Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Articles
Published: 2010-02-17
Page range: 1–12
Abstract views: 90
PDF downloaded: 25

A revision of the genus Medmassa Simon, 1887 (Araneae: Corinnidae) in the Afrotropical Region

Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of the Free State, P. O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
Section of Invertebrates, Royal Museum for Central Africa, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Araneae forest savanna Mandaneta Procopius Pronophaea taxonomy

Abstract

The genus Medmassa Simon, 1887 is revised in the Afrotropical Region. The type species is M. frenata (Simon, 1887) from the Philippines, described from a subadult female. The widespread, but previously poorly known M. semiaurantiaca Simon, 1910, appears to be the only congeneric Afrotropical species. It is redescribed, illustrated for the first time, and proposed as a senior synonym of M. hiekae Berland, 1922. Medmassa laurenti Lessert, 1946 from the Congo D. R. is proposed as a junior synonym of Mandaneta sudana (Karsch, 1880). Medmassa lesserti Strand, 1916 from the Congo D. R. is transferred to Procopius Thorell, 1899 and proposed as a senior synonym of Procopius quaerens Lessert, 1946. Medmassa nitida Lawrence, 1942 from South Africa is proposed as a junior synonym of Pronophaea natalica Simon, 1897. Medmassa proxima Lessert, 1923 and M. vidua Lessert, 1923, also from South Africa, are misplaced and their transfer to Pronophaea Simon, 1897 is proposed. The female holotype of M. nyctalops Simon, 1910 from the island of Bioko is lost and this species is considered nomen dubium. M. semiaurantiaca is recorded from Botswana, Central African Republic, Congo D. R., Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinee-Bissau, Kenya and South Africa. Field observations indicate that it is a fast-running nocturnal hunter that forages on the bark of trees, with a preference for those with smooth bark. Most of the material was collected by canopy fogging or active searching at night.

References

  1. Berland, L. (1922) Araignées. In: Voyage de M. le Baron de Rothschild en Ethiopie et en Afrique orientale anglaise (1904–1905). Résultats scientifiques. Animaux articulés, 1re Partie, Paris.

    Bonaldo, A.B. (2000) Taxonomia da subfamília Corinninae (Araneae, Corinnidae) nas regiões Neotropica e Neárctica. Iheringia (Zoology), 89, 3–148.

    Bosselaers, J. & Jocqué, R. (2000) Studies in Corinnidae: transfer of four genera and description of the female of Lessertina mutica Lawrence 1942. Tropical Zoology, 13, 305–325.

    Bosselaers, J. & Jocqué, R. (2002) Studies in Corinnidae: cladistic analysis of 38 corinnid and liocranid genera, and transfer of Phrurolithinae. Zoologica Scripta, 31, 241–270.

    Deeleman-Reinhold, C.L. (1992) A new spider genus from Thailand with a unique ant-mimicking device, with description of some other castianeirine spiders (Araneae: Corinnidae: Castianeirinae). Natural History Bulletin of the Siamese Society, Bangkok, 40, 167–184.

    Deeleman-Reinhold, C.L. (1995) New or little known non-antmimicking spiders of the subfamily Castianeirinae from southeast Asia (Arachnida: Araneae: Clubionidae). Beiträge zur Araneologie, 4, 43–54.

    Deeleman-Reinhold, C.L. (2001) Forest spiders of South East Asia: with a revision of the sac and ground spiders (Araneae: Clubionidae, Corinnidae, Liocranidae, Gnaphosidae, Prodidomidae and Trochanterriidae [sic]). Brill, Leiden, 591 pp.

    Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. & Jocqué, R. (1997) African spiders: an identification manual. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 9. ARC–Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, 392 pp.

    Haddad, C.R. (2004) A revision of the African spider genus Graptartia (Araneae: Corinnidae). African Entomology, 12, 71–87.

    Haddad, C.R., Lyle, R., Bosselaers, J. & Ramírez, M.J. (2009) A revision of the endemic South African spider genus Austrachelas Lawrence, with its transfer to the Gallieniellidae (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa, 2296, 1–38.

    Karsch, F. (1880) Arachnologische Blätter (Decas I). Zeitschrift für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften, 53, 373–409.

    Lawrence, R.F. (1937) A collection of Arachnida from Zululand. Annals of the Natal Museum, 8, 211–273.

    Lawrence, R.F. (1938) A collection of spiders from Natal and Zululand. Annals of the Natal Museum, 8, 455–524.

    Lessert, R. de (1923) Araignées du sud de l'Afrique. Revue suisse de Zoologie, 30, 161–212.

    Lessert, R. de (1946) Araignées du Congo Belge. Revue suisse de Zoologie, 58, 204–225.

    Reiskind, J. (1969) The spider subfamily Castianeirinae of North and Central America (Araneae, Clubionidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, 138, 163–325.

    Platnick, N.I. (2010) The world spider catalog, version 10.0. American Museum of Natural History. Available from http://research.amnh.org/entomology/ spiders/catalog/index.html (accessed 5 January 2010).

    Simon, E. (1897a) Histoire naturelle des araignées. Paris, 2, 1–192.

    Simon, E. (1897b) Description d'arachnides nouveaux. Annales de la Societe Entomologique du Belgique, 41, 8–17.

    Simon, E. (1910) Arachnides recueillis par L. Fea sur la côte occidentale d'Afrique. 2e partie. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 44, 335–449.

    Strand, E. (1916) Zentralafrikanische Clubioniden. In: Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral Afrika Expedition 1907-1908, unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, Herzogs zu Mecklenberg. Archiv für Naturgeschichte, 81(A11), 79–98.

    Strand, E. (1932) Miscellanea nomenklatorica zoologica et palaeontologica, III, IV. Folia Zoologica et Hydrobiologica, 4, 133–147, 193–196.