Thelacantha

Thelacantha
Female T. brevispina from Taiwan
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Thelacantha
Hasselt, 1907[1]
Species: T. brevispina
Binomial name
Thelacantha brevispina
(Doleschall, 1857)[1]
male T. brevispina from Japan

Thelacantha is a spider genus of the Araneidae family with only one described species, Thelacantha brevispina.[2] The species is closely related to Gasteracantha, and was synonymized with it in 1859, but revalidated in 1974.[1]

Distribution

The species is found in Madagascar, in southern Asia from India to Philippines, Japan and Australia.[2][1]

Taxonomy

Saito described three other Thelacantha species in 1933, which were later synonymized with T. brevispina. T. brevispina has quite often been misidentified as Gasteracantha mammosa, which is now G. cancriformis.[1]

T. brevispina has gone through a checkered name history, with many synonyms:[1]

  • Plectana brevispina Doleschall, 1857
  • Plectana roseolimbata Doleschall, 1859
  • Plectana flavida Doleschall, 1859
  • Gasteracantha mammeata Thorell, 1859
  • Gasteracantha guttata Thorell, 1859
  • Gasteracantha borbonica Vinson, 1863
  • Gasteracantha alba Vinson, 1863
  • Gasteracantha canningensis Stoliczka, 1869
  • Gasteracantha suminata L. Koch, 1871
  • Gasteracantha mastoidea L. Koch, 1872
  • Stanneoclavis suminata (Karsch, 1878)
  • Stanneoclavis mastoidea (Karsch, 1878)
  • Actinacantha maculata Karsch, 1878
  • Gasteracantha brevispina (Thorell, 1878)
  • Gasteracantha observatrix O. P.-Cambridge, 1879
  • Gasteracantha mammosa Hasselt, 1882
  • Gasteracantha flavida (Hasselt, 1882)
  • Stanneoclavis latronum Simon, 1890
  • Gasteracantha sola Saito, 1933
  • Gasteracantha sparsa Saito, 1933
  • Gasteracantha formosana Saito, 1933
  • Thelacantha brevispina (Benoit, 1964)

Description

Females grow to a body size of about 6–10 mm, with males reaching a size of 3-5mm.[2]

Large female T. brevispinna from Hilo, Hawai'i ('Akaka Falls region)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gen. Thelacantha Hasselt, 1882". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  2. 1 2 3 Murphy, Frances & Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society.
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