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Genital mechanics in some neotropical pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae), with implications for systematics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 1998

Bernhard A. Huber
Bernhard A. Huber
Affiliation:
Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria, Costa Rica
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Abstract

Genital mechanics are studied in five species from three genera of neotropical pholcid spiders. The study focuses on the function of a pointed and upward projecting (‘pup’) apophysis on the male pedipalpal femur: it engages an indentation in the genital bulb during copulation. This character is geographically restricted to spiders in Central and North America and the West Indies and is considered a key character of the monophyletic ‘Modisimus group’. This includes the genera Modisimus Simon, 1893, Psilochorus Simon, 1893, Bryantina Brignoli, 1985, Anopsicus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938, and some species now misplaced in Coryssocnemis Simon, 1893 and Blechroscelis Simon, 1893. Evidence for the polyphyly of the following genera is presented: Psilochorus, Coryssocnemis, and Blechroscelis. Some notes on the reproductive biology of the species studied are briefly presented.

Keywords

genital mechanicsfunctional morphologyAraneaePholcidaesystematics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Zoology , Volume 244 , Issue 4 , April 1998 , pp. 587 - 599
Copyright
© 1998 The Zoological Society of London

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