TY  - JOUR
U1  - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
A1  - Muster, Christoph
A1  - Michalik, Peter
T1  - Cryptic diversity in ant‐mimic Micaria spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) and a tribute to early naturalists
JF  - Zoologica Scripta
N2  - Abstract
Spiders of the genus Micaria are ground‐living mimics of ants. Species delineation in these spiders is challenging, mainly because of exceptional high levels of intraspecific variation masking species boundaries. As implied by preliminary DNA barcode data from Central Europe, the Holarctic and very widely distributed glossy ant‐spider M. pulicaria shows cryptic diversity. Here, we disentangle the hidden diversity by means of an integrative taxonomy approach, using mitochondrial DNA, morphometrics, traditional genitalic characters and ecology. Our data suggest the clear delineation of two distinct species, which supports the conception of 19th century taxonomists. These early naturalists distinguished M. pulicaria and a second closely related species based on morphology and natural history, which were synonymized in subsequent taxonomic studies. Therefore, we re‐circumscribe M. pulicaria and revalidate the long forgotten M. micans. These two Micaria species co‐occur sympatrically in vast areas of the western Palearctic, while the Nearctic region is populated by M. pulicaria alone. Male genitalic traits are more dissimilar in the area of sympatry than in allopatry, suggesting a decisive role of reproductive character displacement in species diversification. Our study emphasizes the value of the early taxonomic literature in integrative taxonomic studies, as it may contain crucial information on natural history that are not regularly recorded by modern taxonomists.
KW  - -
KW  - ground spiders
KW  - Holarctic distribution
KW  - integrative taxonomy
KW  - morphological crypsis
KW  - myrmecomorphy
KW  - species delimitation
Y1  - 2020
UN  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:9-opus-40589
SN  - 1463-6409
SS  - 1463-6409
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12404
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12404
VL  - 49
IS  - 2
SP  - 197
EP  - 209
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken, New Jersey
ER  -