Arachnida

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Info

From a curatorial perspective, this section represents not only the arachnids but also the 'basal' hexapods (primarily wingless insects, mayflies, odonates), as well as pantopods and crustaceans. The collections hold about 70,000 specimens. Our research focuses on spider taxonomy, phylogeny, and biology as well as on function and evolution of arthropod genitalia.

Staff

Scientist, permanent position

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Head of Arachnida Section and Curator, SEM supervision, Ombudsman for Good Scientific Practice

Tel: +49 228 9122-294

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: b.huber [at] zfmk.de

Technical or laboratory assistant

Dipl.-Biol. Hans-Joachim Krammer

Technical Assistant

Tel: +49 228 9122-298

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: h.krammer [at] zfmk.de

Scientist, third-party funded

Dr. Suresh Benjamin

Humboldt Fellow

Tel: +49 228 9122-345

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: suresh.benjamin [at] gmail.com

Scientist, visiting

Dr. Dirk Gassmann

Guest Researcher

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: d.gassmann [at] zfmk.de

Ph.D. student

Rachel Werneck

Tel: +49 228 9122-360

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: rmwerneck [at] gmail.com

Projects

2019

Evolution of Ninetinae

This project focuses on the spider subfamily Ninetinae, tiny cryptic ground-dwellers that are largely restricted to arid habitats. They seem to be ‘basal’ within Pholcidae and thus crucial for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the family.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

2018

Establishing a standardized and universally applicable set of nuclear-encoded markers for genome-wide multi-locus species delimitation of metazoans

Methods for delimiting species based on multi-gene nucleotide information are well established and provide the means to complement the classical COI barcoding approach, whose limitations are well known. Our research project aims at establishing a standardized set of single-copy nuclear-encoded markers for genome-wide multi-locus species delimitation by exploiting comparative genomic data and applying target DNA enrichment. Candidate markers are so-called Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (USCOs).

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The pholcid spider collection of González-Sponga

Between 1998 and 2011, the Venezuelan arachnologist Manuel Ángel González-Sponga created a total of 22 new genera for Venezuelan pholcids. Previous efforts to evaluate González-Sponga’s genera were hampered by the inaccessibility of his private collection. As a result, work on Venezuelan pholcid spiders has been almost impossible. After González-Sponga’s death in 2009, his collection was transferred to the Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola in Maracay. The aim of the present project is to initiate collaboration on Venezuelan pholcid spiders and to draft a joint collaborative project on Venezuelan pholcid spider taxonomy and systematics.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Collecting expedition to Ghana

In August 2018, a team of exhibition planners, scientists and taxidermists of the Museum Koenig undertook a collection expedition to the Ankasa River Rainforest Reserve in the southwest of Ghana to collect original plant material for the authentic reproduction of the rainforest canopy habitat in the new Rainforest exhibition.

Project lead:

Corinna Seibt

Funding:

Landschaftsverband Rheinland

2016

Egg parasitism in pholcid spiders

Pholcid spider females carry their egg-sacs with their mouthparts until the spiderlings hatch and it is probably for this reason that the eggs are not densely covered by a protective layer of silk as in most other spider families. It seems that few egg parasites have managed to access these protected eggs of Pholcidae. During recent trips in SE Asia several new cases of egg-parasitism in Pholcidae were discovered that will be described in this project.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development

2015

Taxonomic-phylogenetic revision of Idiocnemis and related genera

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Gassmann

2014

Southeast Asian pholcid spiders

This project focuses on three major questions : (1) how do Southeast Asian taxa fit into the phylogeny of Pholcidae? (2) Are patterns of diversity and distribution comparable to those in New World and African regions? (3) Is there evidence for a causal relationship between evolutionary shifts among microhabitats and species diversity (adaptive speciation)?

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Biodiversity of New Guinea dragonflies

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Gassmann

Revision of Holocneminus

The Southeast Asian and Pacific genus Holocneminus Berland is here revised for the first time, including analyses of phylogenetic relationships within the genus and with putative close relatives.

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Asymmetry in Panjange

While asymmetric genitalia are very common in insects, they are extremely rare in spiders. This project studies a species group of Panjange spiders from the southern Philippines that has only recently been discovered and in which all species have asymmetric genitalia.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Global pholcid spider diversity

Ratios of known to unknown pholcid spider species collected around the world suggest that only about 20% of the species have been described. Current efforts concentrate on Southeast Asia and Brazil.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development

2013

Harvestmen genitalia

Harvestmen genitalia are often complex structures that vary among species but little is known about their functioning. We investigate mating behavior, genital morphology as well as interactions of male and female genitalia using histology and X-Ray microtomography of cryo-fixed pairs.

Project lead:

Rachel Werneck

Funding:

German Academic Exchange Service

Hotspot Atlantic Forest

Recent collecting trips in the Brazilian Amazon Forest have revealed an extraordinarily rich pholcid fauna. This project aims at documenting this diversity, at exploring its relationships with the faunas of other South American regions, and at comparing diversity and distribution patterns with those in the Brazilian Amazon.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig

2012

Revision of crab spiders

This project aims at a stable phylogenetic hypothesis for the family Thomisidae by analysis of morphological and DNA sequence data for most taxa of the family. I will use this phylogenetic hypothesis to propose a revised taxonomy for the family, to study the evolution of the diverse behaviors of the family and to test biogeographic hypotheses.

Project lead:

Dr. Suresh Benjamin

Funding:

Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation

A Caribbean radiation

The genus Modisimus has experienced a strong radiation in the Caribbean, but most species remain undescribed. This project is part of a large NSF-Project (PIs: Ingi Agnarsson and Greta Binford) on Caribbean Biogeography.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

National Science Foundation

2011

GBOL- German Barcode of Life

"German Barcode of Life" ( GBOL ) is a project sponsored by the BMBF and includes the creation of inventories for the gentic characterization of the animals, fungi and plants of germany, using DNA-Barcodes.

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. J. Wolfgang Wägele

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

2010

Revision of Smeringopina

With leg spans of up to 18 cm, some Smeringopina species are the largest known pholcids. Nevertheless, the genus is very poorly known and recent expeditions to Guinea, Cameroon, and Gabon have provided more than 30 new species.

Project lead:

Dr. Bernhard A. Huber

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Publications

Published in

2019

Benjamin S.P., & Ranasinghe, U.G.S.L. 2019. Redescription of Tagulis granulosus (Araneae: Thomisidae) from Sierra Leone. Arachnology 18: 22-23.

[read more]

Gassmann, D. & S. J. Richards, 2019. Two new damselflies of the genus Idiocnemis Selys from Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea (Odonata: Platycnemididae). Zootaxa 4560 (1): 121–140.

[read more]

Benjamin S.P., Ranasinghe U.G.S.L. 2019. Redescription of Boliscus decipiens with a new synonym in Boliscus tuberculatus (Araneae: Thomisidae). Arachnology 18: 129-132.

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Ileperuma Arachchi I., Benjamin S.P. 2019. Twigs that are not twigs: phylogenetic placement of crab spiders of the genus Tmarus of Sri Lanka with comments on the higher-level phylogeny of Thomisidae. Invertebrate Systematics 33: 575-595.

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Ileperuma Arachchi I., Benjamin S.P. 2019. The crab spider genus Tarrocanus Simon, 1895 with notes on the genera Alcimochthes Simon, 1895 and Domatha Simon, 1895 (Araneae: Thomisidae). Zootaxa 4613: 597-593.

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Huber BA. 2019. The pholcid spiders of Sri Lanka (Araneae: Pholcidae). Zootaxa 4550: 1-57. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4550.1.1

[read more]

Huber BA. In press. Revision of the spider genus Hoplopholcus Kulczyński (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa

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Huber BA, Carvalho LS. 2019. Filling the gaps: descriptions of unnamed species included in the latest moelcular phylogeny of Pholcidae (Araneae). Zootaxa 4546: 1-96. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4546.1.1

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Huber BA, Caspar K, Eberle J. 2019. New species reveal unexpected interspecific microhabitat diversity in the genus Uthina Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Pholcidae). Invertebrate Systematics 33: 181-207. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS18002

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Huber BA, Chao A. 2019. Inferring global species richness from megatransect data and undetected species estimates. Contributions to Zoology 88: 42-53.

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2018

Eberhard WG, Rodríguez RL, Huber BA, Speck B, Miller H, Buzatto BA, Machado G. 2018. Sexual selection and static allometry: the importance of function. The Quarterly Review of Biology 93: 207-250. https://doi.org/10.1086/699410

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Eberle J, Dimitrov D, Valdez-Mondragón A, Huber BA. Microhabitat change drives diversification in pholcid spiders. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18: 141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1244-8

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Huber BA. 2018. Cave-dwelling pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae): a review. Subterranean Biology 26: 1-18. http://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.26.26430

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Huber BA. 2018. The South American spider genera Mesabolivar and Carapoia (Araneae, Pholcidae): new species and a framework for redrawing generic limits. Zootaxa 4395: 1-178. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4395.1.1

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Huber BA, Eberle J, Dimitrov D. 2018. The phylogeny of pholcid spiders: a critical evaluation of relationships suggested by molecular data (Araneae, Pholcidae). ZooKeys 789: 51-101.

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Johnson NF, Chen H, Huber BA. 2018. New species of Idris Förster (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea) from southeast Asia, parasitoids of the eggs of pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae). ZooKeys 811: 65-80. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.29725

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2017

Benjamin S.P. 2017. Distributional and taxonomic notes on the crab spider genus Epidius with descriptions of five new species (Araneae: Thomisidae). Journal of Natural History 51: 469-485.

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Benjamin S.P. 2017. A new species of Angaeus from Malaysia with possible affinity to related genera within Stephanopinae (Araneae: Thomisidae). Zootaxa 4337(2):297–300.

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Aharon S, Huber BA, Gavish-Regev E. 2017. Daddy-long-leg giants: revision of the spider genus Artema Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae, Pholcidae). European J Taxonomy 376: 1-57. http://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.376

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Huber BA, Arias CQ. 2017. Revision of the Venezuelan spider genus Stenosfemuraia González-Sponga, with new generic and specific synonymies (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa 4341: 495-508. http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4341.4.3

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Pages

Collection

The collections in this section hold about 70,000 specimens, including the worlds most diverse collection of Pholcidae spiders (Huber), extensive spider material from fogging campaigns in East Africa (Wagner, Freund) and from pitfall trapping in West and Central Africa (previously Trier collection), a large and partly historically important Odonata collection, as well as smaller collections of parasitic mites and other Arachnida, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Crustacea.

Currently the collections are being digitized and prepared for the transfer to Biodiversity Workbench. Preliminary data are available as Excel files:

Araneae version 2018-09-06

The following type catalogs are available as PDF files:

Araneae, Acari, Scorpiones, Crustacea, Pantopoda update March 2018

Odonata