WEB-CONSTRUCTION BEHAVIOR IN AUSTRALIAN PHONOGNATHA AND THE PHYLOGENYOF NEPHILINE AND TETRAGNATHID SPIDERS (ARANEAE, TETRAGNATHIDAE)

Details of web-construction behaviour and morphology support the monop hyly of nephiline spiders with Phonognatha as the sister-group to the remaining nephiline genera examined in this study. Phylogenetic analys is of the behavioural data suggests that specialisations in nephiline building behaviour and web architecture did not evolve concurrently, a nd that some preceded the female giantism (not male dwarfism) for whic h nephiline spiders are well-known. Cladistic analysis of 60 character s supports the monophyly of both Tetragnathidae and Tetragnathinae. Ne w data from spinneret silk gland spigots, combined with other morpholo gical and behavioural characters, provide the first concrete evidence that 'metine' genera, occasionally regarded as either a distinct famil y or subfamily, are a paraphyletic assemblage.