Anelosimus decaryi (Fage, 1930)

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 : 40-42

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Theridiidae

Anelosimus decaryi (Fage, 1930) Fig. 17

Notes.

Anelosimus decaryi does not belong to the 'Madagascar group´ of subsocial montane species but rather to the 'solitary clade´ of Anelosimus (see Agnarsson et al. 2010). It was recently redescribed (see Agnarsson et al. 2010) and is here only re-illustrated for completeness so that all Anelosimus species currently known to occur in Madagascar can be identified from a single source.

Distribution.

Orangea Peninsula (N Madagascar), Ranamofana (Central Madagascar), Comoros Islands, and Aldabra atoll.

Natural history.

Anelosimus decaryi is solitary with very brief cohabitation between mother and offspring, which disperse at early instars (Agnarsson et al. 2010). The species was previously thought to be restricted to coastal habitats in the north, however, it also occurs in Ranamofana. Seven colonies of Anelosimus decaryi were sampled along the riparian zones directly flanking the Namorona River. Anelosimus decaryi has previously only been known from coastal habitats at low elevations. At Ranomafana (600-800m elevation) we found six colonies containing singleton females and one colony containing a female with an egg case. In contrast to the other species of Anelosimus at Ranomafana, Anelosimus decaryi colonies did not contain any foreign spiders.