Anelosimus agnar Agnarsson

Agnarsson, Ingi & Zhang, Jun-Xia, 2006, New species of Anelosimus (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Africa and Southeast Asia, with notes on sociality and color polymorphism, Zootaxa 1147, pp. 1-34 : 28-31

Anelosimus agnar Agnarsson n. sp.

( Figs 4A–B , 18A–B )

Types

Female holotype and paratype (1 Ψ) from Malaysia, Johor, Teluk Mahkota, 1°54’0”N, 104°6’14.4”E, altitude 0–5 m, 25.–26.v.2005, W. Maddison, D. Li, I. Agnarsson, J. X. Zhang, deposited in NMNH.

Description

Female (holotype): Total length 2.40. Prosoma 0.95 long, 0.80 wide, light brown, cephalic region darker. Sternum 0.60 long, 0.50 wide, light brown. Opisthosoma 1.30 long, 1.20 wide. Pattern as in other Anelosimus , dark (bright red in live specimens) dorsal notched folium, edged by a narrow white rim. Eyes subequal in size about 0.08 in diameter. Clypeus height about 1.8 times AME diameter. Leg I femur 1.20 patella 0.35, tibia 1.05, metatarsus 0.85, tarsus 0.40. Femur I about 6 times longer than wide. Leg formula 1243. Leg pale yellowish, femora I and II distinctly darkened (bright red in live specimens), except at base, dorsally with yellowish longitudinal streaks. 3–5 small trichobothria dorsally on all tibia, 3–4 on tibia I–III, 4–5 on IV. 3 dorsal trichobothria on palpal tibia.

Epigynum as in Figures 18A–B .

Male: unknown.

Va r i a t i o n

Total length from 2.05–2.40, femur I from 1.00–1.20. The paratype is much paler than the type specimen, with light dorsal folium on the opisthosoma, and only a small portion of femur I darkened, lacking red coloration ( Figs 4A–B ).

Natural history

Type material was collected from small webs at tips of branches in a forest at the beach. The paratype female was carrying an egg sac ( Figs 4A–B ) that contained 22 eggs.

Phylogenetics

Anelosimus agnar n. sp. has not been included in a phylogenetic analysis, but preliminary molecular data suggests it forms a clade with A. linda n. sp., together in a placement as indicated for the ‘ agnar grou’p in Fig. 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Summary cladogram of Anelosimus species based on Agnarsson (2005, 2006). The approximate placement of the ‘ agnar group’ (A. agnar n. sp. and A. linda n. sp.), indicated with an arrow, is based on preliminary molecular data (Agnarsson unpublished). Alternatively the agnar group may belong to the filiform embolus clade. In Agnarsson (2005, 2006) A. sp. 2 Tanzania = A. biglebowski n. sp, A. sp. 3 Tanzania = A. dude n. sp., A. sp. 4 Singapore = A. kohi Yoshida, 1993, and A. sp. 5 South Africa = A. nelsoni n. sp. Preliminary morphological evidence such as filiform embolus, tegular ridge, and voluminous spermathecae (see Agnarsson 2006 for details) further indicate the placement of A. monskenyensis n. sp., A. sulawesi n. sp., A. chonganicus Zhu, 1998, A. crassipes (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906), A. dubius (Tullgren, 1910), A. exiguus Yoshida, 1986, A. iwawakiensis Yoshida, 1986, and A. taiwanicus Yoshida, 1986 in the ‘ filiform embolus clade’.

FIGURES 4 A – B. Anelosimus agnar n. sp., female with egg sac.

FIGURES 18 A – E. A – B, A. agnar n. sp. A, epigynum, ventral; B, epigynum cleared, dorsal. C – D, A. linda n. sp. C, epigynum, ventral; D, epigynum cleared, dorsal (CD copulatory ducts, FD fertilization ducts, S spermathecae). E, Anelosimus dude n. sp., female opisthosoma ventral, showing setae around the pedicel and the transparency of the cuticle anterior to the epigynum. Scale bar for epigyna: 100 mm.