2016 Southeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 15, No. 4
N50
M.L. Draney and P.R. Miller
New Records Extend the Known Range of Calymmaria persica
(Hentz) (Araneae, Hahniidae)
Michael L. Draney1,* and Patricia R. Miller2
Abstract - Calymmaria persica (Hentz) is a rarely collected spider in the family Hahniidae (Araneae)
previously known to occur primarily in the Appalachian Mountains. This note reports 2 new localities,
each of which is a significant range extension for this species. One specimen was collected on Mount
Magazine, AR, and is the first record west of the Mississippi River. The second locality is the Loessal
Hills in north-central Mississippi and represents the first specimen collected in the region between
southwestern Mississippi (Wilkinson County) and the Appalachian region of northern Alabama. An
updated range map is included.
The Nearctic spider genus Calymmaria comprises 31 species, of which 29 occur on
the Pacific coast from Baja to British Columbia. Two species are known east of the Rocky
Mountains. Calymmaria virginica Heiss & Draney is known from two sites in Pocahontas
County, WV, and Calymmaria persica (Hentz) is distributed in the Appalachian Mountains
from Virginia and West Virginia through Alabama, with outlying records in southern Mississippi,
Indiana, and Ohio (Heiss and Draney 2004). In this paper, we report on 2 significant
records and range extensions of C. persica. These serendipitous records shed light on the
range and habitat preferences of this rarely collected species and suggest that its range is
greater than previously known. In Figure 1, we show all known records for the species.
Several specimen records were inadvertently omitted from the original range map (Heiss
and Draney 2004), so the present map shows the known range of the species more clearly,
especially with regard to its western limits.
Material examined. The specimens are housed in the Mississippi Entomological Museum
and were first recognized as significant by the second author and determined to species
by the first author. The Grenada County, MS, specimen was collected as part of a National
Science Foundation Grant (NSF Award Number BSR 9024810, R.L. Brown, PI).
Mississippi: Grenada County T22N, R3E, sec. 31NW (33°43'58"N; 90°01'46"W on
Google Earth). 5–18 May 1992. Coll. G. Snodgrass—Pitfall in deciduous woods.
Det. P.R. Miller, 2014; M. Draney 2015. Hahniidae: Calymmaria persica (Hentz) 1 F.
Arkansas: Logan County Mt. Magazine. Mossback Ridge, south slope. 16 June 1990.
Coll. J. Dacus, B. Leary. Pitfall. Det. P. R. Miller 1991 (confirmed by R.G. Bennett)
Hahniidae: Calymmaria sp.; Det. M. Draney 2015: Calymmaria persica (Hentz) 1 F.
Little is known about the ecological requirements of this species. Examination of
collection data show that the species has been collected in every month of the year from
elevations of 60–2000 m (Heiss and Draney 2004). Mature specimens have been collected
from woods, along streams, and behind waterfalls (Heiss and Draney 2004). Both of the
present collection localities have significant geographic relief, although the topography at
the precise collection locations is not known. The Arkansas specimen was collected in deciduous
woods on Mount Magazine, which is the highest point in Arkansas, at 839 m. The
habitat at the Grenada County site is a mesic hardwood forest ravine, part of the Loessal
1Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI
54311-7001. 2956 Highway 7 N, Abbeville, MS 38601. *Corresponding author - draneym@uwgb.edu.
Manuscript Editor: Jason Cryan
Notes of the Southeastern Naturalist, Issue 15/4, 2016
N51
2016 Southeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 15, No. 4
M.L. Draney and P.R. Miller
Hills just east of the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi River (The Delta). There is a small
creek at the bottom of the ravine. The area around the ravine is flat but higher in elevation
than the surrounding floodplain. Parts of this particular area had very little disturbance due
to the deep ravines which could not be logged or farmed, so many native species of plants
and animals are present.
According to the final NSF Report for the study in Grenada County (Brown 1993), there
were many new species of arthropods, significant range extensions, disjunct populations,
and new habitats reported from this site. There were 4 new species of Oribatida (Acari) collected
and 19 genera and 3 families previously not reported from the Southeast. The only
area that has a greater diversity of soil mites in the 8 southeastern states is Florida with 96
species compared to 70 species in the Loessal Hills. Nine new species and 1 new genus of
Lepidoptera, 3 new species of Diptera, 1 new species of Psocoptera and 1 new subspecies
of Carabidae were collected in this area. Over 181 species and 5600 specimens of spiders
(Araneae) have been identified so far (excluding Linyphiidae). There was 1 new species
of Lycosidae later described by Stratton (1997) as Schizocosa uetzi Stratton, a disjunct
population of Geolycosa missouriensis (Banks), and 2 disjunct populations of Gnaphosidae
reported. Many arthropod groups are still under study. The C. persica record provides more
evidence that this particular site is of real interest and value from a biodiversity standpoint.
Both records are informative of the range of C. persica. Few specimens have been
collected on the southeastern coastal plain, and the Grenada County record suggests that
Figure 1. Known distribution of Calymmaria persica. Closed circles show the records from the original
distribution map (Heiss and Draney 2004: Map 8); Open circles show records listed in Heiss and
Draney (2004) but inadvertently omitted from Map 8; Open triangles indicate the 2 new distribution
records reported here.
2016 Southeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 15, No. 4
N52
M.L. Draney and P.R. Miller
the species may occur in terrain above river flood level. The Grenada County collection is
also the first specimen recorded in the large region between far southwestern Mississippi
(Wilkinson County) and the Appalachian region of northern Alabama (Fig. 1). The Arkansas
record is significant as the first report of C. persica west of the Mississippi River. Although
a few specimens have been recorded from north of the Ohio River, this record confirms that
the Mississippi River was not an absolute barrier to the distribution of C. persica. Arachnologists
should examine any possible Calymmaria material from the south-central United
States to determine the western and southern limits of the species.
Acknowledgments. We thank V.L. Medland for producing the map and Dr. Richard L.
Brown, Director, Mississippi Entomological Museum, for the use of specimens. This note
shows the value of general biological collecting even in fairly well-studied regions such
as the southeastern United States. We dedicte this report to the memory of Dr. William H.
Cross, mentor of the second author and founder of the Mississippi Entomological Museum,
who lost his life during a collecting trip to Mexico in 1984. An endowed collecting
trip is made annually in honor of Dr. Cross to increase understanding of the diversity of
the Southeast.
Literature Cited
Brown, R.L. 1993. Final report for NSF Award Number BSR 9024810, survey and inventory of selected
arthropods in the mid-south coastal plain. PI. Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.
Heiss, J.S., and M.L. Draney. 2004. Revision of the Nearctic spider genus Calymmaria (Araneae,
Hahniidae). Journal of Arachnology 32:457–525.
Stratton, G. 1997. A new species of Schizocosa from the southeastern USA (Araneae, Lycosidae).
Journal of Arachnology 25:84–92.