Anelosimus buffoni Agnarsson, Kuntner & Jencik

Agnarsson, Ingi, Jencik, Brian B., Veve, Giselle M., Hanitriniaina, Sahondra, Agostini, Diego, Goh, Seok Ping, Pruitt, Jonathan & Kuntner, Matjaz, 2015, Systematics of the Madagascar Anelosimus spiders: remarkable local richness and endemism, and dual colonization from the Americas, ZooKeys 509, pp. 13-52 : 38-39

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Theridiidae

Anelosimus buffoni Agnarsson, Kuntner & Jencik sp. n. Fig. 15

Notes.

Unfortunately most adult specimens of this species, almost all of which were collected in April 2008, were lost during the transport of the Agnarsson lab from UPR to UVM. Of the only two remaining adult females the carapace and legs had been consumed for DNA extraction, though total length was measured before specimens were processed for DNA extraction. The species description is therefore abbreviated and limited to the abdomen, genitalia, and DNA barcode.

Type material.

Holotype and paratype female from Périnet Special Reserve (P.N. Andasibe Mantadia), Toamasina Province, Madagascar, (18.935°S, 48.418°E), 12-28.xi.2008, montane forest, 900-1000 m, col Hanitriniaina, in NMNH.

Etymology.

The species epithet is a noun in the genitive case and honors the great naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.

Diagnosis.

Anelosimus buffoni females can be diagnosed from all other species expect Anelosimus andasibe and Anelosimus wallacei by the W pattern of the septum (Fig. 15 B–C) and from Anelosimus wallacei by lacking substitution A (241), from Anelosimus andasibe by having substitution G (349), and by both by having substitution A (559). Anelosimus buffoni can be diagnosed from other Madagascan Anelosimus on the basis of the following unique mtDNA nucleotide substitutions at the following standard DNA barcode alignment positions: G (742), T (769). It can also be readily diagnosed from most other Anelosimus based the following partially shared nucleotide substitutions, and all other species by their unique combination: G (364, except some Anelosimus salut ), G (184, except Anelosimus wallacei and Anelosimus andasibe ), G (511, except Anelosimus andasibe and Anelosimus wallacei ), G (796, except Anelosimus andasibe and some Anelosimus may ), G (799, except Anelosimus vondrona ).

Description.

Total length 4.1, Abdomen 2.59 long, 1.96 wide, color and pattern as in Fig. 15A.

Distribution.

Only known from type locality.

Natural history.

As in other species of this group a female can be found in its web with close to 50 juveniles and juveniles appear to cohabit in the web until close to adulthood.