 In
November 2005 I visited the Dominican Republic and travelled more than
2,500 km, visiting many localities throughout this beautiful country.
The
pholcids are one of those families in the Dominican Republic where more
fossil (amber) than extant species were known. However, this was mainly
due
to the severe neglect of the family, which in fact is much more
species-rich
on the island than one might believe from the few described species. |
 My
main focus was on the endemic genus Tainonia and on Leptopholcus.
Tainonia
is quite a large spider, with an adult leg span of 10 cm and more, with
large sheet webs that are easily found in suitable habitats all over
the
country. Nevertheless, no more than a dozen specimens had been
available
from collections worldwide, and only a single species had been
described.
During my visit I collected many specimens representing up to five
species (see here). |
 The
genus Leptopholcus is quite common on the Greater Antilles (New
World Leptopholcus have since
been transferred to Micropholcus), but
only three specimens of Leptopholcus hispaniola, the only
representative
described from Hispaniola, were previously known. As for Tainonia,
the genus is widespread on the island, and at least three species occur
in the Dominican Republic alone (see here).
Their cryptic coloration (greenish) and their habitat make them
difficult
to find. |
 A
few days I spent looking at amber inclusions, mostly in the Museo del
Ambar
in Santo Domingo, where I sorted out some 150 spiders from about 4,000
amber
pieces. I am indebted to Jorge Caridad for allowing me to have a look
at
his magnificent collection which includes some 40,000 pieces of amber
with
inclusions. This trip was financially supported by the German Research
Foundation
(DFG) and the Alexander Koenig Stiftung (AKS). |