Pune students discover a new species of spider on a hill in the heart of the city
Pune, November 09, 2024: A new jumping spider species has been discovered from a hill located in the heart of Pune city, highlighting the need to conserve wildlife and flora in urban environments.
A post-graduate student from Maharashtra has discovered a new jumping spider species from a hill located in the heart of Pune city. It has been named Okinawicius tekdi, belonging to the genus Okinawicius, which was first described in India in 2016. The word tekdi means ‘hill’ in Marathi, and the species has been named to honour the geographical location of the hill.
Environmental science student Atharva Kulkarni, who was studying the diversity of spiders on the Baner hill, found the species. He said, “On 6 February 2023, when I was studying the terrain of Baner hill, I found this species on a Ficus (anjeer) tree.” The discovery has been published in the Journal of Arachnology. Kulkarni said, “I found this spider similar to the O. Takarensis species, but I tried to find out if it could be a new species.”
Kulkarni first found a male spider, and it took him about four hours of searching until he found a female spider, which perfectly matched the colour and texture of the tree. He immediately sought help from his friend Madhura Godbole to document the species. He also collected a specimen and sent it to Rishikesh Tripathi, who is an arachnophile and has been involved in identifying 22 species from India.
Rishikesh Tripathi, a PhD scholar in the Department of Zoology at Christ College (Autonomous), Kerala, conducted a morphological study of the species and after deep analysis identified it as a new species. The two species already known from India are Okinawicius daitaricus (Prószyński, 1992) and Okinawicius modestus (Simon, 1885), he said.
The spider is distinguished by its morphological features, especially the variation in the female genitalia.
🌿 New Jumping Spider Species Found on Baner Hill, Pune!
— Rishikesh Tripathi (@Rishike06388688) November 7, 2024
Exciting news for urban biodiversity! A new jumping spider species, Okinawicius tekdi, has been discovered on Pune's Baner Hill. pic.twitter.com/1fU5sh9j8h
“A notable identification feature is the membranous coils of the copulatory ducts, which lie parallel to the surface,” the findings said. It is this peculiar feature identified by Prószyński (2016) that led to the reclassification of eight species from the Pseudicius genus described by Eugene Simon in 1885 to Okinawicius.
Tripathi said the male O. tekdi resembles O. tokarensis, which was discovered in 1987. But it also shares similarities with the male palps (a pair of sensory organs that originate from the mouthparts of crustaceans and insects) of species of the genus Afraflacilla, such as A. kurichiadensis and A. avadavathurensis, both identified in India in 2022.
This similarity highlights the need to study female spiders of the genus Afraflacilla, as only one female has been identified in India among the six known species, the study noted.
Kulkarni said the discovery of a new species from the urban landscape highlights the need to conserve and study urban flora and fauna.
“The species was later found on confluence of rivers Ram and Mula, about two km away from the Baner hills. It has been seen on plumeria, Ficus and Morinda trees, but its habitat is still unknown,” he said, adding that more studies in this direction are needed.
