Hickmania
{{Short description|Genus of spiders}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Tasmanian cave spider
| taxon = Hickmania troglodytes
| image = Hickmania troglodytes by Rainbow.png
| image_caption =
| parent_authority = Gertsch, 1958
| authority = (Higgins & Petterd, 1883)
| synonyms = {{species list
| Theridion troglodytes | Higgins & Petterd, 1883
| Ectatostica troglodytes | (Higgins & Petterd, 1883)
| Ectatosticta australis | Simon, 1902 }}
| range_map = Distribution.hickmania.troglodytes.1.png
}}
Hickmania is a monotypic genus of Australian cribellate araneomorph spiders in the family Gradungulidae, containing only the Tasmanian cave spider (Hickmania troglodytes).{{cite web| title=Gen. Hickmania Gertsch, 1958| work=World Spider Catalog Version 20.0| accessdate=2019-05-16| year=2019| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern| url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/435| doi=10.24436/2}} The genus was first described by Willis J. Gertsch in 1958,{{cite journal| last=Gertsch| first=W. J.| year=1958| title=The spider family Hypochilidae | journal=American Museum Novitates| pages=1–28| volume=1912 }} and has been found only in Tasmania. It had been thought to be an ancient Gondwanan lineage, long since separated from its closest relatives in South America in the family Austrochilidae,{{cite web| first=Dr. Mike| last=Gray| title=Tasmanian Cave Spider| publisher=Australian Museum| accessdate=2019-05-16| date=2019-03-18| url=https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/spiders/tasmanian-cave-spider}} but more recent data show it belongs to the Australia–New Zealand family Gradungulidae.{{cite journal| last1= Kulkarni |first1=S. |last2=Hormiga |first2=G.| year=2021| title=Hooroo mates! Phylogenomic data suggest that the closest relatives of the iconic Tasmanian cave spider Hickmania troglodytes are in Australia and New Zealand, not in South America| journal=Invertebrate Systematics| volume=35| pages=850–856| doi=10.1071/IS21030}} It is an icon species for faunal conservation in Tasmania, and is named in honor of V. V. Hickman, a professor at the University of Tasmania, who specialized in spiders. The species name is derived from the Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|τρωγλοδύτης}} (troglodytes), meaning "cave-dweller".
Description
Tasmanian cave spiders have red to brown carapaces and duller, darker brown opisthosomae. They can grow up to {{convert|1.3|to|2|cm}} long, and can have a legspan of up to {{convert|18|cm}}. These primitive spiders use book lungs to breathe, seen as four light patches beneath the abdomen.
Males are smaller than females, and have a distinct kink-like curve near the end of each second leg used to hold the female's head while mating.{{cite journal| last1=Doran| first1=N.E.| last2=Richardson| first2=A.M.M.| last3=Swain| first3=R.| year=2001| title=The reproductive behaviour of Hickmania troglodytes, the Tasmanian cave spider (Araneae, Austrochilidae)| journal=Journal of Zoology| volume=253| pages=405–418| doi=10.1017/s0952836901000371}}
Neural arrangement in the pedipalps of male H. troglodytes is almost identical to the neural arrangement in the pedipalps of male running crab spiders Philodromus cespitum.Sentenská, Lenka; Müller, Carsten H.G.; Pekár, Stano; Uhl, Gabriele (December 2017). "Neurons and a sensory organ in the pedipalps of male spiders reveal that it is not a numb structure". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 12209. Bibcode:2017NatSR...712209S. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12555-5. PMC 5610179. PMID 28939892.
Tasmanian cave spiders are widely distributed throughout Tasmania, found in many dark, cool areas, including underground drainage and cave systems, the underside of bridges, and inside hollow logs. They build sheet webs up to {{convert|1|m}} in diameter, and hang beneath it waiting for prey to fly or jump into their web. They have an unusually long lifetime for araneomorph spiders, sometimes living several decades.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/spiders/tasmanian-cave-spider/ Tasmanian cave spider] at the Australian Museum website
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15197042|from2=Q2455533}}
Category:Monotypic Araneomorphae genera
Category:Arthropods of Tasmania