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Occurrence of the Funnelweb Spider genus, Agelenopsis, in Kansas.
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... Funnelweb Spider genus, Agelenopsis, is currently represented by eight species in Kansas (Fig. 4). Recent field work has established the presence of A. aperta and A. kastoni in the state, as well as increasing our understanding of the distribution, habitat selection, and fecundity of members of the genus. The first published images of the epigynum of A. aleenae were ...
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Citations
... This spider shares the same genus with Agelenopsis aperta whose venom has been extensively characterized [13][14][15] . Members of this family build webs with funnels in various ground habitats 16 . Many Agelenids have light brown bodies with paired darker longitudinal stripes on the cephalothorax (and sometimes on the abdomen as well). ...
The venom of spider is made up of toxins with varying biological activities whose selectivity and affinity for various receptors and ion channels are yet to be sufficiently explored and exploited. Recently, transcriptomics have been employed as a tool to reveal the molecular diversity and structure of animal venoms across species. Thus, this study was carried out to determine the transcripts coding for toxins in the venom gland of Agelenopsis naevia, collected in open gardens of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. Venom glands were isolated using microdissection followed by mRNA extraction. A cDNA library was constructed and pair-end sequencing was carried out. A total of 11,167,123 reads were generated which were assembled into 33,182 sequences. Fourty eight (48) transcript coded for proteins/peptides amongst which are sphingomyelinase-D, hyaluronidase, astacin-like metalloproteases, techylectin and cystine knot toxins. The results provide insight towards the discovery of novel potential bioinsecticides and/or drug leads from Agelenopsis naevia venom for agro-allied/pharmaceutical applications.
... Taxonomic contributions to this genus have since been made by a number of researchers (Seyler 1941;Chamberlin & Ivie 1944;Muma 1945;Gering 1953;Roth 1954Roth , 1956Roth & Braeme 1972;Roth & Brown 1986;Paison 1997;Ayoub et al. 2005;Stocks 2009;Galasso 2012). There have been a number of ecological and behavioral studies on Agelenopsis, predominantly on A. aperta (Riechert et al. 1973;Riechert 1974Riechert , 1976Riechert , 1978Riechert , 1981Riechert , 1982Riechert , 1985Riechert , 1986Riechert & Tracy 1975;Gertsch & Riechert 1976;Riechert & Lockley 1984;Hammerstein & Riechert 1988;Riechert & Smith 1989;Riechert & Hedrick 1993;Singer & Riechert 1994;Riechert & Singer 1995;Galasso 2012;Guarisco 2014). Based on molecular phylogenetic work on the genus, Agelenopsis shares a sister relationship with Barronopsis (Ayoub et al. 2005;Stocks 2009). ...
... Habitat.-All thirteen species of Agelenopsis prove to be opportunistic both in habitat choice and web design. While these spiders tend to build their webs in both short and tall grass prairie in rural areas, they will construct webs in whatever setting, be it natural or manmade, that affords them the most protection, although Guarisco (2014) suggests that sympatric species are segregated by habitat. In our observations on collection trips in northeastern New Mexico and southeastern Colorado where we collected primarily A. aleenae, web design did not vary much by location or habitat and was only limited in size by the amount of space available to build a web. ...
... In an agelenid study in the Malpais Lava Beds in central New Mexico, A. aleenae and A. spatula were not collected together, but in one instance A. aperta was found with A. spatula (Ayoub et al. 2005). In none of our collecting trips did we ever find A. aleenae and A. spatula together although there is great overlap in their respective ranges, suggesting that these two morphologically similar species (as well as other species of the genus) may be segregated by habitat, as suggested by Guarisco (2014). Based on their collection records, Ayoub & Riechert (2004) estimate that the range of A. aperta is limited to below 2000 meters and that the species is more susceptible to cold than some other agelenid species. ...
The Nearctic agelenid spider genus Agelenopsis Giebel 1896 is revised, with redescriptions of the 13 known species including: A. actuosa (Gertsch & Ivie 1936), A. aleenae Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, A. aperta (Gertsch 1934), A. emertoni Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, A. kastoni Chamberlin & Ivie 1941, A. longistyla (Banks 1901), A. naevia (Walckenaer 1841), A. oklahoma (Gertsch 1936), A. oregonensis Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, A. pennsylvanica (C.L. Koch 1843), A. potteri (Blackwall 1846), A. spatula Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, and A. utahana (Chamberlin & Ivie 1933). We also include an identification key to the species and a species distribution map. Our cladistic analysis of Agelenopsis is based upon 31 genitalic and somatic characters using Hololena hola (Chamberlin 1928) as the outgroup taxon and including three species of Barronopsis Chamberlin & Ivie 1941 in the analysis since Barronopsis has been considered a sister taxon to Agelenopsis in previous work. The cladistic analysis found 22 most parsimonious trees unambiguously supporting Agelenopsis monophyly. The majority rule consensus provides support for a clade including (((A. pennsylvanica + A. potteri) + A. actuosa) + A. emertoni); another clade including ((((A. aleenae + A. spatula) + A. aperta) + A. kastoni) + A. naevia); and a third clade including ((A. oregonensis + A. utahana) + A. longystyla). Our analysis supports species groups proposed by researchers using molecular characters.
Animals distribute themselves within habitats based on a variety of environmental conditions, including those impacted by urbanization. Suspected global declines in urban arthropod biodiversity have required that we examine how urban conditions affect the distribution of this ecologically important group. Throughout North America, funnel-weaving spiders (Agelenidae) are prevalent across urban habitats and actively choose sites to build webs. We compared Agelenopsis pennsylvanica abundance and distribution between two distinct urban habitats: an urban center (university campus) and an urban forest (city park). These urban habitats differed significantly in features like plant diversity and proximity to roads and highways. We searched along paths from randomly selected start sites in each habitat until we found the first occupied (focal) web. Within a ten-meter radius of the focal web, we found that both (i) webs and (ii) spiders were more abundant in the urban center than in the urban forest. We also found (iii) shorter distances between webs and (iv) lower web heights in the urban center. Generally, spiders were more abundant and aggregated at sites that had lower plant diversity. Abundance decreased with increased road-traffic impact. Thus, A. pennsylvanica exhibits different spatial patterns across distinct urban habitats, which relates, in part, to differences in environmental conditions. The suggested importance of road and highway impacts on A. pennsylvanica distribution may signify that vibratory noise plays an essential role in this system. Since vibratory information use is ubiquitous across arthropods, future research should further address how vibratory noise may impact urban arthropod spatial patterns.
This catalogue lists 1,084 species of spiders (three identified to genus only) in 311 genera from 53 families currently recorded from Texas and is based on the “Bibliography of Texas Spiders” published by Bea Vogel in 1970. The online list of species can be found at http://pecanspiders.tamu.edu/spidersoftexas.htm. Many taxonomic revisions have since been published, particularly in the families Araneidae, Gnaphosidae and Leptonetidae. Many genera in other families have been revised. The Anyphaenidae, Ctenidae, Hahniidae, Nesticidae, Sicariidae and Tetragnathidae were also revised. Several families have been added and others split up. Several genera of Corinnidae were transferred to Phrurolithidae and Trachelidae. Two genera from Miturgidae were transferred to Eutichuridae. Zoridae was synonymized under Miturgidae. A single species formerly in Amaurobiidae is now in the Family Amphinectidae. Some trapdoor spiders in the family Ctenizidae have been transferred to Euctenizidae.
Gertsch and Mulaik started a list of Texas spiders in 1940. In a letter from Willis J. Gertsch dated October 20, 1982, he stated “Years ago a first listing of the Texas fauna was published by me based largely on Stanley Mulaik material, but it had to be abandoned because of other tasks.” This paper is a compendium of the spiders of Texas with distribution, habitat, collecting method and other data available from revisions and collections. This includes many records and unpublished data (including data from three unpublished studies). One of these studies included 16,000 adult spiders belonging to 177 species in 29 families. All specimens in that study were measured and results are in the appendix. Hidalgo County has 340 species recorded with Brazos County at 323 and Travis County at 314 species. These reflect the amount of collecting in the area.
