| Sooty orbweaver | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Salsa |
| Species: | S. fuliginata |
| Binomial name | |
| Salsa fuliginata | |
| Synonyms | |
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Salsa fuliginata, commonly known as the sooty orbweaver, is a orb-weaver spider in the genus Salsa . The species is found throughout southeastern Australia and New Zealand.
Salsa fuliginata has a complicated taxonomic history. It was first described as Epeira fuliginata by L. Koch in 1872, and has since been varyingly classified as part of Araneus and Epeira. Dondale placed it in the genus Cyclosa in 1966, which was found to be incorrect based on molecular data in 2019, [2] and its morphological differences from North American Cyclosa species. [3] [4] Salsa fuliginata was subsequently revised to form the type species of the genus Salsa in 2022. [5]
Spiderlings of Salsa fuliginata have a black and yellowish-brown carapace. [3] Spiderlings also feature a black pattern that is extended around the tip and over the ventral side on their smooth abdomen. [3] The end of the dark part of the ventral side of the abdomen contains some white spots; the spiderlings also have a much lighter colour on their legs compared to when they are an adult. When the spiderlings grow to a total length of about 2.5mm, Salsa fuliginata females will have a squared shape at the anterior of the carapace and the posterior of the abdomen will be slightly angled. [3] The carapaces of females are brownish at this size similar to males and both sexes' pattern on their abdomen bear a resemblance of an adult Salsa fuliginata. Immature males of this size have rather swollen palpi. [3]
S. fuliginata males usually have a dark brown-orange carapace and a lustrous coat, with flat yellow setae throughout the carapace. [3] [5] The chelicerae of male S. fuliginata are orange-brown with three promarginal teeth and three retromarginal teeth, where the median promarginal teeth and basal retromarginal teeth are the largest. [5] The basal of femora, trochanters and coxae are all brownish-yellow; other than these three areas, the whole leg is brown in colour. Males have a leg formula of I > II > III > IV, [5] where the longest leg is the first leg and the shortest leg is the fourth leg. The ventral portion of the cephalothorax or the sternum is brown in colour and dorsum has a beige colour to it and males also have an olive-grey irregular large folium. The lateral portion of the folium is dark brown with some black spots. [5] Underside of abdomen is dark brown followed by two white patches along the abdomen right behind the epigastric furrow. Salsa fuliginata male has a slightly curved and short paracymbium; conductor lobe is sturdy and attach to conductor from basal of embolus; median apophysis has a flat tip, has a C-shape and also lengthened, it is also basally pronounced with a reduced basal process. [5] Terminal apophysis have overall rectangular shape with a projection at the tip which looks like a thumb; conductor is weakly sclerotised and flat; embolus of the male is straight, lengthen and also pronounced. [5] According to Framenau and Pedro, males of Salsa fuliginata are mostly alike compared to Salsa recherchensis (Main, 1954) [6] in the morphology of their genitals. [5]
Nonetheless, median apophysis in S. fuliginata is much elongated and narrow compared to S. recherchensis; The obvious spine-like prong on the terminal apophysis found in S. recherchensis is also absent in S. fuliginata. [5] Based on the research of Dondale [3] and Framenau & Pedro, [5] adult males' total length are measured to be 3.2-5.5 mm based on 18 male adult specimens.
Sexual dimorphism exists in Salsa fuliginata, where the females are generally larger than the male like most spiders. [7] Characteristics of female carapace and chelicerae are similar to male's with only one difference where three retromarginal teeth are of similar size in females. [5] Legs of female are brownish-orange and mottled in light brown; leg formula for females are the same as males, where leg lengths have the formula, I > II > IV > III. [5] Salsa fuliginata females have a dark brown labium; dark brown sternum with filled with grey setae; maxillae are brownish to dark brown; dorsal part and lateral part of abdomen are olive-grey a darker folium pattern. [5] Ventral part of abdomen is similar to males where it is dark grey-olive with elongated ovoid pale bands paired with pale band behind epigastric furrow. [5] Atrium of female Salsa fuliginata are shaped like a heart; spermatheca of the females are also spherical and huge in size. [5] At the epigyne of S. fuliginata females, the atrium is not apparent due to the rotation of the epigyne relative to the abdomen. [5] S. fuliginata females have total lengths ranging from 4.5-11.0 mm based on 30 specimens from two research studies (Dondale [3] and Framenau & Pedro [5] ).
Variation in colour patterns is vast in Salsa fuliginata, particularly in the folium, the colour shades also vary from brownish red to dark brown and light beige to orangey. [5]
Salsa fuliginata is native to southeastern Australia. [5] It can be found in New South Wales, Victoria, [8] Tasmania, and South Australia. It was introduced to New Zealand over 22 years ago, where it is found in Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and near Lake Taupō in the North Island. [9]
Salsa fuliginata doesn't have a specific preferred habitat. [5] This species is observed in open spaces with low-lying vegetation and in various types of forests. [5] The collected specimens of Salsa fuliginata have been found in environments such as dry sclerophyll forests, open forests, bushes, shrubs, gardens, and swamps. [5]
Not much is known about the life cycle of Salsa fuliginata, but it is assumed it shares an identical life cycle with other spiders consisting of four main stages: eggs, spiderlings, juveniles and adults. Because Australia and New Zealand are temperate countries, the spiders' mating and egg laying happens during spring and may continue over summer. [10] After males and females mate, they split up where males will look for another mate and females will capture organisms in order to keep her developing eggs healthy. [10] After a few weeks, female spiders hang their egg sacs near their web or even in their web after laying it. [10] The eggs inside the egg sacs take about two to four weeks to hatch. [11] After an average of two moults within the egg sac, spiderlings pierce through the strong membrane of the egg sac. [10] Once the spiderlings go through their early moults and are independent, they usually disperse swiftly through ballooning. [10] The spiderlings will then become juveniles after several moults until they reach their mature adult form, generally up to eight moults and some have moulted nine times, [10] [12] which then go through the life cycle again. In temperate regions like New Zealand and Australia, most spiders live only one year or at most two years, [12] but these life cycles are only assumed for Salsa fuliginata since the life cycles of spiders has been investigated in only a minimal number of spider species. [12] Based on Framenau & Pedro, [5] Salsa fuliginata mature adults are common and mostly collected ranging from October and January. However, mature males of Salsa fuliginata reduced in the latter months especially September and February, which may indicate male's life expectancy which are usually low. However, for females they have relatively higher life expectancy, [12] which in Framenau & Pedro's research showed that there are more female Salsa fuliginata specimens than males. [5]
Like nearly all spiders, Salsa fuliginata are carnivores. They tend to feed on small insects such as flies, moths, and beetles captured in the webs that they construct. [10] It has been observed preying on the light-brown apple moth. [13]
According to Keziah D'Souza, a masters student in University of Auckland, one of the species that prey on Salsa fulignata is Pison spinolae, which is more commonly known as the mason wasp. [14] Pison spinolae is native to Australia and in 1880, it was introduced to New Zealand and can be found widely throughout New Zealand. [15]
Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or chasing it over short distances; others wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow. Wolf spiders resemble nursery web spiders, but wolf spiders carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets, while the Pisauridae carry their egg sacs with their chelicerae and pedipalps. Two of the wolf spider's eight eyes are large and prominent; this distinguishes them from nursery web spiders, whose eyes are all of roughly equal size. This can also help distinguish them from the similar-looking grass spiders.
Austracantha is a genus of spider with a single species, Austracantha minax, commonly known as the jewel spider or the Christmas spider. It is a member of the family Araneidae and is endemic to Australia. They are relatively small spiders, reaching a maximum total body length of only around 12 mm (0.47 in) for females, and 5 mm (0.20 in) for males. Their abdomen has six distinctive projections ("spines") that makes them easy to identify. They are predominantly a shiny black, with variable white, yellow, and orange patterns. Melanistic forms also occur during autumn. They are facultatively gregarious, and can be found in large aggregations of overlapping orb webs. They feed on small flying insects that get entangled in their webs. They are harmless to humans, though the webs can be a nuisance for bushwalkers. They are most abundant during the summer months.
A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a "bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying male moths or moth flies nearby, the spider may snag its prey rather like a fisherman snagging a fish on a hook. Because of this, they are also called angling or fishing spiders. The prey is lured to the spider by the production of up to three sex pheromone-analogues.
The black house spider or common black spider is a common species of cribellate Australian spider, introduced to New Zealand and Japan. A closely related species, Badumna longinqua, the grey house spider, has a similar distribution, but has also been introduced to the Americas.
Argiope anasuja, is a species of harmless orb-weaver spider found from the Seychelles to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and in the Brazil.
This glossary describes the terms used in formal descriptions of spiders; where applicable these terms are used in describing other arachnids.
Socca pustulosa, known as the knobbled orbweaver, is an orb-weaver spider species in the family Araneidae, and it was first described by a French scientist Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1841 from Tasmania, Australia, but later on when Walckenaer examined the specimen collected from New Zealand and renamed it as a different species- Epeira verrucosa. Until 1917, Dalmas reviewed the Australian pustulosa and New Zealand verrucosa and realized they were the same species. Although S. pustulosa has been accepted for some time in the genus of Eriophora, the evidence supporting its placement within this genus were not fully convincing. Therefore, an alternative view was proposed in 2022- a new genus established to accommodate pustulosa along with 11 other spider species from Australia; the diagnostic test based on haplotype analysis and systematic morphology study by arachnologists and found the anatomical features of male pedipalp terminal apophysis differs from other orb-web species.
Xysticus ulmi, the swamp crab spider, is a European crab spider of the family Thomisidae which prefers damp habitats. It was first described by the German zoologist Carl Wilhelm Hahn in 1831.
Pison spinolae, commonly known as mason wasp, is a solitary wasp of the family Crabronidae, found throughout New Zealand.
Maratus griseus, the white-banded house jumping spider, is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. It is found in Australia and New Zealand.
Cladomelea akermani is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in South Africa. Cladomelea species, including C. akermani, are "bolas spiders" – adult females capture their prey by using a sticky drop on the end of a single line which they swing, usually catching male moths attracted by the release of an analogue of the attractant sex pheromone produced by the female moth. Juvenile and adult male bolas spiders do not use a bolas, catching prey with their legs alone.
Cladomelea debeeri is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in South Africa. It was first described in 2004. Cladomelea species, including C. debeeri, are "bolas spiders" – adult females capture their prey by using one or more sticky drops on the end of a line which they swing, usually catching male moths attracted by the release of an analogue of the attractant sex pheromone produced by the female moth. Juvenile and adult male bolas spiders do not use a bolas, catching prey with their legs alone.
Cyrtarachne inaequalis is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in India, Myanmar, China and Korea. Spiders in the genus Cyrtarachne construct "spanning-thread webs" rather than the more typical orb webs of the family Araneidae. These webs have a small number of radii and instead of a tight spiral of sticky threads, the sticky spanning threads are widely spaced and do not form a spiral. When prey is caught on one of the spanning threads, one end comes loose, and the prey, often a moth, dangles from the other end until hauled in by the spider.
Cyrtarachne nagasakiensis is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in Pakistan, India, China, Korea and Japan. Spiders in the genus Cyrtarachne construct "spanning-thread webs" rather than the more typical orb webs of the family Araneidae. These webs have a small number of radii and instead of a tight spiral of sticky threads, the sticky spanning threads are widely spaced and do not form a spiral. When prey is caught on one of the spanning threads, one end comes loose, and the prey, often a moth, dangles from the other end until hauled in by the spider.
Cyrtarachne yunoharuensis is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in China, Korea and Japan. Spiders in the genus Cyrtarachne construct "spanning-thread webs" rather than the more typical orb webs of the family Araneidae. These webs have a small number of radii and instead of a tight spiral of sticky threads, the sticky spanning threads are widely spaced and do not form a spiral. When prey is caught on one of the spanning threads, one end comes loose, and the prey, often a moth, dangles from the other end until hauled in by the spider.
Ordgarius sexspinosus is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found from India to Japan and Indonesia. O. sexspinosus is a bolas spider. Rather than using a web, adult females catch their prey by using a line with one or two sticky drops which they swing.
Pasilobus hupingensis is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in China and Japan. Females of the genus Pasilobus construct "spanning-thread webs" with only two sectors, making them appear triangular. Widely spaced threads with sticky drops span the three radii of these webs. One end is attached in such a way that it readily breaks free. When a prey item is caught on one of these threads, the line parts at this end and the prey hangs from the web until it is hauled up by the spider.
Arachnura feredayi, the tailed forest spider, scorpion spider or drag-tailed spider, is endemic to New Zealand. It is known for the distinctive tapering body shape in females, which are also much larger than males, and for producing vertical columns of egg sacs in their webs.
Nesticus cellulanus, also known as the cavity spider or comb-footed cellar spider, is a species of scaffold web spider. It is found throughout Europe and Turkey, and has been introduced to North America.
Salsa is an Australasian genus of orb-weaver spiders.