A list of spider species found in the Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape province, South Africa

At current densities, elephants are having a severe impact on plant community structure and species richness in the Addo Elephant National Park (AENP), Eastern Cape, South Africa. Those species that are particularly vulnerable to elephants comprise the bulk of the regionally endemic, Red Data Book and rare species (special species) associated with succulent thicket, a vegetation type endemic to the Eastern Cape. The AENP is the only national park in South Africa that contains succulent thicket. ...

Correction to Kirsch S, Pasantes J, Wolf A, Bogdanova N, Münch C, Pennekamp P, Krawczak M, Dworniczak B, Schempp W: Chromosomal evolution of the PKD1 gene family in primates . BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008, 8 :263 (doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-263)

The southern African pholcid spiders previously assigned to Pholcus and Spermophora are revised and their phylogenetic position within Pholcidae is analysed cladistically. Two distinct groups are recognized: the first is restricted to the Cape region and probably correctly placed in Spermophora; it includes Spermophora peninsulae Lawrence and four new species. The second is more widely distributed in southern and eastern South Africa, and reaches as far north as Cameroon, Congo (Democratic Repub...

Biodiversity is one of the most important concepts in contemporary biology, with a broad range of applications. In November 1995, South Africa ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Signatories are obligated to develop a strategic plan for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. To meet the requirements of the CBD, the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated in 1997. This national project has several aims: to document and describe the arachn...

Invertebrates include more than 80% of all animals, yet they are severely under-represented in studies of southern African diversity. Site biodiversity estimates that ignore invertebrates, not only omit the greatest part of what they are attempting to measure, but also neglect major contributors to essential ecosystem processes. All available information on spider species distribution in the South African Savanna Biome was compiled. This is the largest biome in the country, occupying over one th...

Cooperation and group living are extremely rare in spiders and only few species are known to be permanently social. Inbreeding is a key characteristic of social spiders, resulting in high degrees of within-colony relatedness that may foster kin-selected benefits of cooperation. Accordingly, philopatry and regular inbreeding are suggested to play a major role in the repeated independent origins of sociality in spiders. We conducted field observations and laboratory experiments to investigate the ...

Examination of museum collections and of recently collected materials lead to the discovery of the following 19 jumping spider species that are described here: Asemonea amatola sp. n. (♀), A. clara sp. n. (♀), Belippo meridionalis sp. n. (♂♀), Colaxes benjamini sp. n. (♂♀), Dendryphantes limpopo sp. n. (♀), D. silvestris sp. n. (♂♀ Evarcha denticulata sp. n. (♂), Heliophanus gramineus sp. n. (♀), H. ndumoensis sp. n. (♂), Langelurillus krugeri sp. n. (♀), Massagris contortuplicata sp. n. (♀), Ps...

Habitat selection has profound consequences for survival and reproductive success. We investigated web relocation behaviour in relation to plant structure and body condition as well as the plasticity of foraging behaviour of the spider Stegodyphus tentoriicola. Spiders inhabiting thorny vegetation were larger, built larger webs than spiders in thornless plants and relocated their webs less frequently. Web relocation affected reproductive success through a delay of oviposition. Spiders supplement...

This study forms part of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), initiated in 1997 with the main aim to create an inventory of the arachnid fauna of South Africa (Dippenaar-Schoeman & Craemer 2000). One of the objectives of SANSA is to assess the number of arachnid species presently protected in conserved areas in the country. Check lists of spiders are now available for three national parks, three nature reserves and a conservancy. These areas include: Mountain Zebra Nationa...

The genus Moggridgea (Araneae: Migidae) is revised. 31 valid species are recognised. The following new synonymies are proposed: M. coegensis Purcell, 1903, M. nigra Purcell, 1903 and M. latus Tucker, 1917 with peringueyi Simon, 1903; M. chirindaensis Benoit, 1962 with pymi Hewitt, 1914; Caedmon congener O. P. Cambridge, 1903, C. dubia O. P. Cambridge, 1903, and C. thoracica O. P. Cambridge, 1903 with quercina Simon, 1903; and Caedmon affinis O. P. Cambridge, 1903 with terricola Simon, 1903. Mogg...