Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and new synonymy (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)

Abstract

The tetragnathid spider Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) is redescribed on examination of its
long unknown syntypes from Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi deposited in the Natural History
Museum of Giacomo Doria, Genoa, Italy and additional material from Kendari and other
Indonesian regions. Description of Tylorida stellimicans (Simon, 1885) mentions its identity
with T. striata, which however characterizes sub-adult of T. striata and is accordingly
synonymized. Tylorida striata is newly recorded from India which links the distributional gap between China to Australia and Comoros Islands. Distributional and taxonomic records of
Tylorida species with T. striata- like globose abdomen infer probable synonymy, which is
subject to genus revision.

Full text

Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e4878
doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e4878
Taxonomic Paper
Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata
(Thorell, 1877) and new synonymy (Araneae:
Tetragnathidae)
Siddharth Kulkarni , Swara Yadav
‡ Biome Conservation Foundation, Pune, 18, Silver Moon Apts.,1/2A/2, Bavdhan Kh.,Pune 411021, India
§ Zoology Department, Yashavantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Satara, Satara, Maharashtra, India
Corresponding author: Siddharth Kulkarni (sskspider@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Pedro Cardoso
Received: 12 Mar 2015 | Accepted: 25 Mar 2015 | Published: 26 Mar 2015
Citation: Kulkarni S, Yadav S (2015) Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and new
synonymy (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e4878. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e4878
Abstract
Background
Although Tylorida striata has not been reported from India, observations on India
Biodiversity Portal (IBP 2015), an open access repository for biodiversity information of
Indian subcontinent, showed images resembling this species. The respective locality in
Gujarat, India was explored and specimens were studied to confirm record of T. striata in
India. Literature study showed some taxonomic lacunae which needed to be resolved.
New information
The tetragnathid spider Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) is redescribed on examination of its
long unknown syntypes from Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi deposited in the Natural History
Museum of Giacomo Doria, Genoa, Italy and additional material from Kendari and other
Indonesian regions. Description of Tylorida stellimicans (Simon, 1885) mentions its identity
with T. striata, which however characterizes sub-adult of T. striata and is accordingly
synonymized. Tylorida striata is newly recorded from India which links the distributional gap
‡ §
© Kulkarni S, Yadav S. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.

between China to Australia and Comoros Islands. Distributional and taxonomic records of
Tylorida species with T. striata- like globose abdomen infer probable synonymy, which is
subject to genus revision.
Keywords
Tylorida, syntypes, synonymy, new record, wide distribution.
Introduction
The World Spider Catalog (2015) currently consists of ten accepted Tylorida species
distributed in parts of Asia, Australasia and Africa. Simon (1894) established genusTylorida
on the basis of Meta striata Thorell, 1877. Currently valid as Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877),
this species has a long and interesting taxonomic and faunistic history. In a series of
publications on spiders from Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, Thorell (1877) described
Meta striata based on female specimens collected from Kandari (now Kendari), South east
Sulawesi, Indonesia mentioning this species is also found on Amboina (now Ambon
Islands), Indonesia. Hasselt (1882) described its male from Sumatra. Strand (1922)
reported a male from Bandar Bahive, Sumatra. He noted that it is not easy to identify this
species on the basis of previous literature and warned that, difficulty in understanding its
femoral setae could lead to its placement in wrong genus. Gerhardt (1923) nicely illustrated
the male palp showing the coiled spermatic ducts.
Bösenberg and Strand (1906) described Tylorida magniventer from an unknown location in
Japan which was later synonymised with T. striata by Tanikawa (2005). Tylorida striata has
been reported a number of times from Japan (Yaginuma (1960), Yaginuma (1971),
Yaginuma (1986)). Kulczyński (1911) reported the species from Andai, North New Guinea
based on a female specimen; Chrysanthus (1963), Chrysanthus (1975) reported the
species based on a female from South New Guinea; Lee (1966) reported a male from
Taiwan; Davies (1988) illustrated female epigynum and male palp using Australian
specimens.
Dimitrov et al. (2008) examined male holotype of Sternospina concretipalpis Schmidt &
Krause, 1993 from the Comoros Islands and synonymised with T. striata, thus extending
the species distribution far to the west. They noted conspicuous distributional gap and
speculated that it may be due to lack of study, particularly from the Indian subcontinent. A
detailed morphological description and phylogenetic position of T. striata in reference to its
genus was provided in the atlas of Tetragnathidae (Álvarez-Padilla and Hormiga 2011).
However, the whereabouts of Thorell's type(s) of Meta striata were unknown (Álvarez-
Padilla and Hormiga 2011, Dimitrov et al. 2008).
2Kulkarni S, Yadav S

Materials and methods
Syntypes of Meta striata were loaned from Natural History Museum of Giacomo Doria,
Genoa, Italy (MSNG) at Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands for
examination by Siddharth Kulkarni and imaged using Nikon DS-Ri1 mounted on Leica
M165C™ stereozoom microscope, Indonesian material using Zeiss™ Stemi SV11
stereomicroscope and Indian material using Brunel IMXZ™stereozoom microscope and
imaged using Canon 1200D™ mounted camera. Indonesian specimens are deposited at
Naturalis Biodiversity Center (RMNH), Leiden, The Netherlands and Indian specimens are
deposited at Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai. Map was prepared using
QGIS (2015). All morphological measurements are in millimetres (mm).
Taxon treatment
Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877)
•MorphBank 853163
•MorphBank 853158
Nomenclature
Meta striata Thorell, 1877: 427.
Meta striata Hasselt, 1882: 25.
Argyroepeira bigibba Thorell, 1887: 140.
Argyroepeira s. Thorell, 1887: 142.
T. striata Simon, 1894a: 737, f. 809.
Argyroepeira s. Workman & Workman, 1894: 19, pl. 19.
Tylorida magniventer Bösenberg & Strand, 1906: 187, pl. 15, f. 397.
T. striata Bösenberg & Strand, 1906: 187, pl. 15, f. 420.
Sternospina concretipalpis Schmidt and Krause, 1993: 7, f. 1.
Tylorida stellimicans Simon, 1885: 449. New synonymy.
Materials
Syntype:
a. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonomicStatus: accepted; scientificNameID:
urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class:
Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae; taxonRank: species;
nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and ... 3

locationID: Ambon Islands, Indonesia; continent: Asia; islandGroup: Maluku archipelago;
island: Ambon; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; year: 1874; individualCount: 2;
sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; recordedBy: O. Beccari; occurrenceStatus: present;
identifiedBy: Thorell; identificationReferences: Studi sui Ragni Malesi e Papuani. I.
Thorell, T. (1877); type: specimen; institutionID: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
“Giacomo Doria”, Italy; institutionCode: MSNG; basisOfRecord: Preserved specimen
Other material:
a. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
locationID: TYPE LOCALITY; continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN;
stateProvince: SOUTH EAST SULAWESI; locality: Taneah, 40 km south of Kendari, sea-
faced; eventDate: 08/11/1980; individualCount: 1; sex: 1 female; recordedBy: C.L.and
P.R. Deeleman; type: specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden;
institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
b. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonomicStatus: accepted; scientificNameID:
urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class:
Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae; taxonRank: species;
nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
locationID: 853155; continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IN; stateProvince:
Gujarat; locality: Pariyer; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude:
22.56; decimalLongitude: 72.954; samplingProtocol: visual searching; eventDate:
2014-07-09; year: 2014; month: 7; day: 9; habitat: Low grass; eventRemarks: post
monsoon; individualCount: 6; sex: 6 females; lifeStage: adult; catalogNumber: BNHS Sp.
139–144; occurrenceRemarks: live in its orb web; recordedBy: Prathamesh Patel;
occurrenceStatus: present; identifiedBy: Siddharth Kulkarni; identificationReferences:
Studi sui Ragni Malesi e Papuani. I. Thorell, T. (1877); Morphological and phylogenetic
atlas of the orb-weaving spider family Tetragnathidae. Álvarez-Padilla, F.; type: specimen;
institutionID: Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai; collectionID: Spider;
institutionCode: BNHS; collectionCode: Sp.; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
c. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonomicStatus: accepted; scientificNameID:
urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class:
Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae; taxonRank: species;
nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: India; stateProvince: Maharashtra; locality: Boisar;
verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; decimalLatitude: 19.8; decimalLongitude:
72.75; samplingProtocol: visual searching; eventDate: 2014-10-10; year: 2014; month:
10; day: 10; habitat: Low grass; eventRemarks: post monsoon; individualCount: 4; sex: 4
females; lifeStage: adult; catalogNumber: BNHS Sp. 154-157; occurrenceRemarks: live in
its orb web; recordedBy: Atul Vartak; occurrenceStatus: present; identifiedBy: Siddharth
Kulkarni; identificationReferences: Studi sui Ragni Malesi e Papuani. I. Thorell, T. (1877);
Morphological and phylogenetic atlas of the orb-weaving spider family Tetragnathidae.
Álvarez-Padilla, F.; type: specimen; institutionID: Bombay Natural History Society,
Mumbai; collectionID: Spider; institutionCode: BNHS; collectionCode: Sp.;
basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
d. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: NORTH
SULAWESI; locality: (Palu) Lore Lindu Res; eventDate: 07/23/1982; individualCount: 5;
4Kulkarni S, Yadav S

sex: 4 females, 1 juvenile; recordedBy: C.L and P.R. Deeleman; type: Specimen;
institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH;
collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
e. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: SUMATRA; locality:
20 km east of Medan; eventDate: 01/07/2001; individualCount: 1; sex: 1 Female;
recordedBy: C.L and P.R. Deeleman; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity
Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord:
PreservedSpecimen
f. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: SUMATRA; locality:
Mount Singalang; eventDate: 07/10/1994; individualCount: 2; sex: 1 male, 1 juvenile;
recordedBy: Deeleman; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center,
Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord:
PreservedSpecimen
g. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: SULAWESI;
locality: Tangkoko; eventDate: 02/26/1997; individualCount: 2; sex: 1 male, 1 female;
recordedBy: leg. Preston; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center,
Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord:
PreservedSpecimen
h. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: BALI; locality:
Ambengan; eventDate: 03/19/1990; individualCount: 21; sex: 15 females, 6 juveniles;
recordedBy: leg. Preston-Mafham; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity
Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord:
PreservedSpecimen
i. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: SUMBAWA
BESAR; locality: Samokat, 20 km west; eventDate: 01/03/1990; individualCount: 4; sex: 3
females, 1 juvenile; recordedBy: Deeleman and leg. Suh. Djojosudharmo; type:
Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH;
collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
j. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: WEST IRIAN;
locality: Sorong; eventDate: 08/05/1984; individualCount: 3; sex: 3 juveniles; recordedBy:
Leg. M.v.D. Putten; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden;
institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and ... 5

k. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: WEST SUMATRA;
locality: Mount Singalang; eventDate: 10/19-07-1994; individualCount: 3; sex: 2 females,1
juvenile; recordedBy: Deeleman and leg. Suh. Djojosudharmo; type: Specimen;
institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH;
collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
l. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: EAST
KALIMANTAN; locality: Sepaku; eventDate: 07/13/1979; individualCount: 1; sex: 1 male;
recordedBy: P.R. Deeleman; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center,
Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord:
PreservedSpecimen
m. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: BALI; locality:
Ambengan; eventDate: 01/20/1990; individualCount: 3; sex: 3 females; recordedBy:
Deeleman; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden;
institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
n. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: AMBON; locality:
Hila Garden; eventDate: 01/30/1995; individualCount: 1; sex: 1 female; recordedBy:
Deeleman; type: Specimen; institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden;
institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
o. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: WEST.SUMATRA;
locality: Mount Singalang; eventDate: 07/12/1994; individualCount: 3; sex: 1 male, 2
females; recordedBy: Deeleman and leg. Suh. Djojoosudharmo; type: Specimen;
institutionID: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH;
collectionCode: Arachnida; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
p. scientificName: Tylorida striata; taxonID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:014401; kingdom:
Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Tetragnathidae;
taxonRank: species; genus: Tylorida; scientificNameAuthorship: (Thorell, 1877);
continent: Asia; country: Indonesia; countryCode: IDN; stateProvince: NORTH BALI;
locality: Ambengan; eventDate: 01/09/1990; individualCount: 12; sex: 3 males, 9 females;
recordedBy: Deeleman and leg. Suh. Djojoosudharmo; type: Specimen; institutionID:
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden; institutionCode: RMNH; collectionCode: Arachnida;
basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
6Kulkarni S, Yadav S

Description
Syntypes (Fig. 1) (examined by Siddharth Kulkarni). Two adult females, undissected
epigyna, abdomen detached from cephalothorax; abdomen of one female damaged
right laterally. Measurements of one syntype. Total length 5.36, carapace 2.03, 1.60
wide, abdomen 2.74 long, 3.14 high.
Carapace brown, sternum and legs fawn; trichobothrial sockets on proximal quarter
length of femora IV. Abdomen yellowish brown with shiny guanine patches lined from
apex towards ventral side, as also seen in live specimen (Fig. 2). Abdomen globose,
a b
c d
Figure 1.
Meta striata, female syntype.
a: Habitus (detached cephalothorax and abdomen placed together), dorsal view (Scale=5 mm)
b: Abdomen of same syntype, lateral view (Scale=3 mm)
c: Vulva, ventral view (Scale=0.3 mm)
d: Labels in syntype vial
Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and ... 7

roughly triangular in lateral view with two small tubercles at apex. Epigynal plate flat,
1.5 times wider than long, coils of fertilization ducts seen translucently (Fig. 1c).
Dissected epigynum in other material shows, coiled and sclerotized fertilization and
copulatory ducts, parallel just before joining spermatheca (Fig. 3).
Remarks: The female length of T. striata per taxonomic literature and examined
specimens ranges between 3.2-5.5 mm (Suppl. material 1). Álvarez-Padilla and
Hormiga (2011) reported average size of female as 10 mm which is an error (pers.
comm. Fernando Álvarez-Padilla).
Figure 2.
Tylorida striata, live female from India (BNHS Sp. 139).
Figure 3.
Tylorida striata, vulva, dorsal view, specimen from India (BNHS Sp. 139) CD- copulatory duct,
FD- fertilization duct, S- spermatheca (Scale=0.2 mm).
8Kulkarni S, Yadav S

Synonymy: Original description of T. stellimicans by Simon (1885) mentioned
'excessivement voisine' (extremely close) to T. striata distinguished T. stellimicans on
the basis of arrangement and size of eyes. This description is of sub-adult T. striata
where eye dimensions vary and ventral side of abdomen including epigynal plate
surface is blackish. Also, wide distribution of T. striata including locality region of T.
stellimicans and apparent absence of records elsewhere of T. stellimicans; we propose
T. stellimicans as synonym of T. striata.
Taxon discussion
Dimitrov et al. (2008) stated the location of type material was uncertain and possibly in
the Natural History Museum of the city of Geneva based on unpublished notes of Levi.
The type(s) of T. striata are not there and none of Thorell’s types have been deposited
in Geneva (pers. comm. Peter Schwendinger, Curator, Natural History Museum,
Geneva). There is likely to be confusion between Geneva (Switzerland) and Genoa
(Italy) due to similar spellings and pronunciation. Many of Thorell’s types have been
deposited at Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (also known as the Natural
History Museum of Giacomo Doria, Genoa). The existence of two syntypes collected
by O. Beccari in 1874 from Kandari, Indonesia was confirmed (Fig. 1d) at this museum
in Genoa. Thorell (1877) mentions collection of three females, but only two were found
in the vial labelled as ‘Cotypi’ and one remaining specimen is missing.
Discussion
The new record of T. striata from the Indian peninsula joins the disjunction of this species’
distribution between Comoros Islands and China to Australia (Fig. 4). Interestingly, the
species is found on either sides of the Wallace line, thus distributed throughout the two
ecozones of Asia (Indo-Malayan & Palearctic) and Australasia. The record from Comoros
Islands, which belongs to the Afrotropical ecozone is noteworthy. The wide distribution of T.
striata could be attributed to the dispersal and adaptive capacity of this species. On the
other hand, Tylorida sataraensis Kulkarni, 2014 is restricted to a smaller part of Western
Ghats in India (Kulkarni and Lewis 2015). These distributional variations of species
belonging to same genus may suggest contrasting adaptive capacities, since T. striata
undoubtedly sustains in anthropogenically exploited habitats whereas, T. sataraensis is a
habitat specialist, currently under threat of habitat degradation (Kulkarni 2014, Kulkarni and
Lewis 2015). Two other Tylorida species having T. striata-like globose abdomen, Tylorida
mornensis (Benoit, 1978) and Tylorida seriata (Thorell, 1899) are only known from their
respective type localities (Fig. 4). Tylorida seriata has not been reported since its original
description from Cameroon whereas T. mornensis was recorded again from its type locality
Seychelles and reported as endemic (Saaristo 2003, Saaristo 2010). Whether this is a
natural disjunction, or due to lack of study (Dimitrov et al. 2008) or a case of synonymy
similar to T. stellimicans needs to be resolved, subject to a future genus revision.
Bridging the distributional gap of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) and ... 9

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Maria Tavano for loan of syntypes, Christa Deeleman-Reinhold for making the
South-east Asian collection available, Jeremy Miller for provision of laboratory resources at
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands, Peter Schwendinger and Christian
Kropf for help in locating the types of Meta striata. Thanks also to Atul Vartak and
Prathamesh Patel for help during field work, Jeremy Miller, Cor Vink, Dimitar Dimitrov and
Pedro Cardoso for suggestions to the manuscript. Siddharth Kulkarni would like to thank
Ernst Mayr Travel Grant received for studying museum specimens.
Author contributions
Siddharth Kulkarni was involved in field work, specimen examination and manuscript
writing, Swara Yadav reviewed the literature and examined specimens from India.
References
•Álvarez-Padilla F, Hormiga G (2011) Morphological and phylogenetic atlas of the orb-
weaving spider family Tetragnathidae (Araneae: Araneoidea). Zoological Journal of the
Linnean Society 162 (4): 713‑879. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00692.x
•Bösenberg W, Strand E (1906) Japanische Spinnen. 30. Abhandlungen der
Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 93-422 pp.
•Chrysanthus P (1963) Spiders from south New Guinea V. Nova Guinea (Nova Serie,
Zoologia) 24: 727‑750.
Figure 4.
Map showing distribution of Tylorida species with T. striata-like globose abdomen.
10 Kulkarni S, Yadav S

•Chrysanthus P (1975) Further notes on the spiders of New Guinea II (Araneae,
Tetragnathidae, Theridiidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 140: 1‑50.
•Davies VT (1988) An illustrated guide to the genera of orbweaving spiders in Australia.
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Supplementary material
Suppl. material 1: Female length of Tylorida striata per taxonomic reference, examined
syntypes and specimens from India
Authors: Siddharth Kulkarni and Swara Yadav
Data type: Morphological
Filename: Tylorida_sizes.xlsx - Download file (11.16 kb)
12 Kulkarni S, Yadav S