Taxonomy

Pungalina is an Australian genus with many species in three species groups (Richardson 2016). The Pungalina weiri species group has one species, P. weiri. The Pungalina semiferruginea species group includes two species, P. semiferruginea and P. waldockae. The Pungalina albobarbata species group includes three species P. albobarbata, P. plurilineata and P. semiatra. All three species groups contain many undescribed species. The genus is part of an Australasian clade (Maddison et al 2008) related to Abracadabrella, Apricia, Clynotis, Holoplatys, Huntiglennia, Ocrisiona, Opisthoncus, Paraplatoides, Paraphilaeus, Tara, Trite and Zebraplatys (Maddison 2015). Further information on the genus and described species in Australia can be found in Richardson and Żabka (2017) and Whyte and Anderson (2017).

Description

Pungalina includes small to medium-sized spiders, ranging in body lengths from 4 to 9 mm. From above, the flattish, often frosted carapace has curved sides, sometimes wider at the front and tapering to a narrow, sheared-off rear. The protruding outer margins of the anterior eyes often extend well beyond the clypeus. Usually there is a series of white striae on the rear of the carapace. Males often have a bright white or pale yellow clypeal ‘moustache’. Chelicerae have a single, moderately-sized (unident) retromarginal tooth. The abdomen is elongate-ovate. The weiri and albobarbata groups are robustly built with relatively short, strong legs. The ferruginea group is more lightly built with longer, more slender legs. The first pair of legs is longer in the males and the fourth pair of legs almost equal or longer in the females.

The male’s palp has an embolus arising from a bulge on the distal or lateral-distal edge of the tegulum. It can be short, to long and fine, to thick.  The tegulum is rounded with a large ventrally-directed bulge and a small, kinked to broad, blunt posterior tegular lobe. The tibial apophysis varies considerably in size and shape from species to species.

The female has two epigynal atria with variously sclerotised margins and varying shapes. The copulatory openings, in varying positions within the atria, lead to insemination ducts which travel posteriorly or laterally to rounded spermathecae close to the epigastric fold which has a central cleft.

Biology

Pungalina spp. are normally found in litter. The more gracile P. semiferruginea can be found on foliage.

Distribution

Pungalina is found across mainland Australia in a wide range of environments from open woodland and riparian zones to rainforest.

References

Maddison, W.P. 2015. A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Journal of Arachnology 43, 231-292.

Maddison, W.P., Bodner, M.R. & Needham, K.M. 2008. Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australian clade (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa 1893, 49-64.

Richardson, B.J. 2016. New genera, new species and redescriptions of Australian jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa 4114, 501-560.

Richardson, B.J. & Żabka, M. 2017. Salticidae. Arachnida: Araneomorphae. Canberra, Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, at https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/SALTICIDAE.

Whyte, R. and Anderson, G. 2017. A field guide to the spiders of Australia. Clayton: CSIRO Publishing 451pp.

* The information sheet should be read in the context of the associated diagrams and photographs. Diagrams explaining anatomical terms can be found in the ‘Salticidae’ pictures at the beginning of the list of genera.