The same but different : equally megadiverse but taxonomically variant spider communities along an elevational gradient

Spatial variation in biodiversity is one of the key pieces of information for the delimitation and prioritisation of protected areas. This information is especially important when the protected area includes different climatic and habitat conditions and communities, such as those along elevational gradients. Here we test whether the megadiverse communities of spiders along an elevational gradient change according to two diversity models - a monotonic decrease or a hump-shaped pattern in species richness. We also measure compositional variation along and within elevations, and test the role of the preference of microhabitat (vegetation strata) and the functional (guild) structure of species in the changes. We sampled multiple spider communities using standardised and optimised sampling in three forest types, each at a different elevation along a climatic gradient. The elevational transects were at increasing horizontal distances (between 0.1 and 175 km) in the Udzungwa Mountains, Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania. The number of species was similar between plots and forest types, and therefore the pattern did not match either diversity model. However, species composition changed significantly with a gradual change along elevations. Although the number of species per microhabitat and guild also remained similar across elevations, the number of individuals varied, e.g. at higher elevations low canopy vegetation was inhabited by more spiders, and the spiders belonging to guilds that typically use this microhabitat were more abundant. Our findings reflex the complex effects of habitat-microhabitat interactions on spider communities at the individual, species and guild levels. If we aim to understand and conserve some of the most diverse communities in the world, researchers and managers may need to place more attention to small scale and microhabitat characteristics upon which communities depend.Peer reviewe

A survey of Dysderella Dunin, 1992 (Araneae, Dysderidae), with a new species from Iran

The dysderid spider genus Dysderella Dunin, 1992 is surveyed. The genus currently comprises two species: D. caspica (Dunin, 1990) from Azerbaijan and North Caucasus and D. transcaspica (Dunin & Fet, 1985) from Turkmenistan and north-eastern Iran. Herein, D. elburzica sp. nov. is described based on male specimens collected in Tehran Province, northern Iran. All three species are illustrated and their distributions are mapped

A survey of the spider genus Dysdera Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Dysderidae) in Iran, with fourteen new species and notes on two fossil genera

The taxonomy of the Iranian species of the dysderid spider genus Dysdera Latreille, 1804 is revised. Currently, the only species of this genus known from Iran is D. pococki Dunin, 1985, albeit on the basis of a doubtful record. The following 14 species are described as new to science in this paper: D. achaemenes sp. nov. (♀; Fars), D. bakhtiari sp. nov. (♂; Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari), D. damavandica sp. nov. (♂; Mazandaran), D. genoensis sp. nov. (♂♀; Hormozgan), D. hormuzensis sp. nov. (♀; Hormozgan), D. iranica sp. nov. (♂♀; Fars, Hormozgan), D. isfahanica sp. nov. (♂♀; Isfahan), D. mazeruni sp. nov. (♀; Mazandaran), D. medes sp. nov. (♂; Tehran), D. persica sp. nov. (♂♀; Golestan, Mazandaran), D. sagartia sp. nov. (♂♀; Tehran), D. tapuria sp. nov. (♂♀; Mazandaran), D. verkana sp. nov. (♂; Golestan), and D. xerxesi sp. nov. (♂; Bushehr). Distribution records of all species are mapped. Also, the taxonomy of Mistura Petrunkevitch, 1971 and Segistriites Straus, 1967, two fossil genera currently considered in Dysderidae, is discussed and the latter is transferred to Segestriidae

Phylogenetic placement of the unusual jumping spider Depreissia Lessert, and a new synapomorphy uniting Hisponinae and Salticinae (Araneae, Salticidae)

The relationships of the unusual salticid spider Depreissia from central Africa and Borneo have been difficult to resolve, obscured by its highly modified ant-like body. Phylogenetic analysis of the gene 28S strongly supports its placement outside the major clade Salticinae and within the clade of cocalodines, spartaeines and lapsiines, with weaker support for a relationship with the cocalodines in particular. Excluding the genus from the Salticinae is supported also by the presence of a median apophysis on the male palp, and by the lack of a cymbial apical groove cradling the tip of embolus, which is newly presented here as a synapomorphy of Hisponinae plus Salticinae

Data from: The velvet spiders: an atlas of the Eresidae (Arachnida, Araneae)

The family Eresidae C. L. Koch, 1850 is reviewed at the genus level. The family comprises nine genera including one new genus. They are: Adonea Simon, 1873, Dorceus C. L. Koch, 1846, Dresserus Simon, 1876, Eresus Walckenaer, 1805, Gandanameno Lehtinen, 1967, Loureedia gen. n., Paradonea Lawrence, 1968, Seothyra Purcell, 1903, and Stegodyphus Simon, 1873. A key to all genera and major lineages is provided along with corresponding diagnoses, as well as descriptions of selected species. These are documented with collections of photographs, scanning electron micrographs, and illustrations. A new phylogeny of Eresidae based on molecular sequence data expands on a previously published analysis. A species of the genus Paradonea Lawrence, 1968 is sequenced and placed phylogenetically for the first time. New sequences from twenty Gandanameno Lehtinen, 1967 specimens were added to investigate species limits within the genus. The genus Loureedia gen. n. is proposed to accommodate Eresus annulipes Lucas, 1857. Two species, Eresus semicanus Simon, 1908 and Eresus jerbae El-Hennawy, 2005, are synonymized with Loureedia annulipes comb. n. One new species, Paradonea presleyi sp. n. is described. Eresus algericus El-Hennawy, 2004 is transferred to Adonea Simon, 1873. The female of Dorceus fastuosus C. L. Koch, 1846 is described for the first time. The first figures depicting Paradonea splendens (Lawrence, 1936) are presented

Milleretal_Eresidae

KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file for viewing specimen occurence records interactively in Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/)

Milleretal_EresidaeSupplementaryDocs

Electronic supplementary documents. Figure S1.: Bayesian phylogenetic tree. Figure S2: Photographs of copulatory organs from Gandanameno specimens used in molecular phylogenetic analysis. Figure S3: Photographs of copulatory organs from Gandanameno specimens used in molecular phylogenetic analysis

Milleretal_ZookeysMatrix

Phylogenetic data matrix based on aligned molecular sequence data including commands for running analysis in Mr Bayes