Heteropoda davidbowie
| Heteropoda davidbowie | ||||||||||||
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Heteropoda davidbowie , female |
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| Heteropoda davidbowie | ||||||||||||
| Hunter , 2008 |
Heteropoda davidbowie (sometimes called "David Bowie spider") is a web spider from the family of giant crab spiders (Sparassidae). The so far little researched species is named after the British pop musician David Bowie ,who died in 2016.
features
Females of Heteropoda davidbowie reach a body length of 21.3 to 25.3 and males one of 15.3 to 18.2 millimeters. The dorsal side of the female varies between gray and red-brown and is provided with several spots. The body has short and thick hair, from which individual longer and light orange hairs stand out. The legs of the female are provided with lighter areas, which in turn are covered with ring-like dark spots. There is a ventral dark line on the abdomen surrounded by red hair. The pedipalps are black. At the rear end near the spinnerets there is a bright triangular spot in the female animal. The coloring of the male is mostly similar to that of the female, but it has a predominantly more reddish brown upper side and it lacks the triangular spot near the spinnerets.
Occurrence
The Southeast Asian species inhabits Malaysia , Singapore, and Indonesia including Sumatra . While the adult animals can be found predominantly on tree bark, the young spiders mainly inhabit leaf litter and the foliage of various shrubs .
Systematics and reason for the species name
Heteropoda davidbowie was first described by the arachnologist Peter Jäger in 2008 and has not seen any name changes or changes since then. The species, along with a few others in the field of biology, is one of those named after a prominent person. As with the others, the species name of Heteropoda davidbowie is a dedication name that is intended to honor the musician and to draw greater attention to the newly described species. Other species of the genre where this is the case are Heteropoda helge as an allusion to the cabaret artist Helge Schneider , Heteropoda hildebrandti , named after Dieter Hildebrandt , Heteropoda ninahagen , after the singer Nina Hagen , and Heteropoda richlingi as an allusion to Mathias Richling and Heteropoda udolindenberg , named after the singer Udo Lindenberg . These species were also first described by Peter Jäger in 2008. The reasons for choosing a species name after a prominent person can be different. In the case of Heteropoda davidbowie , together with other species of the genus first described by Jäger at the same time, the hoped-for increased attention given to the species names indicates the decline in natural habitats and thus a threat to biodiversity.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Peter Jäger: Revision of the huntsman spider genus Heteropoda Latreille 1804: species with exceptional male palpal conformations from southeast Asia and Australia (Arachnida, Araneae: Sparassidae: Heteropodinae) , Senckenbergiana Biologica, 2008, 88 (2), p. 239 -310.
- ↑ a b Heteropoda davidbowie (Jäger, 2008) in the WSC World Spider Catalog , accessed January 12, 2020.
- ^ Michael Ohl: The art of naming , Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-95757-089-5
literature
- Peter Jäger: Revision of the huntsman spider genus Heteropoda Latreille 1804: species with exceptional male palpal conformations from southeast Asia and Australia (Arachnida, Araneae: Sparassidae: Heteropodinae) , Senckenbergiana Biologica, 2008, 88 (2), pp. 239-310.
- Michael Ohl: The art of naming , Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-95757-089-5
