Archivos de diario de octubre 2020

03 de octubre de 2020

Terralonus specimens needed -- now is the time to look

We (Wayne Maddison and I, with assistance from Ken Schneider) are currently involved in a taxonomic revision of the jumping spider genus Terralonus. There are six described species in the genus, and probably about twice as many (or more) undescribed ones. I'm tagging you in this journal post because you have submitted to iNaturalist one or more observations of Terralonus at an inland location in the recent past. Unfortunately, inland species of Terralonus cannot be identified from images alone (I encourage you to check out the images of inland Terralonus that have been submitted to iNat in the past). Observations along the immediate coastline (intertidal zone and immediately adjacent areas) of the Pacific Ocean from British Columbia south to Baja California can be reasonably assigned to Terralonus californicus, but there are, at least at present, no visual means of distinguishing inland species, and two or more different species can occur in the same localities. So specimens are definitely needed if we are to make any further headway in understanding species limits in the genus.
We therefore humbly request that, if you are out in areas where you have found Terralonus (or in similar habitats) that you keep an eye out for them and if possible, collect, alive, any that you find. Please let me know if you do so, and I will supply information on how you can send the spiders, alive, to me. A live spider is preferable to a dead one (and easier to mail!). However, if a spider you collect dies on you, we would still appreciate the specimen. Preserve in alcohol and hold for further instructions.

From what little we know about Terralonus life histories, many species appear to mature and breed in the fall, with females overwintering and laying egg sacs in the late winter and spring. The young that emerge from these sacs grow and molt through the spring and summer, finally reaching adulthood in the fall to repeat the cycle. So right now (October 3rd as I write this) is an excellent time to be out looking for males searching for females, females being out and about as well. Late winter and spring is a good time to be looking for females guarding egg sacs under rocks. If you find any females with eggs, I would appreciate it if you carefully collected the egg sac as well, as I may be able to breed spiders from the eggs for the purpose of accurately matching males with females, a critical step in accurately delimiting species.
Many thanks in advance for any assistance you may be able to offer; this will be gratefully acknowledged in our revision.
Stay safe, be well, and happy hunting in the field,
Tim Manolis

@jasonheadley @philippwickey @tsirtalis @cedric_lee @aaron_echols @damontighe @scobbold @jcowles @salticidude @seandaniels @rickwalks @storm_petrel @brentano @solivagaserpent @juancarlosgarciamorales1 @kschnei

Publicado el octubre 3, 2020 08:00 TARDE por salttaxa salttaxa | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

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