subdistal tri- angular protuberance on the conductor and a slightly curved conductor (Fig. 80, ...
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... (Figs 74, 76). Dark red-brown, with paler mark- ings on the lateral and posterior edges; densely covered with white setae, especially on pars cephalica; deep broad fovea present; dorso-medial horns present; antero-lateral margins with red-orange crenulated mound that opposes cheliceral boss; chilum present, medially divided. ...
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... (Figs 12, 75, 76). Anterior third yellow, posterior two-thirds brown with two pairs of large yellow spots laterally and a single large yellow spot posteriorly; cordate, not extend- ing very far between coxae IV; without any protuberances. ...
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... (Figs 83-86). Brown with two deep depressions separated by a median raised septum; lateral margins with long setae converging medially; copulatory duct opening laterally inserted at the end of groove; internally with one pair of large oval spermathecae; copulatory duct long and slightly convo- luted. ...
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Citations
... On 1 February 2023, a family of two generations of researchers (authors one to four) visited the island of Pulau Ubin to study N. pilipes webs. This is a widespread, flamboyant species that spans a geographic range from India to China and to Australasia (Harvey et al., 2007). With body sizes ranging 21-46 mm (Kuntner et al., 2019), females N. pilipes are among the largest bodied orb weavers and their appearance is striking not the least due to their beautiful colors and their webs of golden shine ( Figure 1a). ...
Abstract While surveying operational sex ratios of the giant golden orb weaver Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) in Singapore, we documented a stunning case of predatory behavior of a jumping spider Viciria pavesii Thorell, 1877. A female V. pavesii invaded a N. pilipes orb web that was occupied by the resident female and four males, and successfully captured, killed, and removed one of the Nephila males. Whether araneophagy in V. pavesii is opportunistic or a predatory ritual remains to be tested more precisely, but because the observed predatory event triggered an aggressive response by the N. pilipes alpha male, it is plausible that V. pavesii may engage in aggressive mimicry. We place our observation into the context of jumping spider cognition and behavioral tactics that are so far well understood only in a few spartaeine genera, notably Portia Karsch, 1878. Viciria Thorell, 1877, we argue, is another such jumping spider taxon worthy of behavioral scrutiny.
... Kuntner et al. (2019) published a phylogenomic study of the spider family Nephilidae recognizing seven genera that included 84% of the known species in the family. This phylogeny, along with earlier generic level treatments that formed the basis for the removal of the group from Tetragnathidae (Kuntner 2005(Kuntner , 2006(Kuntner , 2007Harvey et al. 2007;Kuntner et al. 2013), confirmed its monophyly and A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t provided a differential diagnosis with respect to Araneidae, and therefore sharpened the definition of the latter (Kuntner et al. 2019). The argument for the 2019 classification was based on the criteria of monophyly, information content, diagnosability, and in part, inferred clade ages. ...
Higher-level classifications often must account for monotypic taxa representing depauperate evolutionary lineages and lacking synapomorphies of their better-known, well-defined sister clades. In a ranked (Linnean) or unranked (phylogenetic) classification system, discovering such a depauperate taxon does not necessarily invalidate the rank classification of sister clades. Named higher taxa must be monophyletic to be phylogenetically valid. Ranked taxa above the species level should also maximize information content, diagnosability, and utility (e.g., in biodiversity conservation). In spider classification, families are the highest rank that is systematically catalogued, and incertae sedis is not allowed. Consequently, it is important that family level taxa be well defined and informative. We revisit the classification problem of Orbipurae, an unranked suprafamilial clade containing the spider families Nephilidae, Phonognathidae, and Araneidae sensu stricto. We argue that, to maximize diagnosability, information content, conservation utility, and practical taxonomic considerations, this "splitting" scheme is superior to its recently proposed alternative, which lumps these families together as Araneidae sensu lato. We propose to redefine Araneidae and recognize a monogeneric spider family, Paraplectanoididae fam. nov. to accommodate the depauperate lineage Paraplectanoides. We present new subgenomic data to stabilize Orbipurae topology which also supports our proposed family-level classification. Our example from spiders demonstrates why classifications must be able to accommodate depauperate evolutionary lineages, e.g., Paraplectanoides. Finally, although clade age should not be a criterion to determine rank, other things being equal, comparable ages of similarly ranked taxa do benefit comparative biology.
... The batik golden web spider, T. antipodiana ( Fig. 1), one of the typical Nephilinae species in the family Araneidae, is recorded from a number of countries, including Australia (Queensland), the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Philippines, and China (Hainan Island) [1,16]. Recently, in addition to many taxonomic articles that have provided a clear outline of species in the Nephilinae, numerous studies on this subfamily have focused on their silk characteristics and sexual size dimorphism [6,17,18]. ...
... Recently, in addition to many taxonomic articles that have provided a clear outline of species in the Nephilinae, numerous studies on this subfamily have focused on their silk characteristics and sexual size dimorphism [6,17,18]. The webs constructed by T. antipodiana are ∼1.0 m in diameter and can deal with a large size range of any suitable prey, including various species of Araneae, Crustacea, Formicidae, Isoptera, Orthoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Odonata, and even small birds, which thereby indicates their polyphagy and strong detoxification abilities [16]. Furthermore, it has been reported that when recycling their orb webs, these spiders may also feed on adhering pollen grains or fungal spores via extraoral digestion [19]. ...
Background:
The spider Trichonephila antipodiana (Araneidae), commonly known as the batik golden web spider, preys on arthropods with body sizes ranging from ∼2 mm in length to insects larger than itself (>20‒50 mm), indicating its polyphagy and strong dietary detoxification abilities. Although it has been reported that an ancient whole-genome duplication event occurred in spiders, lack of a high-quality genome has limited characterization of this event.
Results:
We present a chromosome-level T. antipodiana genome constructed on the basis of PacBio and Hi-C sequencing. The assembled genome is 2.29 Gb in size with a scaffold N50 of 172.89 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding assigned 98.5% of the bases to 13 pseudo-chromosomes, and BUSCO completeness analysis revealed that the assembly included 94.8% of the complete arthropod universal single-copy orthologs (n = 1,066). Repetitive elements account for 59.21% of the genome. We predicted 19,001 protein-coding genes, of which 96.78% were supported by transcriptome-based evidence and 96.32% matched protein records in the UniProt database. The genome also shows substantial expansions in several detoxification-associated gene families, including cytochrome P450 mono-oxygenases, carboxyl/cholinesterases, glutathione-S-transferases, and ATP-binding cassette transporters, reflecting the possible genomic basis of polyphagy. Further analysis of the T. antipodiana genome architecture reveals an ancient whole-genome duplication event, based on 2 lines of evidence: (i) large-scale duplications from inter-chromosome synteny analysis and (ii) duplicated clusters of Hox genes.
Conclusions:
The high-quality T. antipodiana genome represents a valuable resource for spider research and provides insights into this species' adaptation to the environment.
... Tikader, 1962: 566;Tikader, 1982: 100, figs 191-194 Justification of the synonymy. Detailed examination of the holotype of N. robusta revealed that this species has all of the diagnostic features of N. pilipes (Harvey et al. 2007): longer than broad opisthosoma with a broad mid-dorsal longitudinal band, very wide and narrow epigynum with paired lateral indentations and deep depression across posterior margin, short and thick copulatory ducts and wide and flat fertilization ducts (compare Fig. 2A-C with Harvey et al. 2007: figs 4, 28-29). Although the spermathecal bulb of N. robusta looks more spherical in shape, it may be attributed to intraspecific variation and would not warrant the recognition of N. robusta a separate species. ...
... Note. Nephila pilipes is notable for its colour polymorphism (Dahl 1912;Tso et al. 2004;Harvey et al. 2007). We also have observed two distinct colour morphs in the Indian population of N. pilipes: black morph with black opisthosoma and reddish legs and yellow morph (typical morph of N. pilipes) with yellow stripes and spots on opisthosoma and greyish-black legs (Fig. 1A-B). ...
The golden orb-weaving spider genus Nephila Leach, 1815 currently has four representatives in India: Nephila dirangensis Biswas & Biswas, 2006, Nephila kuhlii (Doleschall, 1859), Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) and Nephila robusta Tikader, 1962 (World Spider Catalog 2020). While N. kuhlii has its type locality in Java (Doleschall 1859) and that of N. pilipes in Australasia (Fabricius 1781), N. dirangensis and N. robusta are both confined to India (World Spider Catalog 2020). Tikader (1962) described the species N. robusta based on a single female specimen collected in West Bengal. The original genitalic illustrations of this species, however, show close resemblance to that of N. pilipes, indicating its possible synonymy with the latter. To confirm the novelty of N. robusta, we examined its type specimen and the result is presented below. Additionally, we discuss the occurrence of colour morphs in the Indian populations of N. pilipes.
... As these structures excel in collecting water drops from watering at the KLR, they are often frequented by spiders for water uptake. In the native habitat, webs are positioned in locations which are frequented by flying insects for example, between bushes and trees, or close to forests and streams (Harvey 2007). As spiders in the laboratory are fed by hand, animals have adopted to more convenient building of webs in preference of non-exposed places in room corners or near the floor under tables using as many attachment points as possible for the web frame. ...
... Attacks from wasps have also been observed rarely. The natural enemy of the spider is much smaller in size: larvae of Anatrachyntis terminella, a moth, are described to hatch within the cocoons of N. edulis and to cause mortality up to 60% there (Harvey 2007). Also some species of sphecid or spider wasps hunt for Nephila spiders to feed their larvae. ...
Due to fascinating mechanical and biological characteristics spider silk is of great interest in many research fields. Among the orb-weavers Nephila edulis is one of the species used as source for natural spider silk in laboratories. Under appropriate conditions, animals can be kept and bred easily. This manuscript gives information about the spiders’ natural habitat, behavior, and breeding and compares them with the established methods and conditions within a research laboratory. Keeping conditions and methods of rearing are described in detail. Within a keeping facility with reliable supply of food, cannibalism rate is significantly reduced and spiders mate all year long. Cohabitants of the genus Steatoda are routinely found in laboratory keeping. While these small spiders do not pose a threat to Nephila edulis, cellar spiders (family Pholcidae) have to be extracted as they have been observed hunting for Nephila spiders.
... More close relatives of T. clavipes also show extremely wide, genetically poorly structured population patterns worldwide. Good examples are T. inaurata that maintains gene flow between Africa and the islands of the Western Indian Ocean (Kuntner & Agnarsson, 2011), as well as T. edulis and T. plumipes reported to travel seasonally from Australia to New Zealand (Harvey, Austin, & Adams, 2007). There also seems to be a constant gene flow between the Korean and the Japanese populations of T. clavata (Jung, Lee, Kim, & Kim, 2006). ...
The Caribbean archipelago offers one of the best natural arenas for testing biogeographic hypotheses. The intermediate dispersal model of biogeography (IDM) predicts variation in species richness among lineages on islands to relate to their dispersal potential. To test this model, one would need background knowledge of dispersal potential of lineages and their biogeographic patterns, which has been problematic as evidenced by our prior work on the Caribbean tetragnathid spiders. In order to investigate the biogeographic imprint of an excellent disperser, we study Trichonephila in the Americas. Trichonephila is a nephilid genus that contains globally distributed species known to overcome long, overwater distances. The results of our phylogenetic and population genetic analyses on T. clavipes suggest that populations over the Caribbean and North America maintain a lively gene flow. However, the single species status of T. clavipes over the entire New World is challenged by our species delimitation analyses. Combined with prior evidence from spider genera of different dispersal ability, these patterns coming from an excellent disperser (Trichonephila) that is species‐poor and of a relatively homogenous genetic structure, support the IDM predictions.
... Although some adult specimens of Trichonephila Dahl, 1911 are known to hang prey larders outside their webs in addition to silk stabilimenta inside their webs, these structures are architecturally unsophisticated and unorganizedand indeed, are mostly referred to in prey management terms, rather than decorative terms (e.g. Harvey et al. 2007). On the other hand, the decorations described here that are produced by T. antipodiana juveniles have distinct structural and morphological elements that are archetypally representative of the concept of spider decoration as organized material manipulation ( Figure 1). ...
... Although T. antipodiana is one of the most prevalent representatives of the genus in Southeast Asia, its biology remains largely unknown. General biological observations were recently summarized by Harvey et al. (2007). With the exception of Zhang et al.'s (2012) interesting work on the properties of adult silk, no real quantitative research has been carried out on the species. ...
... Species identity of T. antipodiana was confirmed by field observations of adults in the same locality; rearing a juvenile female; as well as by subsequent examination of the genitalia of males and adult females collected from neighboring Rayong province. The adult female is readily identified by the presence of a conical protuberance on the anterior of the sternum (Harvey et al. 2007). ...
This paper examines and describes web decorating behavior by juveniles of the orb-weaving spider, Trichonephila antipodiana. Decorations consist of a three-dimensional ‘tube’ of silk line scaffolding within which detritus, prey items and moult exuviae are laid perpendicular to the web plane, extending from the central sticky web forward and backward to the dorsal and ventral barrier webs. Complementarity with barrier web construction, combined with the vulnerability of this ontogenetic stage, suggest that the primary function of the decorations is as an anti-predator device. Various lines of evidence support the view that the fundamental structural purpose of the decorations is perpendicular extension: (1) median web residency time was significantly greater for juveniles with decorations ≥ 1 cm in size; (2) detritus was the primary contributor to decoration length; and (3) examination of the in-laying technique for prey inclusions found them to be ‘unnecessarily’ dismembered and stretched out along the decorative plane. Although there is probably some degree of interdependence between predator avoidance and prey catching success, extension as a property fits most consistently within a defensive interpretation of function in so far as it confers either distance from and/or interference with predators.
... Bonnet (1958: 3066) synonymized it with the nominate form. Harvey et al. (2007) synonymized maculata and many Asian maculata subspecies with pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) and concluded that this species is restricted to the Asian-Pacific area, thus all pilipes records for Africa or Madagascar are thought to be misidentifications. Several Nephila and Trichonephila species are known from East Africa, Madagascar and adjacent islands, but in the absence of a type (destroyed according to Renner 1988), it can only be concluded that Strand's subspecies is a nomen dubium. ...
Usually, individuals of species occur in different populations and these are connected by gene flow. While a population shows some degree of isolation to the next population, the genetic continuum over all populations of one species guarantees their species identity (Hartl & Clark 2006). This also means that individuals within one population, and moreover within one species, often show considerable variation within a population and/or across a geographic range. Such variation is the basis for selection and thus one of the drivers of evolution (Hartl & Clark 2006). Additional reasons for differences among individuals or populations may have ecological causes. Colour pattern, body size and shape are characters that show variability and it makes little sense to provide infraspecific taxonomic names for individuals with such minor deviation from the type of the species (e.g. Breitling et al. 2015). Such infraspecific taxa (subspecies, varieties, forms or aberrations), however, have frequently been described in spiders. While the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 2012) accepts subspecies (Article 5.2), in practice they are often taxonomic ballast. Over the last 100 years, the description of new subspecies decreased permanently and is currently close to zero (Fig. 1). Obviously, taxonomists today are aware of the genetic, morphological and ecological dynamics in modern species concepts.
The World Spider Catalog (2019) currently contains about 48200 valid species, including 1.2 % subspecies. The most active creator of infraspecific names was Embrik Strand with 102 subspecies still valid in 2019, mainly described within two decades (Fig. 1). There are 947 valid species described by Strand (Tab. 1) (World Spider Catalog 2019) and, by 1926, Strand had also changed nearly 1700 valid spider names because he considered them to be incorrect. Here, we present and discuss the reasons why he did so, the taxonomic validity of his infraspecific names, and the conclusions that may be drawn from this.
Fig. 1
Number of spider subspecies described as new taxon per 10 year intervals according to the World Spider Catalog (2019) which are still valid today. Infraspecific taxa described by Strand are given in black, all others in grey
... More close relatives of T. clavipes also show extremely wide, genetically poorly structured population patterns worldwide. Good examples are T. inaurata that maintains gene flow between Africa and the islands of the Western Indian Ocean (Kuntner and Agnarsson 2011), as well as T. edulis and T. plumipes reported to travel seasonally from Australia to New Zealand (Harvey et al. 2007). There also seems to be a constant gene flow between the Korean and the Japanese populations of T. clavata (Jung et al. 2006). ...
The Caribbean archipelago offers one of the best natural arenas for testing biogeographic hypotheses. The intermediate dispersal model of biogeography (IDM) predicts variation in species richness among lineages on islands to relate to their dispersal potential. To test this model, one would need background knowledge of dispersal potential of lineages, which has been problematic as evidenced by our prior biogeographic work on the Caribbean tetragnathid spiders. In order to investigate the biogeographic imprint of an excellent disperser, we study the American Trichonephila, a nephilid genus that contains globally distributed species known to overcome long, overwater distances. Our results reveal that the American T. clavipes shows a phylogenetic and population genetic structure consistent with a single species over the Caribbean, but not over the entire Americas. Haplotype network suggests that populations maintain lively gene flow between the Caribbean and North America. Combined with prior evidence from spider genera of different dispersal ability, these patterns coming from an excellent disperser (Trichonephila) that is species poor and of a relatively homogenous genetic structure, support the IDM predictions.
... In Queensland, Australia, Nephila plumipes (Latreille, 1804) and Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) are commonly encountered golden orb-weaving species [35]. Studies on N. plumipes have reported on the mechanical properties of their silk, the relationship between protein secondary structure and primary amino acid sequence, populations in the urban environment, and copulation behaviour, however, no transcriptome data is available on the MA gland of this species, and only a handful of silk sequences are available for N. pilipes in online databases [36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. ...
Natural spider silk is one of the world's toughest proteinaceous materials, yet a truly biomimetic spider silk is elusive even after several decades of intense focus. In this study, Next-Generation Sequencing was utilised to produce transcriptomes of the major ampullate gland of two Australian golden orb-weavers, Nephila plumipes and Nephila pilipes, in order to identify highly expressed predicted proteins that may co-factor in the construction of the final polymer. Furthermore, proteomics was performed by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectroscopy to analyse the natural solid silk fibre of each species to confirm highly expressed predicted proteins within the silk gland are present in the final silk product. We assembled the silk gland transcriptomes of N. plumipes and N. pilipes into 69,812 and 70,123 contigs, respectively. Gene expression analysis revealed that silk gene sequences were among the most highly expressed and we were able to procure silk sequences from both species in excess of 1,300 amino acids. However, some of the genes with the highest expression values were not able to be identified from our proteomic analysis. Proteome analysis of "reeled" silk fibres of N. plumipes and N. pilipes revealed 29 and 18 proteins, respectively, most of which were identified as silk fibre proteins. This study is the first silk gland specific transcriptome and proteome analysis for these species and will assist in the future development of a biomimetic spider silk.
