Anelosimus nazariani 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 : 23-25

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Theridiidae

Anelosimus nazariani Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005 Fig. 5

Notes.

The male of Anelosimus nazariani is here described and diagnosed for the first time, the female epigynum is re-illustrated.

Type material.

Holotype and paratype females 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 nazariani differs from other species in being distinctly the largest Anelosimus species recorded to date with female total length exceeding 7 mm, with other species ranging from 1.9-5.5 mm. The males are easily diagnosed by the dark, bulky, and comparatively smooth Eb (Fig. 5 E–F), and all but Anelosimus sallee by the very elongated upper branch of the TTA (Fig. 5 D–E). The TTA differs in shape from that of Anelosimus sallee , being less curved. The epigynum differs from all but Anelosimus andasibe , Anelosimus buffoni sp. n., and Anelosimus wallacei sp. n. by the W pattern on the septum, and from these three by the larger distance between the septum and the epigynal margin (Fig. 5A). Anelosimus nazariani 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: T (24), T(45), T(100), T (202), G (322), T (424), G (583), T (814), T (859). 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: A (46, except Anelosimus torfi sp. n.), T (121, except Anelosimus tita sp. n.), T (127, except Anelosimus darwini sp. n. and Anelosimus ata sp. n.), T (130, except Anelosimus darwini sp. n.), G (262, except Anelosimus tita sp. n.), G (307, except some Anelosimus salut ), G (313, except Anelosimus sallee and some Anelosimus huxleyi sp. n.), A (474, except Anelosimus salut ), T (479, except Anelosimus andasibe ), T (484, except Anelosimus may and Anelosimus torfi sp. n.), G (556, except Anelosimus darwini sp. n.), G (736, except some Anelosimus may ), G (745, expect Anelosimus wallacei sp. n.and some Anelosimus ata sp. n.), G (841, except Anelosimus torfi sp. n.), A (871, except Anelosimus may ).

Description.

Male: Total length 5.89 Cephalothorax 2.70 long, 1.99 wide, 0.27 high. Sternum 1.40 long, 1.17 wide, extending halfway between coxae IV, light brown. Abdomen 3.19 long, 2.31 wide, 2.08 high (add color). Eyes subequal in size about 0.15 in diameter. Clypeus height about times one AME diameter Chelicerae with one large tooth, 4-5 denticles retrolaterally Leg 1 femur 3.71, patella 1.18, tibia 3.94, metatarsus 3.45, tarsus 1.23 Leg formula 1243 Legs light brown-yellow with brown at junctions between tibia and metatarsus, and metatarsus and tarsus. 7 small trichobothria dorsally on tibia I and II, 3 dorsally on metatarsi.

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.