ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Phylogeography of the giant wood spider (Nephila pilipes, Araneae) from Asian-Australian regions

Aim There are currently few population genetic studies on widely distributed SE Asian terrestrial organisms. We have studied the genetic diversification pattern of the giant wood spider, Nephila pilipes (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) to see whether fluctuations in rain forest extents generated by Quaternary climatic changes left signatures on populations of this agile terrestrial arthropod. Location The collecting localities were distributed in the following seven regions: (1) N Australia; (2) India (Calcutta, Karziranga and Sukna); (3) SE Asia (N Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Bali); (4) SE China (Fujian, Guandong, Hong Kong and Hainan); (5) SW China (Guangxi and Yunnan); (6) E Asian islands (Ryukyu islands and Taiwan); and (7) the Philippine Islands. Methods A total of 374 specimens were collected from the East Asian continent and islands, SE Asia, India, and northern Australia. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene partial sequences were used as the molecular marker to infer the phylogeographic diversification patterns. Results From the specimens collected, 67 haplotypes were identified, which could be grouped into five major clades. The dominant clade contained populations in regions ranging from Okinawa to Bali (spanning a distance of more than 4000 km), but their genetic variations were not structured and were not significantly associated with geographical distances. Three clades contained specimens collected from peripheral regions of the distribution range of N. pilipes, such as India, N Australia, and NE Asia. Members of the clade distributed in NE Asia were sympatric but those of the clades distributed in Australia and India were allopatric with those of the dominant clade. Main conclusions The results of this study indicate that, during Quaternary glacial periods, the rain forests in SE Asia might have been more or less continuous and thus generated an unstructured genetic diversification pattern of N. pilipes inhabiting this region. However, during such periods, populations in peripheral regions such as India, N Australia and NE Asia might have been isolated in refugia, thus accounting for the observed genetic divergence from populations in the SE Asian region.