Open AccessPhenotypic Variation in Sexual and Somatic Morphology in the Trapdoor Spider Misgolas hubbardi Wishart in Relation to its Genotypic Variation (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae)
Author(s) -
WISHART GRAHAM,
ROWELL DAVID M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
australian journal of entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1440-6055
pISSN - 1326-6756
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1997.tb01456.x
Subject(s) - biology , wishart distribution , zoology , variation (astronomy) , spider , sexual dimorphism , genotype , evolutionary biology , morphometrics , ecology , genetics , gene , statistics , physics , mathematics , multivariate statistics , astrophysics
Spiders from 13 widely separated populations of Misgolas hubbardi Wishart are shown to exhibit distinct phenotypic and genotypic differences in the first such study on ground dwelling spiders in Australia. Electrophoretic analysis also supports the conclusion that the syntopic and morphologically constituted M. hubbardi Wishart, M. dereki Wishart and M. robertsi (Main and Mascord) are valid species. While M. hubbardi can be reliably determined from male palpal characters, the shape of the embolic apophysis and the ventum pigmentation pattern are variable and valid diagnostic characters only for particular populations and where the locality is known. the morphological differences in M. hubbardi populations are summarised and its distribution compared to the geology of the region.