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1 August 2011 Morphological adaptations of Porrhomma spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae) inhabiting soil
Vlastimil Růžička, Vratislav Laška, Jan Mikula, Ivan H. Tuf
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Abstract

We studied occurrence and morphological adaptations of two species of Porrhomma down to 135 cm soil depth. Porrhomma microps Simon 1884 inhabited soil layers at depths between 5 and 135 cm. Porrhomma aff. myops was found at depths of 35–95 cm. Specimens of both species were depigmented and had highly reduced eyes. Compared with the epigean P. pygmaeum (Blackwall 1834), P. myops, which inhabits scree and caves, exhibits significantly longer legs. We interpret it as an example of troglomorphism. Compared with the epigean P. pygmaeum, P. aff. myops is found deep in the soil and exhibits a significantly smaller cephalothorax. We interpret this as edaphomorphism. We assume the edaphomorphic population of P. aff. myops to be permanent soil dwellers.

Vlastimil Růžička, Vratislav Laška, Jan Mikula, and Ivan H. Tuf "Morphological adaptations of Porrhomma spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae) inhabiting soil," The Journal of Arachnology 39(2), 355-357, (1 August 2011). https://doi.org/10.1636/JOACP10-66.1
Received: 22 September 2010; Published: 1 August 2011
KEYWORDS
Araneae
edaphomorphisms
soil profile
troglomorphisms
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