Nephilidae

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Nephilidae
mating Nephila clavipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Superfamily: Araneoidea
Family: Nephilidae
Simon, 1894
Genera

see text

Diversity
4 genera, 73 species

The Nephilidae are a spider family with 75 described species in four genera. They were formerly grouped in the families Araneidae and Tetragnathidae. The genus Singafrotypa was moved to Araneidae in 2002.

All nephilid genera partially renew their webs.[1]

Distribution

Species of this family occur worldwide in the tropics.

Reproductive behavior

The genera Herennia and Nephilengys have both undergone extreme sexually driven selection. The pedipalps of these genera have become highly derived by evolving enlarged, complex palps which break off inside of the females' copulatory openings after copulation. The broken palps serve as mating plugs, which makes future matings with a mated female more difficult.[2] These genera of spiders also participate in mate guarding; a mated male will stand guard by his female and chase off other males, thereby increasing the mated male's paternity share. Mated males are castrated in the process of mate plugging, though this may be an advantage in mate guarding, as mated males have been observed to fight more aggressively and win more frequently than virgin males.[3] So while the female spiders are still polyandrous, the males have become monogamous.

Genera

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kuntner, Matjaž (2005). "A revision of Herennia (Araneae : Nephilidae : Nephilinae), the Australasian 'coin spiders'". Invertebrate Systematics (CSIRO Publishing) 19 (5): 391–436. doi:10.1071/IS05024. 
  2. ↑ Kuntner, Matjaž; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Schneider, Jutta M. (2009). "Intersexual arms race? Genital coevolution in nephilid spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae)". Evolution (Wiley) 63 (6): 1451–1463. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00634.x. PMID 19492993. 
  3. ↑ Fromhage, Lutz; Schneider, Jutta M. (2005). "Virgin doves and mated hawks: contest behaviour in a spider". Animal Behaviour (Elsevier) 70 (5): 1099–1104. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.02.020. 

Further reading

  • Kuntner, M. 2006. Phylogenetic systematics of the Gondwanan nephilid spider lineage Clitaetrinae (Araneae, Nephilidae). Zoologica Scripta 35(1):19-62. PDF
  • Kuntner, M. & G. Hormiga. 2002. The African spider genus Singafrotypa (Araneae, Araneidae). Journal of Arachnology 30:129-139. PDF
  • Kuntner, M. 2002. The placement of Perilla (Araneae, Araneidae) with comments on araneid phylogeny. Journal of Arachnology 30:281-287. PDF
  • Agnarsson I. 2003a. Spider webs as habitat patches - The distribution of kleptoparasites (Argyrodes, Theridiidae) among host webs (Nephila, Tetragnathidae). Journal of Arachnology 31(3):344-349. PDF
  • Nephila of Southern Africa

External links

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