Anelosimus andasibe Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005

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 : 25-27

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Theridiidae

Anelosimus andasibe Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005 Fig. 6 E–F

Notes.

The species, known only from females, is rediagnosed and genitalia re-illustrated.

Type material.

Holotype female from Périnet Special Reserve (P.N. Andasibe Mantadia), Toamasina Province, Madagascar, (18.935°S, 48.418°E), 7-8.v.2001, montane forest, 900-1000 m, (I. Agnarsson and M. Kuntner), in NMNH, examined.

Other material.

Additional specimens from same locality, 3-20.iv.2008 and 12-28.xi.2008, col. Agnarsson, Kuntner, and Hanitriniaina.

Diagnosis.

Anelosimus andasibe differs from all but Anelosimus nazariani , Anelosimus buffoni sp. n., and Anelosimus wallacei sp. n. by the W-shaped septum (Fig. 6E), and from Anelosimus nazariani by the small distance between the septum and the epigynal margin and by being smaller. Clear diagnostic features separating females of the very similar Anelosimus andasibe , Anelosimus buffoni sp. n., and Anelosimus wallacei sp. n. have not been established, however, we predict they will be readily diagnosable based on palpal organs once males are discovered. Anelosimus andasibe can be diagnosed from Anelosimus wallacei sp. n. by lacking substitution A (241), and from Anelosimus wallacei sp. n. and Anelosimus buffoni sp. n. by lacking substitution G (249). It 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: C (124), G (415), G (496), G (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 (79, except some Anelosimus lamarcki sp. n.), G (184, except Anelosimus buffoni sp. n. and Anelosimus wallacei sp. n.), G (202, except most Anelosimus ata sp. n.), T (479, except Anelosimus nazariani ), G (511, except Anelosimus buffoni sp. n.and Anelosimus wallacei sp. n.), T (553, except Anelosimus tita ), T (709, except Anelosimus ata ), G (772, except Anelosimus lamarcki ), (796, except Anelosimus buffoni and some Anelosimus may ), G (838, except Anelosimus darwini ).

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.