Spatial distribution of Madeira Island Laurisilva endemic spiders (Arachnida: Araneae)

By

Crespo, Luís
Boieiro, Mário
Cardoso, Pedro, 1976-
Aguiar, Carlos
Amorim, Isabel
Barrinha, Carla
Borges, Paulo
Menezes, Dília
Pereira, Fernando
Rego, Carla
Ribeiro, Sérvio
Silva, Israel
Serrano, Artur

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014-02-14

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

2

Pages

1--60

Subjects

Biodiversity hotspot , island endemics , laurel forest , Macaronesia , terrestrial arthropods

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1051
eLocator: e1051

 

Abstract

Madeira island presents a unique spider diversity with a high number of endemic species, many of which are still poorly known. A recent biodiversity survey on the terrestrial arthropods of the native forest, Laurisilva, provided a large set of standardized samples from various patches throughout the island. Out of the fifty two species recorded, approximately 33.3% are Madeiran endemics, many of which had not been collected since their original description. Two new species to science are reported – Ceratinopsis n. sp. and Theridion n. sp. – and the first records of Poeciloneta variegata (Blackwall, 1841) and Tetragnatha intermedia Kulczynski, 1891 are reported for the first time for Madeira island. Considerations on species richness and abundance from different Laurisilva locations are presented, together with distribution maps for endemic species. These results contribute to a better understanding of spider diversity patterns and endemic species distribution in the native forest of Madeira island.