Selenocosmia barensteinerae
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Selenocosmia barensteinerae , female |
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| ( Schmidt , Hettegger & Matthes , 2010) |
Selenocosmia barensteinerae is a tarantula from Borneo. The species was discovered by Günter Schmidt et al. described in 2010 on the basis of a female who was found in the south of Kalimantan , the Indonesian part of Borneo , and then kept in captivity. The first author named the species in honor of his colleague Ruth Barensteiner as a thank you for her support. The arachnologist Rick C. West reports that he probably received a sexually mature male of the same species from the zoologist Birutė Galdikas from the orangutan sanctuary in southern Kalimantanas early as 1994.
Occurrence and way of life
The tarantulas live in the rainforests of Borneo and are ground dwellers who dig burrows that are usually at least 30 cm deep. The caves are lined with spider silk. The location of the type specimen is a tropical primary rainforest with dry soil and tall trees up to 30 meters high. Heavy rains occur during the monsoon season .
In captivity, the animal stayed mainly in a cork tube, which it lined tightly with spider silk. When the spider silk was removed, the tarantula would renew it again by the next day.
features
The species is of medium size. The basic color is deep black after molting, the carapace a black-brown color and the hair is dark, red-brown in color. Until the next molt, the spider changes its color to a dark, gray-brown shade and bleaches out. There are also bright spots on the abdomen. The species has specific stridulation organs in which, in addition to characteristics for the genus Selenocosmia , there are also those that are typical of the genus Chilobrachys . Further characteristics of taxonomic importance are the missing thorns on the chelicerae on the front side and small lanceolate rods on the coxes of the buttons combined with longer paddle and clapper bristles.
Type specimen at the place of discovery
Selenocosmia barensteinerae in attack position
Selenocosmia barensteinerae , habitus
Systematics
The first descriptors put the species in the genus Chilocosmia . The species is closely related to Selenocosmia peerboomi ( Schmidt , 1999) from the Philippines , but not closely related to other Selenocosmia species from Borneo. This fits well with the geological development of these islands, according to which the Philippines and Borneo only separated from each other a maximum of two million years ago.
The World Spider Catalog came after the first description Robert J. Ravens opinion already in 2000, the genus Chilocosmia , along with several other Selenocosmiinae genera, with Selenocosmia synonymisierte .
The West et al. mentioned males have not yet been described. The authors report that the specimen has been thoroughly examined, but the characteristics do not match any known Selenocosmiinae genus. The embolus and the stridulation organs are unique. The said male is therefore a Selenocosmiinae with an unexplained taxonomic position. The authors suggest that the species itself may be a relic of an early Selenocosmiinae line that was isolated by plate drift.
Web links
Selenocosmia barensteinerae in the World Spider Catalog
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Schmidt, G .; Hettegger, S .; Matthes, J .: A female of Chilocosmia barensteinerae sp. n. from Kalimantan (Borneo) (Theraphosidae: Selenocosmiinae). Tarantulas of the world 142, 2010, ISSN 1431-7990 , pp. 4-14.
- ↑ a b West, RC; Nunn, SC; Hogg, S .: A new tarantula genus, Psednocnemis, from West Malaysia (Araneae: Theraphosidae), with cladistic analysis and biogeography of Selenocosmiinae Simon 1889. Zootaxa 3299, 2012, pp. 1-43 ( abstract as PDF ).
- ↑ Raven, RJ: Taxonomica Araneae I: Barychelidae, Theraphosidae, Nemesiidae and Dipluridae (Araneae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 45, 2000, pp. 569-575 ( online full text ).