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First record of genus Siler Simon, 1889 (Araneae: Salticidae) from India

August 2015
Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(10):7701-7703

DOI:10.11609/JoTT.o4266.7701-3

Authors:

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The jumping spider Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901) has been newly reported from India, based on specimens studied from South India. These spiders were observed feeding on all life stages of Technomyrmex ants.

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Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901)

(Images 1–4)

Material examined: 3 males

(BNHS Sp.182-184), February 2015,

Chilavannur, Cochin, Kerala, coll.

Sunny Joseph; 1 female (BNHS Sp.

185), February 2015, Chilavannur,

Cochin, Kerala, coll. Sunny Joseph.

Body colour paern similar in male and female.

Dorsum coloured with iridescent scales when live (Image

1), lose shine in alcohol, ventrally yellowish. Carapace

paern comprising red between dorsal and lateral blue

stripe. Femora and patella I brown, rest yellow with

longitudinal black stripes. Abdomen densely covered

with two blue spots embedded in red patch, distally

grey. Cymbium longer than palpal bia, embolus curved

with pointed p (Image 2a); bial apophysis pointed,

arising 45 degrees (Image 2b). Female epigynum

ventrally with common transverse oval opening,

anterior margin parally enclosing copulatory opening

and posterior margin bent inwards (Image 3a). In dorsal

view, copulatory duct broadened inwards, broadest

before joining spherical spermatheca (Image 3b).

Discussion: This is a new record of Siler semiglaucus

from India, which was previously recorded from

neighbouring region of Sri Lanka. Although, this is rst

scienc record of the genus Siler, the images of these

 Siler

 

Siddharth Kulkarni 1 & Sunny Joseph 2

1 Biome Conservaon Foundaon, 18, Silver Moon Apts.,1/2A/2,

Bavdhan Kh., Pune, Maharashtra 411021, India

2 Kidangeth, Chilavannur Road, South Kadavanthra, Cochin, Kerala

682020, India

1 sskspider@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 sunnyjosef@gmail.com

7701

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online)

ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

OPEN ACCESS



Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2015 | 7(10): 7701–7703

DOI: hp://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4266.7701-3 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B349C69D-6EAC-47B1-9D38-8AC1AFF84A35

Editor: Anonymity requested.  26 August 2015 (online & print)

Manuscript details: Ms # o4266 | Received 03 March 2015 | Final received 03 May 2015 | Finally accepted 14 August 2015

 Kulkarni, S. & S. Joseph (2015). First record of genus Siler Simon, 1889 (Araneae: Salcidae) from India . Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(10): 7701–7703;

hp://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4150.7701-3

Copyright: © Kulkarni & Joseph 2015. Creave Commons Aribuon 4.0 Internaonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this arcle in any medium, repro-

ducon and distribuon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaon.

Funding: Self-funded.

The authors declare no compeng interests.

Acknowledgements: SK is thankful to Thomas Vaakaven, India Biodiversity Portal for photographing Siler rstly from southern India that led to this study, Jerzy

Prószyński for helpful discussions and Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan for commenng on the ant identy.

The oriental genus Siler Simon, 1889, which was

erected with the descripon of female Siler cupreus

Simon, 1889 from Japan, comprises globally of nine

valid species (World Spider Catalog 2015), (Table 1).

Of these, Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901) is the most

widely distributed species and has been geographically

recorded nearest to India.

Specimens collected from Chilavannur (9.965N &

76.306E) were preserved in 70% alcohol and examined

with Brunel IMXZ™ stereozoom microscope and

imaged using Canon 1200D™ mounted camera. The

examined specimens are deposited at Bombay Natural

History Society (BNHS), Mumbai with registraon

numbers as given in the material examined below.

Species idencaon was conrmed by comparing

with Prószyński (1985) and matched with the species’

lectotype (J. Prószyński pers. comm. 11 February 2015).

NOT

EVALUATED

DATA

DEFICIENT

VULNERABLE

ENDANGERED

EXTINCT

IN THE WILD

EXTINCT

CRITICALLY

ENDANGERED

LEAST

CONCERN

NEAR

THREATENED

Siler semiglaucus

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2015 | 7(10): 7701–7703

First record of genus Siler Kulkarni & Joseph

7702

spiders from India have been on internet since 2010

(Nature Magnied 2010). It is noceable from them,

that they could be more than one species of Siler and

therefore, need further study.

Nelson et al. (2004) and Jackson & Olphen (1992)

have experimentally proved Siler semiglaucus to

be myrmecophagic from Philippines and Sri Lanka

respecvely. Jackson & Olphen (1992) discussed

preference for ants as prey by S. semiglaucus, however

they feed upon any insect when starved for more than

two weeks. During eld survey, these spiders were

observed to feed on Technomyrmex sp. ants (Image 4).

Apart from the adults of ants, these spiders also fed

upon the eggs, larvae and pupae of those ants (Image

1b).

Image 1. Siler semiglaucus. a - male habitus, dorsal view; b - female habitus, dorsal view

Species 

Siler bielawskii Zabka, 1985 China, Vietnam

Siler collingwoodi (O. Pickard-Cambridge,

1871) China, Japan

Siler cupreus Simon, 1889 China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan

Siler avocinctus (Simon, 1901) Singapore

Siler hanoicus Prószyński, 1985 Vietnam

Siler lewaense Prószyński & Deeleman-

Reinhold, 2010 Sumba

Siler pulcher Simon, 1901 Malaysia

Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901) Sri Lanka to Philippines

Siler severus (Simon, 1901) China

Siler species

Image 2. Siler semiglaucus. a - male right palp, dorsal view; b - male

right palp, ectal view

References

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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2015 | 7(10): 7701–7703

First record of genus Siler Kulkarni & Joseph

7703

Threatened Taxa

Image 4. Siler semiglaucus feeding on Technimyrmex sp. ant

Image 3. Siler semiglaucus. a - female epigynum, ventral view; b - female epigynum, dorsal view

Ant brood banditry by the jumping spider, Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901)

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May 2018

Timothy Hawes

The salticid spider, Siler semiglaucus (Simon, 1901) was observed regularly snatching, feeding on, and waiting in ambush for ant brood being carried by ant workers. Colony highways of the ant Dolichoderus thoracicus (Smith, 1860), on coconut trees in Thailand were found to be permanently attended by S. semiglaucus individuals of both sexes and juveniles, operating as brood bandits. Repeated independent observations of banditry over an eight month period indicated that the behaviour is routine in this population. The behaviour can be situated in the context of spider nutritional ecology and kleptoparasitism.

India Biodiversity Portal: An integrated, interactive and participatory biodiversity informatics platform

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Nov 2016

Background This paper describes a growing biodiversity platform, launched in 2008, which organizes knowledge on the biodiversity of India. The main objective and originality of the India Biodiversity Portal (IBP) is to aggregate curated biodiversity data of different kinds (e.g. distribution maps, temporal distribution or life history) in an integrated platform where amateurs and experts can easily interact. New information Since its launch, the platform has seen an exceptional increase in both user activity and biodiversity data. Currently the portal has descriptions of over 20,400 species, and has aggregated approximately 1,280,000 observations covering more than 30,000 species, which already constitutes a unique source of information for scientists and stakeholders in conservation. Over 8500 users have registered on the portal. The amount of data generated and to be generated in the next few years by this portal will certainly help the effective implementation of biodiversity conservation and management in one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world.

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An Updated Review on the Spiders of Order Araneae from the Districts of Western Ghats of India

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Dec 2019

ABSTRACT : Spiders belonging to order araneae are one of the biggest groups of predaceous organisms in the animal kingdom. Along with their diverse structure, they are popular for their tough silk and spider venom which is of pharmaceutical importance.Also they are playing a major role in lower food web in the ecosystem to maintain the ecological equilibrium and are one of the best bioindicators of natural ecosysytems.Now a days, due to the habitat destruction caused by natural calamities and anthropogenic activities ,the number of spiders species are found to be declined, as a result number of species of spiders are getting extinct before they are explored. One of the major hotspots of biodiversity of India is Western Ghats, known for their high species diversity. Taking into account the importance of spiders as bioindicators of environment, the present article was aimed to review on Araneae diversity from Satara Sangli and Kolhapur districts lying in the Northern Western Ghat regions of Maharashtra, India . This study shall help to record the number of species found in this regions. This review provides a checklist of total 27 families of 101 genera representing 178 species along with some new species recorded with special reference to their behaviour, habitat and variations among them. The review mainly provides a baseline information for the future study on diversity of spiders.From this review it is concluded that Northern Western Ghats being one of the biggest hotspots of diversity have a large number of spiders species, which are very less as compared to the spider diversity of India as suggested by the world catalogue of spiders, suggesting for an urgent need to explore further the areneae diversity in order to maintain the ecological equilibrium and the products obtained from them.

Multilocus genetic and morphological phylogenetic analysis reveals a radiation of shiny South Asian jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)

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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 determine their phylogenetic relationships. Results suggest that the assessed morphospecies complex constitute of three evolutionary lineages, two previously unrecognised, which are described and diagnosed as two new genera: Phintelloides gen. n. and Proszynskia gen. n. The third lineage, Phintella, is sister to these proposed genera. The following new species are described: Phintelloides alborea sp. n., P. brunne sp. n., P. flavoviri sp. n., P. flavumi sp. n., P. orbisa sp. n., Phintella argentea sp. n., and P. jaleeli sp. n. Sri Lanka is rich in biodiversity but currently has one of the highest rates of deforestation. Lack of clarity on diversity and distribution of the islands’ biodiversity can lead to underestimations during threat assessments and thus downgrading of conservation needs of individual species.

Predation by ants on jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in the Philippines

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Full-text available

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NEW ZEAL J ZOOL

Using a tropical fauna from the Philippines as a case study, ant-salticid predator-prey relationships were investigated. In the field, 41 observations of ant predation on salticids were made, and the actual attack on the salticid was seen in four. In the laboratory, five of the ant genera observed in the field were tested with four categories of salticids: (1) four myrmecophagic (i.e., ant-eating) species, (2) six myrmecomorphic (i.e., ant-like) species, (3) an ant-associate species (i.e., a species that is neither myrmecophagic nor myrmecomorphic, but known to associate with ants), and (4) 14 ordinary species (i.e., species that are neither ant-eating nor ant-like, and are not known to associate with ants). In these tests the highest survival rates were observed in the myrmecophagic salticids, followed by the myrmecomorphic salticids, the ant-associate species, and finally the ordinary species.

Prey‐capture techniques and prey preferences of Chrysilla, Natta and Siler, ant‐eating jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae) from Kenya and Sri Lanka

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J ZOOL

The predatory behaviour of Chrysilla lauta and Sliersemiglaucus from Sri Lanka, and four species of Natta from Kenya, was studied in the laboratory for the first time. These salticids eat ants, a prey most salticids avoid. These species' specialized behaviour for catching ants is described and compared to their behaviour for catching other insects. Three different types of tests of prey preference were carried out and, in each type, ants were taken in preference to other insects. Preference for ants, and prey-specific predatory behaviour did not depend on prior experience with ants. Results from this study are discussed in relation to recent findings on other ant-eating salticids.

On Siler, Silerella, Cyllobelus and Natta (Araneae, Salticidae)

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World Spider Catalog Natural History Museum Bern

Apr 2015

World Spider Catalog (2015). World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 16, accessed on 01 March 2015.

World Spider Catalog

Mar 2015

World Spider Catalog

World Spider Catalog (2015). World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 16, accessed on 01 March 2015.

First record of genus Siler Simon, 1889 (Araneae: Salticidae) from India

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