Neonella minuta Galiano, 1965

Rubio, Gonzalo D., Arganaraz, Carina I. & Gleiser, Raquel M., 2015, A new species of jumping spider Neonella Gertsch, with notes on the genus and male identification key (Araneae, Salticidae), ZooKeys 532, pp. 1-14 : 8-9

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Salticidae

Neonella minuta Galiano, 1965 Figs 1A; 4H

Neonella minuta Galiano, 1965: 25, figs 1-8; Galiano 1988: 439, figs 17, 19; Ott et al. 2015: 585, figs 5‒8, 17‒19; Prószyński 2015; WSC 2015.

New records.

ARGENTINA: Córdoba: Juarez Celman (31°15'13.69"S, 64°9'58.55"W; 500 m asl), 23.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN); same loc., 15.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN); near Ciudad de Córdoba (31°26'35.25"S, 64°3'48.09"W; 391 m asl), 29.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 2 ♀ (IBSI-Ara 00288); Ciudad de Córdoba, site 3 (31°20'18.24"S, 64°9'30.97"W; 438 m asl), 15.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN, tiss.s. CIA 009), 1 ♂ (CREAN), 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (CREAN); near Comunidad Los Cedros (31°32'25.54"S, 64°18'14.69"W; 540 m asl), 26.II.2014, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN).

Comments.

In a recent contribution, Ott et al. (2015) extend the distribution of Neonella minuta toward Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), which was originally only known endemic to Buenos Aires (Argentina) by Galiano (1965). Our present work enhances the geographical distribution of this species, representing the westernmost record so far ( Córdoba province, Central Argentina).

Ecology of the collected species.

The three species of Neonella were collected during the spring and the summer but were not detected in the winter samples. They were found in the lower strata of vegetation (0 to 35 cm), consisting mainly of grasses and forbs. Neonella acostae was collected both within the urban environment (Fig. 1A, B) and in more natural sites on the periphery of the city (Fig. 1A, C), while Neonella montana and Neonella minuta were mostly collected from more natural sites with dense vegetation on the city periphery (Fig. 1A, C). Based on Cole’s index ( 1949), Neonella acostae was negatively associated with Neonella minuta (-0.44 ± 0.42; mean association ± standard error) and Neonella montana (-0.13 ± 0.11), suggesting moderately dissimilar habitat disturbance tolerances because Neonella acostae was collected at a wider range of sites in terms of plant cover, or alternatively a moderate degree of interspecific competition because they occasionally occurred at the same site. Cumming and Wesolowska (2004) explained high Salticidae richness in small suburban areas as a result of strong host-plant associations. More detailed studies of microhabitat use should be carried out to confirm these explanations. Neonella minuta and Neonella montana were not significantly associated (0.1 ± 0.11), suggesting independent occurrences of the species.