Neaetha wesolowskaeis aspeciesofjumping spiderin thegenusNeaethathat isendemicto Thailand. TheNeaethaspider that has been found most easterly, it lives inrainforests.Firstdescribedin 2020 byBarbara Patoleta&Marek Żabka,the spider is named for the PolisharachnologistWanda Wesołowska.It is small with a browncarapacebetween 0.86 and 1.49 mm (0.034 and 0.059 in) in length and anabdomenthat is between 0.97 and 1.2 mm (0.038 and 0.047 in) long. The female is smaller than the male and has a pattern of spots rather than lines on its abdomen. The female is hard to tell from other members of the genus but can be differentiated by itscopulatory organs.Itsepigynehas ovoid, rather than crescent-shaped, copulatory openings andspermathecaethat are separated rather than lying together. The male has anembolusthat is unusually crescent-shaped.
| Neaetha wesolowskae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Neaetha |
| Species: | N. wesolowskae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Neaetha wesolowskae | |
Taxonomy
editNeaetha wesolowskaewas firstdescribedbyBarbara Patoleta&Marek Żabkain 2020.[1]It was allocated to thegenusNeaetha,which itself had been firstcircumscribedbyEugène Simonin 1884. The genus is named for two Greek words,néos,which means new, andthéa,which can be translated as aspect.[2]The species is named for the PolisharachnologistWanda Wesołowska.[3]
The species is hard to distinguish from others in the genus, leading to Patoleta and Żabka suggesting that understanding the relationships between the different species will require study of the genes rather than their physical attributes.[4]This confusion spreads to the genus, asNeaethaspiders are externally similar to other genera, includingBianor,Harmochirus.[5]However, subsequent study has proved that they are only distantly related.[6]ADNA analysisstudy undertaken byWayne Maddisonand Marshall Hedin identified that the genus is most closely related to the g|enusSalticus.[7]It has alsophylogeneticsimilarities withCarrhotusandHasarius,amongst other genera of jumping spiders. The genus was placed in the subtribe Harmochirina in thetribePlexippini by Maddison in 2015.[8]These were allocated to thecladeSaltafresia.[9]The subtribe is divided into harmochirines and pellenines, and the genus is allocated to the latter group, which is characterised by living on the open sunny ground.[6]
Description
editNeaetha wesolowskaeis a small spider with a body divided into two main parts: a broadcephalothoraxand an ovalabdomen.The male has a rather highcarapace,the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, that is 1.49 mm (0.059 in) long and 1.3 mm (0.051 in) wide. It is robust, and with a distinctive slopingthorax.The carapace is brown and covered in white scales with a distinctfovea,or depression, in its middle. There are more scales on the sides but none on thesternum,the underside of the cephalothorax, which is light brown. The spider has a darkereye field.The spider's face, orclypeus,is brown with light scales on the bottom. Thecheliceraeare brown, with two forward teeth and one rear tooth. The rest of the mouthparts, including thelabium,are also brown, but have light tips.[10]
Theabdomenis 1.2 mm (0.047 in) long and 0.71 mm (0.028 in) wide and has a pattern of three wide brown stripes on the top. It is covered in brown and whitish scales and hairs, the hairs being longer at the front. The underside of the abdomen is light grey with a pattern of darker spots. Thespinneretsare light brown and thelegsare brown. The first pair of legs are wider than the others. Thepedipalpsare hairy. The palpal tibia has a long narrowing projection, or tibialapophysis,that has a pointed and slightly bent tip. Thepalpal bulbhas an ovoidtegulumwith a straight sperm duct and a crescent-shapedembolus.The shape of the embolus differentiates the species from the relatedNeaetha absheronica,Neaetha membrosaandNeaetha tomkovichi.[10]
The female has a similar carapace, although smaller at 0.86 mm (0.034 in) long and 0.74 mm (0.029 in) wide. The carapace is brown and has black areas near the eyes like the male but is covered in brown as well as white scales. White scales can also be found on the brown clypeus, which has longer bristles as well. The sternum and chelicerae are light brown and brown respectively like the male but the labium is darker. The legs are slightly lighter than the male. The abdomen is more clearly different, as it is both smaller, measuring 0.97 mm (0.038 in) in length and between 0.72 mm (0.028 in) in width, and has a pattern of darker spots on a yellow background. The spinnerets also differ, being light brown.[11]
The females of the genus are generally hard to distinguish.[12]However, thecopulatory organsonNeaetha wesolowskaeare distinctive. Theepigyneis large with a characteristic central pocket. This species has distinctive ovoid, rather than crescent-shaped, copulatory openings that lead to very short copulatory ducts. Thespermathecae,or receptacles, are as long as they are wide andsclerotized.[11]The spider is particular similar toNeaetha tomkovichi,differing in the having a larger pocket on the epigyne and the way that the spermathecae are separated rather than together.[3]
Distribution and habitat
editThe species isendemicto Thailand.[1]The maleholotypeof the species was found in theKanchanaburi provincein 1979. The femaleparatypewas found inChonburi provinceduring the same year. This is the most easterly that the genus has been observed. The species lives inrainforests.[4]
References
editCitations
edit- ^abWorld Spider Catalog (2023)."Neaetha wesolowskaePatoleta & Żabka, 2020 ".World Spider Catalog.24.0. Bern: Natural History Museum.Retrieved5 April2023.
- ^Fernández-Rubio 2013,p. 128.
- ^abPatoleta & Żabka 2020,p. 379.
- ^abPatoleta & Żabka 2020,p. 382.
- ^Logunov 1996,p. 518.
- ^abMaddison 2015,p. 251.
- ^Maddison & Hedin 2003,p. 538.
- ^Maddison 2015,p. 280.
- ^Maddison 2015,p. 278.
- ^abPatoleta & Żabka 2020,pp. 379–380.
- ^abPatoleta & Żabka 2020,pp. 381–382.
- ^Wesołowska & Haddad 2018,p. 899.
Bibliography
edit- Fernández-Rubio, Fidel (2013). "La etimología de los nombres de las arañas (Araneae)" [The etymology of the names of spiders (Araneae)].Revista ibérica de Aracnología(in Spanish) (22): 125–130.ISSN1576-9518.
- Logunov, Dmitri V. (1996)."Taxonomic remarks on the generaNeaethaSimon, 1884 andCembaleaWesolowska, 1993 (Araneae: Salticidae) ".Genus.7(3): 515–532.
- Maddison, Wayne P. (2015). "A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)".The Journal of Arachnology.43(3): 231–292.doi:10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292.S2CID85680279.
- Maddison, Wayne P.; Hedin, Marshal C. (2003). "Jumping spider phylogeny (Araneae: Salticidae)".Invertebrate Systematics.17(4): 529–549.
- Patoleta, Barbara; Żabka, Marek (2020). "New species ofLangonaSimon, 1901 andNeaethaSimon, 1884 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Thailand ".Zootaxa.4899(1): 374–383.doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.19.
- Prószyński, Jerzy (2017)."Pragmatic classification of the World's Salticidae (Araneae)".Ecologica Montenegrina.12:1–133.doi:10.37828/em.2017.12.1.
- Wesołowska, Wanda; Haddad, Charles R. (2018). "Further additions to the jumping spider fauna of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae)".Annales Zoologici.68(4): 879–908.doi:10.3161/00034541ANZ2018.68.4.011.S2CID86626109.