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Spider Species of
Family Thomisidae (North Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India) |
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| Paper Id :
18369 Submission Date :
11/12/2023 Acceptance Date :
22/12/2023 Publication Date :
25/12/2023
This is an open-access research paper/article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10495097 For verification of this paper, please visit on
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| Abstract |
Spider Species of Family Thomisidae; Camaricus formosus and
Mastira menoka is described in this paper.A total of 210 species belonging to
44 genera of Thomisidae was recorded in all states and the union territories of
India except for Nagaland and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, out
of which 143 species (68.4%) were strictly endemic. However, among them, 6 species
seem to be the case of erroneous report or misidentification.21 species from
Uttar Pradesh. Several species of Thomisidae reported from India are recorded
only from one state or from the type locality. Hence, intensive and extensive
faunistic surveys for these spiders are required throughout the country. |
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| Keywords | Thomisidae, Camaricus formosus and Mastira Menoka. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction | Thomisidae, commonly known as the crab-spiders, is a large
family and are not active hunters and make more use of the camouflage
techniques than other spiders. The colour of the spider is adapted to the
hunting terrain they use and is mostly extravagant. They remain unmoved until
the prey arrives and catches it. Crab spiders can be found on flowers or leaves
of plants. Often these spiders remain for days, even weeks at the same spot.
The front two legs, that are often larger and stronger than the other six, are
held sideways, ready to catch the prey immediately. They have laterigrade legs,
no scopulae or true claw tufts but often strong paired spines on the ventral
tibiae; normally two big front eyes usually encircled by a ring of white
pigment. Lateral eyes are elevated on tubercles which may be joined. The labium
is free and chelicerae have a boss. |
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| Aim of study |
Spider Species of Family Thomisidae; Camaricus formosus and Mastira menoka is described in this
paper. Morphology of Family Thomisidae is described in this paper so that it
can be identified and preserve in its natural habitat.This work is to focus on
redescription and illustration of spiders collected from target area and to
provide their identification keys. |
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| Review of Literature | The usual habitats of thomisids are leaves, flower or bark. They are mainly active during day time and spin no web. From the target area following two species of Thomisidae were recorded: Camaricus formosus Thorell, 1887; and Misumena menoka Tikader, 1963. We thank Dr. Theo Blick, Hummeltal, Denmark, and an editorial member of World Spider Catalog, for many suggestions regarding the distribution of crab spiders in India. Sharma, A., & Singh, R. (2018a). Biodiversity and guild structure of spiders in northeastern Uttar Pradesh. . Sharma, A., & Singh, R. (2018b). Species diversity and guild structure of spiders from Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. Sharma, A., Singh, R., & Singh, G. (2020a). Faunal diversity of Liocranidae, Mimetidae, Miturgidae, Nesticidae and Oecobiidae (Arachnida, Araneae) of India. Sharma, A., Singh, G., & Singh, R. (2020b). Faunal diversity of Linyphiidae (Araneomorphae, Araneae, Arachnida) in India. . Sharma, A., Singh, G., & Singh, R. (2021). Faunal diversity of spider families Dictynidae, Dysderidae, Eresidae and Filistatidae (Araneomorphae, Araneae, Arachnida) in India. |
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| Methodology | Most morphological features used for identifications can be seen under an ordinary dissecting microscope. The features of the male pedipalp are best viewed by removing the left pedipalp at the junction between the trochanter and the femur and viewed ventrally and were expanded to reveal obscured sclerites. Internal genitalia were prepared for examination by placing the dissected genitalia in 10% KOH solution for one hour at 50°C to dissolve soft tissue. They were immersed in 10% KOH for 30 minutes at 50°C, then placed in water until they had fully expanded. All measurements are in millimetres (mm). The order of leg lengths is given in a four-digit sequence, longest to shortest (e.g., 4123). The size range given for each species represent the smallest and largest individual of each sex found in all specimens examined. |
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| Analysis |
Identification The adult
spiders were identified using available literatures (Pocock, 1900; Levi &
Levi, 1968; Kaston, 1978; Proszynski and Zechowska, 1981; Tikader, 1980, 1982a,
b, 1987; Tikader and Malhotra, 1980; Tikader and Biswas, 1981; Barrion and
Litsinger, 1995; Cushing, 2001; Proszynski, 2003; Keswani et al, 2012). Details
of body parts, such as pattern of eye arrangement, were examined using a
dissection microscope or a binocular microscope, and identification features
noted and sketched for each taxon following Barrion & Litsinger (1995) and
Sebastian and Peter (2009). Abbreviations
used in systematics AE - anterior
eyes AER-L
- length of the anterior eyes ALE - anterior
lateral eyes AME - anterior
median eyes RTA -
Retrolateral tibia apophysis PTA –Posterior
tibial apophysis LE – lateral
eyes ME
- median eyes MOQ - median
ocular quadrangle (area encircled by the AME and PME) MOQ-AW -
anterior width in the MOQ MOQ-AW < MOQ-PW
- MOQ is narrower in front than behind MOQ-AW >
MOQ-PW - MOQ is wider in front than behind MOQ-L - length
in the MOQ MOQ-PW -
posterior width in the MOQ PE - posterior
eyes PER-L - length
of the posterior eyes PLE - posterior
lateral eyes PME - posterior
median eyes Gu -
Promarginal guide tooth Family Thomisidae Sundevall,
1833 Thomisidae,
commonly known as the crab-spiders, is a large family and are not active
hunters and make more use of the camouflage techniques than other spiders. The
colour of the spider is adapted to the hunting terrain they use and is mostly
extravagant. They remain unmoved until the prey arrives and catches it. Crab
spiders can be found on flowers or leaves of plants. Often these spiders remain
for days, even weeks at the same spot. The front two legs, that are often
larger and stronger than the other six, are held sideways, ready to catch the
prey immediately. They have laterigrade legs, no scopulae or true claw tufts
but often strong paired spines on the ventral tibiae; normally two big front
eyes usually encircled by a ring of white pigment. Lateral eyes are elevated on
tubercles which may be joined. The labium is free and chelicerae have a boss. The usual
habitats of thomisids are leaves, flower or bark. They are mainly active during
day time and spin no web. From the target area following two species of
Thomisidae were recorded: Camaricus formosus Thorell, 1887;
and Misumena menoka Tikader, 1963. Genus : Camaricus Thorell,
1887 Camaricus Thorell, 1887. Ann. Mus. Civ.
Stor. Nat. Gen. 5(2): 261. Type
species: Camaricus
formosus Thorell,
1887. Ann. Mus. Civ. Star. Nat. Gen. 5(2) 261. Diagnostic
characters: A small genus
of crab-like spiders with barely 15 described species scattered in tropical
Africa, India, and Malaysia. Camaricus Thorell has a
moderately high, square-like to parallel-sided Prosoma. wider in front; eyes
III two recurved rows, ME wide apart and closer to LE than to each other; eye
diameter ALE > PLE > AME > PME, MOQ wider behind than III front, clypeus
height distinctly large; sternum longer than wide; labium slightly longer than
broad; legs moderately short with less developed spines; abdomen oblong to
subglobular with dorsal markings. Camaricus
formosus Thorell, 1887 Type
species: Camaricus
formosus Thorell,
1887. Ann. Mus. Civ. Star. Nat. Gen. 5(2): 261. Common name
: Halloween crab
spider. Synonymy: = Camaricus fornicatus Thorell, 1890: Annali del Museo Civico di Storia
Materials
examined: 2 female, U.P.:
Maharajganj: Rampur, 14.vii.2015, coll. A. Sharma; 1 female, U.P.: Gorakhpur:
University Campus, 6.vi.2016, coll. R. Singh; 2 female, U.P.: Siddharthnagar:
Lehra, 11.vii.2016, coll. A. Sharma; 3 female, U.P.: Kushinagar: Ahiroli,
11.iii.2017, coll. A. Sharma; 1 female, U.P.: Maharajganj: Parsa raja,
24.vi.2017, coll. A. Sharma; 2 female, U.P.: Maharajganj: Balrampur,
4.vii.2017, coll. A. Sharma
Description: Female
: Total
length 9.17 mm. Prosoma 3.98 mm long, 3.14 mm wide, 2.61 mm high. Abdomen 5.02
mm long, 4.80 mm wide, 4.27 mm high. Prosoma squarish, orange-red except black
eye area and lateral margins and black patch in the thoracic groove area and
high. Eyes in two recurved rows, PE slightly longer than AE row, middle eyes
very adjacent to lateral eyes. Eye diameter: ALE: > PLE > AME > PME.
Eye separation: AME-AME more than twice AME-ALE separation, PME-PME
approximately three times PME-PLE separation. Median ocular quadrangle wider
than long, slightly wider behind than in front. Sternum heart-shaped, pointed
behind, truncate anteriorly, and clothed with fine hairs. Labium longer than
wide. Maxillae moderately concave midlaterally on the outer side, apices
slightly converging. Chelicerae light or dark brown. Legs robust, pale yellow
in colour with hairs and spines, patellae, metatarsi and tarsi with
longitudinal stripes (very distinct in legs I and II). Metatarsi I and II with
six (2-2-2) pairs of ventral spines. Leg formula 2134. Pedipalp yellow, as long
as femur III. Length of leg and pedipalp segments (mm).
Abdomen dark
brown to black, longer than wide, broadest at midlength, medianly decorated by
a chalk-white anchor-like band, and laterals each with a triangular
transversely set band projected towards each other, venter light brown except
median with a broad longitudinal brown patch running from epigastric furrow to
the base of spinnerets. Epigynum simple with a transverse W-shaped transparent
light band. Distribution : India (Andman & Nicobar,
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Bangladesh,
China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sumatra. Genus : Mastira Thorell,
1891 Type: Mastira bipunctata Thorell, 1891: Kongliga
Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 24(2): 1-149. Diagnosis. Males of
all Mastira spp. have central modifications of the tegulum,
varying from the presence of one or two tegulum, the pedipalp apophyses are
variable in form but VTA is often the most complex. The structure of the
embolus is always groove like, sometimes weakly screwed. The annulations of the
male legs are usually wide. Tibia and metatarsi sometimes completely dark. The
female epigyne has a posterior excavation, while the hood is quite wide,
insignificant or even absent. The distinct pair of more or less conical
projections in the epigynal area is characteristic feature of the most
specimens. Mastira menoka (Tikader,
1963)
Type
: Misumena menoka Tikader, 1963: Proceedings
of the Indian Academy of Science, 58(B): 249-262.
Male Mastira
menoka (Tikader), A. Dorsal view; B. Pedipalp. Materials
examined: 2 male, U.P.:
Maharajganj: Partawal, 14.ii.2015, coll. A. Sharma; 2 male, U.P.:
Siddharthnagar: Birdpur, 21.vii.2016, coll. A. Sharma; 1 male, U.P.:
Maharajganj: Rampur, 14.ii.2018, coll. A. Sharma. Description: Male: Prosoma yellowish-brown, abdomen
silvery-white, legs light green. Total length 3.36 mm. Carapace 1.44 mm long,
1.80 mm wide; abdomen 1.81 mm long, 1.82 mm wide. convex, slightly
wider than long, clothed with fine pubescence and a few spines; cephalic region
slightly elevated with a U-shaped, broad, dark brown patch on the prosoma, the
base of the U-lying in the ocular area and the limbs directed backward on the
prosoma. Clypeus broad, the margin, provided with six spines directed forward.
Eyes round, posterior row slightly recurved and almost equal and equidistant;
antero row more recurved than the posterior; lateral eyes situated on elevated,
confluent, white tubercles; antero-lateral eyes larger than the others; the
median ocular area a little narrower in front than behind. Legs I and II much
longer than III and IV, clothed with hairs and spines. Distal end of femora and
tibiae I and II with a dark transverse band; femur I with two pairs of ventral
spines. Length of leg and pedipalp segments (mm) are given below.
Abdomen round,
broadest just behind the middle, dorsally on the posterior half with three
incomplete, transverse, black patches and on the base of abdomen with a
V-shaped mark.
Distribution: India (Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra, Uttarakhand). Barrion and Litsinger (1995) reported this species
from Philippines, but according to Lehtinen (2004) that species was
misidentified by them and that belong to antoher undescribed spcies of Misumena Latreille,
1804. It is the first record from Uttar Pradesh. |
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| Conclusion |
Earlier, Singh and Singh (2014) surveyed only riceland fields
for four districts of northeaster utttar Pradesh, viz. Kushinagar, Deoria,
Gorakhpur and Sant Kabirnagar. In the present survey, other habitats such as
road side shrubs, forests, other agroecosystem, human dweillings, kitchen
garden etc. were also observed and spiders were collected, whenever observed in
that habitat. so, one more district at the border of Nepal was also surveyed
excluding Sant Kabir nagar.. Despite spiders being the most diverse group of
predators and crucial to the health of terrestrial ecosystems, none of the
species recorded in India is listed in IUCN Red List. An extensive survey for
these spiders is urgently required. |
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