Web-Construction Behavior in Australian Phonognatha and the Phylogeny of Nephiline and Tetragnathid Spiders (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)

Abstract

Details of web-construction behaviour and morphology support the monophyly of nephiline spiders with Phonognatha as the sister-group to the remaining nephiline genera examined in this study. Phylogenetic analysis of the behavioural data suggests that specialisations in nephiline building behaviour and web architecture did not evolve concurrently, and that some preceded the female giantism (not male dwarfism) for which nephiline spiders are well-known. Cladistic analysis of 60 characters supports the monophyly of both Tetragnathidae and Tetragnathinae. New data from spinneret silk gland spigots, combined with other morphological and behavioural characters, provide the first concrete evidence that 'metine' genera, occasionally regarded as either a distinct family or subfamily, are a paraphyletic assemblage.