Trichonephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767)

Cubas-Rodriguez, Alex M. & Brescovit, Antonio D., 2024, Distribution of Trichonephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767) (Araneae: Araneidae) in Honduras, Revista Chilena de Entomología (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) 50 (2), pp. 193-199 : 194-198

Trichonephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767)

( Figs. 1-4 )

Diagnosis. The male T. clavipes can be easily recognized by a dark orange-yellow shell, with markings on each side of the head, yellow orange legs, dorsum of the abdomen with dark, shiny cardiac mark, scatters small spots of white pigment in two longitudinal bands on each side and posterior tip of abdomen dark ( Fig. 2A ). The palp has a long conductor that surrounds the embolus, tegulum with convolutions of the duct within it, and the long conductor with a twist near the tip ( Figs. 2B , 3 B-C). Females can be easily separated from other species of the genus by the colour of the abdomen, with the anterior dorsal area of the abdomen having a black transverse bar, followed by a white bar that disappears on the sides later, and by the two irregular rows of stains ( Fig. 1A ). The ventral area of the abdomen has a white bar posterior to the edge of the epigyne ( Fig. 1B ). The epigynum has a cornicular sculpture in the ventral medial portion, while the posterior part is smooth, with lateral openings ( Fig. 3A ).

Material examined. Honduras, department of Islas de la Bahia. Iguana Station, 16.103 341, -86.898954, 1 male, 1 female 30 m; January 27, 2024. A.M. Cubas-Rodriguez ( UNAH ME- Arácnidos-0017); departmen of Atlántida. Ceiba city. Colonia Brisas del Norte , 15.754 237, -86.830522, 1 male, 1 female, 28 m; September 7, 2023. A.M. Cubas-Rodriguez & L. Johnson, in the backyard of a house ( UNAH ME-Arácnidos-0015); department of Francisco Morazán. Tegucigalpa, “Ciudad Universitaria”, in the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. 14.086 303, -87.166580, 1,056 m; 1 female; 14 June de 2023, A.M. Cubas-Rodriguez, in the vegetation surrounding building J1 ( UNAH ME-Arácnidos-0016) .

Known distribution. USA to Argentina. Introduced to São Tomé and PrÍncipe ( WSC 2024).

Distribution in Honduras by departments. Atlántida, Choluteca, Cortés, Copán, Colón, Comayagua, El ParaÍso, Francisco Morazán, Intibucá, Islas de la BahÍa, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Bárbara, Valle, Yoro ( Fig. 4 ).

Remarks. Trichonephila clavipes specimens occur in Honduras in a large number of ecosystems such as dry forests, cloud forests, mixed forests, tropical humid forests, pine forests and deciduous forests. The presence of T. clavipes in synanthropic environments is very common. A large number of records extracted from iNaturalist showed that this species was easily found in gardens, and even inside houses such as corners, walls, under steps, and abandoned warehouses. As for the sexes of the spiders, the majority were females, only about 10 males were found out of the 280 records observed. This could be due to the small size of the males of this species, which means they can go unnoticed.

In Honduras, T. clavipes is widely distributed with a large number of photographic records in iNaturalist. The species has many distinguishable diagnostic characters associated with its external morphology, as explained in the diagnosis.

In recent years, the citizen science platform iNaturalist has served as a source of information in high-impact scientific works that address the distribution of species, as is the case of Luna et al. (2022), who took data from this application to estimate the distribution of Dysdera crocata C. L. Koch, 1838 , in the Mexican states. Hazzi & Hormiga (2021) did something similar when using the information available from Phoneutria depilata (Strand, 1909) to estimate its distribution in Central America. Finally, Armas & Cubas-Rodriguez (2023) also extracted information from the photographic records of Centruroides limbatus (Pocock, 1898) , in order to reaffirm its presence in the Honduran region. These are just some of the many cases found in the literature.

In summary, we provide an expanded and updated distribution for T. clavipes across Honduras, adding previously unknown data such as which ecosystems and altitudes. This collection of records shows that in Honduras the species occupies synanthropic habits, such as gardens, houses, and buildings.

Figures

Figure 2. Male of Trichonephila clavipes from La Ceiba city. A. Dorsal habitus. B. Palp, retrolateral view. Scale: 0.5 mm. / Figura 2. Macho de Trichonephila clavipes de la ciudad de La Ceiba. A. Hábito dorsal. B. Palpo, vista retrolateral. Escala: 0,5 mm.

Figure 3. Genital structure of the female and the male of Trichonephila clavipes. A. Epigyne, ventral view. B-C. Male left palp, prolateral and retrolateral views. Scale: 0.5 mm. / Figura 3. Estructura genital de la hembra y el macho de Trichonephila clavipes. A. Epiginio, vista ventral. B-C. Palpo izquierdo macho, vistas prolateral y retrolateral. Escala: 0,5 mm.

Figure. 1. Female of Trichonephila clavipes from the La Ceiba city. A-B. Dorsal and ventral habitus. Scale: 2.0 mm. / Figura 1. Hembra de Trichonephila clavipes de la ciudad de La Ceiba. A-B. Hábito dorsal y ventral. Escala: 2,0 mm.

Figure. 4. Distribution of Trichonephila clavipes in Honduras. / Figura 4. Distribución de Trichonophila clavipes en Honduras.