Daddy-long-leg giants: revision of the spider genus Artema Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae, Pholcidae)
- This is the first revision of Artema Walckenaer, 1837, a genus consisting of large and phylogenetically interesting species. Even though Artema is not species-rich (now eight nominal species), it has suffered from poor descriptions and synonymies. Our main goal was to gather all available material and to clarify species limits. Four species are easily distinguished from other congeners: Artema atlanta Walckenaer, 1837, the type species; A. kochi Kulczyński, 1901 (revalidated); A. bunkpurugu Huber & Kwapong, 2013; and A. nephilit sp. nov. All other species are problematic for varying reasons: species limits are unclear between A. doriae Thorell, 1881 and A. transcaspica Spassky, 1934; A. magna Roewer, 1960 and A. ziaretana (Roewer, 1960) are problematic because they are based on female and juvenile types respectively and little new material is available. The material available to us suggests the existence of a few further species; however, they are not formally described, either because of small sample sizes (Artema sp. a and A. sp. b are represented by only one specimen each) or because of unclear species limits (between Artema sp. c, A. transcaspica and A. doriae).This study is the first serious step towards understanding the genus. Intensive collecting effort is needed in order to fully clarify species limits.
Author: | Shlomi AharonORCiD, Bernhard A. HuberORCiD, Efrat Gavish-RegevORCiD |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-462250 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.376 |
ISSN: | 2118-9773 |
Parent Title (English): | European journal of taxonomy : 376 |
Series (Serial Number): | European journal of taxonomy : EJT (376) |
Publisher: | Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle |
Place of publication: | Paris |
Document Type: | Part of Periodical |
Language: | English |
Year of Completion: | 2017 |
Year of first Publication: | 2017 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2018/04/23 |
Tag: | Key; Middle East; Pholcidae; taxonomy |
Page Number: | 57 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
Sammlungen: | Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 3.0 |