Beyond size: sexual dimorphisms in pholcid spiders

Huber, Bernhard A.

doi:10.13156/arac.2020.18.7.656

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…Sexual dimorphisms in the cheliceral stridulatory apparatus are common in Pholcidae and may either involve the presence vs absence of the stridulatory organ, or differences in the morphology of the files (size, distances between ridges, etc.) (Huber 2021a). Both kinds of dimorphisms occur in the spottedleg clade.…”

Section: Sexual Dimorphismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae)

Huber

2022

EJT

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The genera Holocnemus Simon, 1873 and Crossopriza Simon, 1893 are revised. Together with Stygopholcus Kratochvíl, 1932 (revised recently) and the newly described genus Maghreba gen. nov., they constitute the spotted-leg clade within the northern clade of Smeringopinae. Males and females in this group are characterized by dark marks on the leg femora and tibiae. The native area of the spotted-leg clade ranges from northern Africa and the Mediterranean to Central Asia and NW India. A morphological cladistic analysis suggests that Holocnemus is paraphyletic while Crossopriza is monophyletic, but morphology seems only partly adequate to resolve phylogenetic relationships convincingly. The genus Holocnemus includes four species, all of which are redescribed: H. pluchei (Scopoli, 1763); H. reini (C. Koch, 1873) comb. nov. (transferred from Pholcus); H. caudatus (Dufour, 1820); and H. hispanicus Wiehle, 1933. The genus Maghreba gen. nov. includes eight species from NW Africa: M. aurouxi (Barrientos, 2019) gen. et comb. nov. (transferred from Holocnemus; redescribed, female newly described) and seven newly described species. The genus Crossopriza includes six previously described species (of which five are redescribed), and 18 newly described species. The Madagascan C. nigrescens Millot, 1946 is synonymized with C. lyoni (Blackwall, 1867). All new species are described on the basis of both sexes.

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Section: Sexual Dimorphismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent review of sexual dimorphisms in pholcid spiders (Huber 2021a) listed a wide range of characters that differ between males and females in this at first sight rather monomorphic family. Character mapping suggested more than 120 independent origins of sexual dimorphisms.…”

Section: Sexual Dimorphismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae)

Huber

2022

EJT

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“…Pholcid spiders are morphologically and ecologically highly diverse (e.g. [ 2 , 3 ]) and phylogenetic relationships have been addressed in numerous morphological and molecular studies hypothesizing five subfamilies—Pholcinae (922 spp. ), Smeringopinae (125 spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, pholcid spiders show an interesting reproductive biology with different reproductive strategies, many sexual dimorphisms, and a high disparity of genitalic structures including asymmetry, genital polymorphism, and fundamentally different configurations of the female internal genitalia (e.g. [ 2 , 8 – 15 ]). In contrast to the vast knowledge on the gross morphology of female and male genitalia, the primary male reproductive system is severely understudied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary morphology of sperm in pholcid spiders (Pholcidae, Synspermiata)

Dederichs¹,

Huber²,

Michalik³

2022

BMC Zool

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Background Pholcidae represent one of the largest and most diverse spider families and have been subject to various studies regarding behavior and reproductive biology. In contrast to the solid knowledge on phylogeny and general reproductive morphology, the primary male reproductive system is strongly understudied, as it has been addressed only for few species. Those studies however suggested a high diversity of sperm and seminal secretions across the family. To address this disparity and reconstruct the evolution of sperm traits, we investigate the primary male reproductive system of pholcid spiders by means of light, X-ray, and transmission electron microscopy using a comprehensive taxon sampling with 46 species from 33 genera, representing all five subfamilies. Results Our data show a high disparity of sperm morphology and seminal secretions within pholcids. We document several sperm characters that are unique for pholcids, such as a helical band (Pholcinae) or a lamellate posterior centriolar adjunct material (Modisiminae). Character mapping revealed several putative synapomorphies for individual taxa. With regard to sperm transfer forms, we found that synspermia occur only in the subfamily Ninetinae, whereas the other subfamilies have cleistospermia. In several species with cleistospermia, we demonstrate that spermatids remain fused until late stages of spermiogenesis before ultimately separating shortly before the coiling process. Additionally, we explored the previously hypothesized correlation between sperm size and minimum diameter of the spermophor in the male palpal organ. We show that synspermia differ strongly in size whereas cleistospermia are rather uniform, but neither transfer form is positively correlated with the diameter of the spermophor. Conclusions Our data revealed a dynamic evolution of sperm characters, with convergences across all subfamilies and a high level of homoplasy. The present diversity can be related to subfamily level and allows for assignments of specific subtypes of spermatozoa. Our observations support the idea that Ninetinae are an ancestral clade within Pholcidae that have retained synspermia and that synspermia represent the ancestral sperm transfer form of Pholcidae.

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“…Here, we aim to characterize the major axes of variance in male schizomid flagellum shape using elliptical Fourier morphometrics, sampling across schizomids for more than 80% of the known species diversity. Our work capitalizes on the evolutionary information extractable from the primary taxonomic literature (e.g., 26 ), with the vast majority of outlines obtained from published descriptions. In order to understand how shape changes with respect to size we tested for an allometric relationship between flagellum shape and size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tales of schizomid tails: patterns in schizomid flagellum shape from elliptical Fourier analysis

Kallal

Miranda

Garcia

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The arachnid order Schizomida is a relatively understudied group of soil-dwelling predators found on all continents except Antarctica. While efforts to understand their biology are growing, there is still much to know about them. A curious aspect of their morphology is the male flagellum, a sexually dimorphic, tail-like structure which differs in shape across the order and functions in their courtship rituals. The flagellar shape is important for taxonomic classification, yet few efforts have been made to examine shape diversity across the group. Using elliptical Fourier analysis, a type of geometric morphometrics based on outline shape, we quantified shape differences across a combined nearly 550 outlines in the dorsal and lateral views, categorizing them based on genus, family, biogeographic realm, and habitat, with special emphasis on Caribbean and Cuban fauna. We tested for allometric relationships, differences in disparity based on locations and sizes in morphospace among these categories, and for clusters of shapes in morphospace. We found multiple differences in all categories despite apparent overlaps in morphospace, evolutionary allometry, and evidence for discrete clusters in some flagellum shapes. This study can serve as a foundation for further study on the evolution, diversification, and taxonomic utility of the male flagellum.

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Beyond size: sexual dimorphisms in pholcid spiders

Cited by 8 publications

References 114 publications

Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae)

Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae)

Evolutionary morphology of sperm in pholcid spiders (Pholcidae, Synspermiata)

Tales of schizomid tails: patterns in schizomid flagellum shape from elliptical Fourier analysis

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