Suresh P Benjamin

National Institute of Fundamental Studies - Sri Lanka | NIFS · Earth, Environment and Biodiversity

Biodiversity patterns are the sum of multiple overlapping species distributions. Their analysis therefore requires proper species inference. DNA‐based species delimitation has become increasingly popular for such assessments, but their robustness is often problematic due to incongruence between multiple delimitation approaches. Here, we explored ho...

Very little is known about factors determining the assemblage structure of megad-iverse polyphagous-herbivore scarab chafers in the tropics (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Here, we examined the composition of Sri Lankan chafer assemblages and investigated whether it is influenced more by the general ecoclimatic situation, macrohabi-tat, or indetermined...

This book is a pocket guide for the NIFS Popham Arboretum, Dambulla, Sri Lanka. An introduction to the arboretum, the services provided, photogaphs of various groups of flora and fauna are included in the book.

Ballus Koch, 1850 is a beetle-like jumping spider genus encountered in montane evergreen rainforests of the Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka. The taxonomic literature documents three species of the genus for the island. However, neither the taxonomic validity nor the systematics of any of the three species have been previously examined. We us...

Very little is known about factors determining the assemblage structure of megadiverse polyphagous-herbivore scarab chafers in the tropics (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Here, we examined the composition of Sri Lankan chafer assemblages and investigated whether it is influenced more by the general ecoclimatic situation, macrohabitat, of indetermined s...

Sri Lanka is a biologically diverse South Asian island, and together with the Western Ghats (Southern India) is one of the 36 world’s most biologically diverse areas. Here, we investigated the origin and diversification of Rhomphaea and Neospintharus of Sri Lanka using sequences of three genes: mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and 16S rRN...

Biodiversity patterns are the sum of multiple overlapping species distributions. Their analysis therefore requires proper species inference. DNA-based species delimitation has become increasingly popular for such assessments and their robustness is often measured by congruence of multiple delimitation approaches. We explore how contrasting results...

Here, we present the results of our field survey in Sri Lanka and describe ten new species of Sericini: Selaserica fabriziae sp. nov., Sel. sororinitida sp. nov., Neoserica pophami sp. nov., Maladera haniel sp. nov., M. kishi sp. nov., M. windy sp. nov., M. karunaratnae sp. nov., M. hiyarensis sp. nov., M. dambullana sp. nov., and M. deenstana sp....

DNA taxonomy including barcoding and metabarcoding is widely used to explore the diversity in biodiversity hotspots. In most of these hotspot areas, chafers are represented by a multitude of species, which are well defined by the complex shape of male genitalia. Here, we explore how well COI barcode data reflect morphological species entities and t...

The Sri Lankan species of the genus Carrhotus Thorell,1891 have remained taxonomically unrevised. The present study reviews all species of the genus in the island. Here we describe and diagnose three new species: Carrhotus albosetosus sp. nov. (♀), C. atratus sp. nov. (♂♀) and C. lobatus sp. nov. (♂). Further, C. silanthi Caleb, 2020 is reported in...

The jumping spider family Salticidae includes more than 6359 species in 659 genera. This study is being done to determine how habitat quality and diversity affect the species composition of Nannenini Jumping spiders of the island. Further, this study aims to establish the diversity of Nannenini through an island-wide sampling regime and DNA barcode...

The Oriental jumping spider genus Flacillula Strand, 1932 has remained taxonomically un‐revised and has never been subjected to phylogenetic evaluation. Due to its ambiguous circumscription, several species not sister to its type species were subsequently placed in it, rendering the genus a “holdall.” This study is designed to investigate the monop...

The Sri Lankan jumping spider species first described as Colopsus cancellatus and its close relatives are an understudied yet charismatic part of the fauna of the island. Here, using molecular sequence data (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and histone H3), and a variety of methods we tested the validity of this genus and recover...

The systematics and taxonomy of the tropical Asian jumping spiders of the tribe Baviini is reviewed, with a molecular phylogenetic study (UCE sequence capture, traditional Sanger sequencing) guiding a reclassification of the group’s genera. The well-studied members of the group are placed into six genera: Bavia Simon, 1877, Indopadilla Caleb & Sank...

The genus Epidelaxia Simon, 1902 contains four species, of which Epidelaxia albostellata, Epidelaxia albocruciata and Epidelaxia obscura are endemic to Sri Lanka. The fourth species, Epidelaxia maurerae, is found in the Philippines. Since its initial description, Epidelaxia remained taxonomically unrevised and has never been subjected to phylogenet...

Taxonomic notes on the crab spider genus Talaus Simon, 1886 are provided. One new species, T. beccarii sp. nov. is described. Further four species are redescribed: T. nanus Thorell, 1890, T. triangulifer Simon, 1886, T. oblitus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 and T. opportunus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873). Talaus now contains 13 species.

Synagelides Strand, 1906 is recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka. Four new species are described and illustrated: S. hortonensis sp. nov., S. lakmalii sp. nov., S. rosalindae sp. nov. and S. orlandoi sp. nov. A key to the four new species is given.

In a recent project, extensive fieldwork was carried out in several parts of Sri Lanka to investigate scarab biodiversity. Here we present the first results of this survey and describe four new Sericini species: Selaserica athukoralai sp. nov., Neoserica dharmapriyai sp. nov., Maladera cervicornis sp. nov., M. galdaththana sp. nov. Further, new loc...

Three new species of litter-dwelling jumping spiders, Habrocestum liptonisp. nov. , Stenaelurillus ilesaisp. nov. , and Tamigalesus fabussp. nov. are described from Sri Lanka. In addition, T. munnaricus is redescribed based on the new material from Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s location, historic and geologic isolation from the continental landmass, topography and climate act to shape its biogeography and biodiversity, including conferring a remarkably high level of endemism, given its close proximity to the mainland. The island hosts several ‘point endemic1 species and even monotypic endemic genera. However t...

Two new jumping spiders of the genus Marengo Peckham et Peckham, 1892 from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, Kerala, India — M. zebra sp.n. (#$) and M. batheryensis sp.n. (#$) — are diagnosed, described and illustrated. Distribution of all the Indian Marengo species is mapped as well.

Boliscus decipiens O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 from Sri Lanka is redescribed based on type and newly collected material. It is distinguished from congeners by the long, needle-shaped embolus that winds twice around the tegulum. In the light of this new information, an updated diagnosis for Boliscus tuberculatus (Simon, 1886) is provided. Further, th...

The crab spider genus Tarrocanus Simon, 1895 currently includes two species: T. capra Simon, 1895 and T. viridis Dyal, 1935. Recent field work revealed the presence of a new species, providing an opportunity to review the genus. The new species is described as T. jaffnaensis sp. nov. Furthermore, the male of T. capra is described for the first time...

Sri Lankan species of the genus Tmarus are cryptic spiders that live either on greenish moss-covered twigs or brownish dried-out twigs. They have remained taxonomically unrevised. The only known species was misplaced in Peritraeus Simon, 1895, which has never been subjected to phylogenetic evaluation. The present study is designed to investigate th...

This study presents a systematic revision of South Asian members of the Tribe Chrysillini Simon, 1901. Genetic and morphological variations were analysed of a “similar-looking” group of species that were initially identified as members of the jumping spider genera Chrysilla Thorell, 1887 and Phintella Strand, in Bösenberg and Strand 1906 to determi...

Tagulis granulosus Simon, 1895, from Sierra Leone, is redescribed based on the female type specimen. Morphological similarities of external and internal genitalia of T. granulosus and T. mystacinus Simon, 1895 from Sri Lanka are discussed.

A new thread-legged assassin bug species, Myiophanes (Myiophanes) wygodzinskyi sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini), collected from Ravana Cave in Uva Province of Sri Lanka, is described. It is the largest species of the genus described so far.

Nine new species of goblin spiders are described in six different genera: Cavisternumbom n. sp., Grymeusdharmapriyai n. sp., Ischnothyreuschippy n. sp., Opopaeaspinosiscorona n. sp., Pelicinussnooky n. sp., P.tumpy n. sp., Silhouettellasaaristoi n. sp., S.snippy n. sp. and S.tiggy n. sp. Three genera are recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka: Ca...

A new genus of jumping spiders, Bavirecta gen. nov. is proposed to include the type species B. fl avopuncta gen. et sp. nov. and Bavirecta exilis (Cao et al., 2016) gen. et comb. nov. Distinguishing characters of Bavirecta gen. nov. include: 1) tubular abdomen, 2) enlarged front legs, 3) straight and pointed embolus, broadest proximal lobe with bla...

The South Asian goblin spider genus Aprusia Simon, 1893 currently consists of five species. All species are narrow endemics with very restricted distributions. In this paper, the Sri Lankan species are revised and three new species described from both sexes: Aprusia koslandensis n. sp., Aprusia rawanaellensis n. sp. and Aprusia vankhedei n. sp. We...

Insular adaptive radiations in which repeated bouts of diversification lead to phenotypically similar sets of taxa serve to highlight predictability in the evolutionary process [1]. However, examples of such replicated events are rare. Cross-clade comparisons of adaptive radiations are much needed to determine whether similar ecological opportuniti...

The type material of Myrmarachne uniseriata Narayan, 1915 (Araneae: Salticidae) is re-examined and redescribed. M.aurantiaca Benjamin, 2015 is recognized as a junior synonym of M. uniseriata.

The crab spider genus Angaeus Thorell, 1881 currently contains 10 described species (Benjamin 2013; WSC 2017). All species of the genus are restricted to tropical Asia. The aim of this correspondence is to illustrate and describe a new species of the genus characterized by a number of features previously found in the genera Angaeus, Borboropactus S...

Distributional and taxonomic data are provided for six species of crab spiders of the genus Epidius Thorell, 1877 of which five species, E. coloratus sp. nov., E. elongatus sp. nov. (male), E. floreni sp. nov. (male/female), E. longimanus sp. nov. (male/female) and E. mahavira sp. nov. (male/female), are newly described. Evidence is provided to dem...

Spiders of the tropical Asian jumping spider genus Onomastus Simon, 1900 are small to medium-sized, delicate, translucent, commonly found inhabitants of Asian evergreen forest foliage. In this paper, three new species of the genus, O. jamestaylori sp. nov. (♂♀), O. corbetensis sp. nov. (♂♀) and O. maskeliya sp. nov. (♂♀) are described from Sri Lank...

We present a phylogenetic analysis of spiders using a dataset of 932 spider species, representing 115 families (only the family Synaphridae is unrepresented), 700 known genera, and additional representatives of 26 unidentified or undescribed genera. Eleven genera of the orders Amblypygi, Palpigradi, Schizomida and Uropygi are included as outgroups....

Platythomisus sudeepi Biswas, 1977 is newly recorded in Sri Lanka from six localities, extending its current distribution in southern Asia. General and genital morphology of males and females are illustrated and described; the male is illustrated for the first time. Further, notes on stalking and egg sack construction behaviour are given.

Three new species of the genus Xestaspis Simon, 1884: X. nuwaraeliya sp. nov., X. padaviya sp. nov. and X. pophami sp. nov. are described based on both sexes. Xestaspis kandy Eichenberger, 2012 is illustrated based on new material. A key and a distribution map for Sri Lankan Xestaspis is provided. Phylogenetic placement of Sri Lankan Xestaspis spp....

The salticid genera Bristowia Reimoser, 1934, Habrocestum Simon, 1876 and Macaroeris Wunderlich 1992 are reported from Sri Lanka for the first time. One new species of Bristowia, B. gandhii sp. nov. (♂♀), and three new species of Habrocestum, H. hantaneensis sp. nov. (♂♀), H. kodigalaensis sp. nov. (♂♀) and H. ohiyaensis sp. nov. (♂), are described...

Sri Lankan species of the genus Brignolia Dumitrescu & Georgescu, 1983 are reviewed and four new species are de-scribed: B. carlmulleri sp. nov., B. meemure sp. nov., B. ondaatjei sp. nov. and B. shyami sp. nov. All new species are described based on both sexes. New data on B. ambigua (Simon, 1893), B. parumpunctata (Simon, 1893), B. ratnapura Plat...

The tropical Asian crab spider genus Pagida Simon, 1895 has remained taxonomically unrevised and has never been subjected to phylogenetic evaluation. The present study is designed to investigate the monophyly of the genus, its placement within Thomisidae and review all species. Our cladistic analysis, based on 78 morphological characters from 34 ta...

The two goblin spider genera (family Oonopidae), Pelicinus Simon, 1892 and Xyphinus Simon, 1893, are recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka. The two representative species P. marmoratus Simon, 1892 and X. baehrae Kranz-Baltensperger, 2014 are described and illustrated based on material from Sri Lanka.

A new species, Geraesta ansieae sp. n. is described and illustrated. Further, two species are illustrated, diagnosed and transferred from Stephanopis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869 to Geraesta Simon, 1889: G. congoensis (Lessert, 1943) comb. n. and G. octolobata (Simon, 1886) comb. n. New localities for G. hirta Simon, 1889 are given and a key to the m...

All nominal species of ant-mimicking jumping spiders of the genus Myrmarachne from Sri Lanka are redescribed, based on type and newly collected material. Three new species are described: Myrmarachne aurantiaca sp. nov., M. dishani sp. nov. and M. morningside sp. nov. Panachraesta Simon, 1900 is shown to be a junior synonym of Myrmarachne MacLeay, 1...

Two new species of Pharta, P. sudmannorum sp. nov. (♂♀, Borneo) and P. koponeni sp. nov. (♂, Thailand) are described. Furthermore, Ibana senagang gen. nov. & sp. nov. from Malaysia is described based on its exceptional palp, which has a reduced, movable conductor and thick-long spines on the distal, ventral surface of the tibia, reminiscent of Epid...

The generic placement of New World pholcids assigned to the genus Leptopholcus Simon, 1893 has long been questioned and recent molecular data have shown that Caribbean (Hispaniolan) representatives are more closely related to the Old World genus Micropholcus Deeleman-Reinhold & Prinsen, 1987 than to ‘true’ African Leptopholcus(Dimitrov, Astrin and...

Sri Lanka is part of the Western Ghats & Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Thus, the conservation of Sri Lanka's unique biodiversity is crucial. The current study is part of an ongoing survey of pseudoscorpion fauna of Sri Lanka. We carried out an island-wide survey of pseudoscorpions using a range of collection methods to sample a diverse set of hab...

Regillus, a new genus of spiders with R. asper as its type species, was described by O.P.-Cambridge (1884) from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on the basis of a subadult female. The genus was placed in Cryptothelidae (now considered a subfamily of Zodariidae) due to its similarity with Cryptothele ceylonica O.P.-Cambridge, 1877. However, the new genus had...

Spinnerets from Phobetinus sagittifer and an undescribed Phobetinus species were examined by scanning electron microscopy to gain a better understanding of this genus' relationships to other genera in the family Mimetidae. Consistent with placement of Phobetinus in Mimetinae, females possessed two synapomorphies of this subfamily; enlarged cylindri...

Morphological comparison of the genera Angaeus Thorell, 1881 and Paraborboropactus Tang and Li, 2009 (Araneae: Thomisidae) shows that the latter should be relegated to a junior synonym of the former. Further, I propose the following new synonyms: Angaeus leucomenus (Thorell, 1895), Stephanopis weyersi Simon, 1899 and Paraborboropactus leguminaceus...