Work

Newly Discovered Male of Heteropoda Languida Simon, 1887 (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Yunnan, China

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Heteropoda spiders are an essential predator in tropical and subtropical areas because they trap and eat insects, cockroaches, and other domestic soft-bodied pests in crops. Pantropical huntsman spiders do not use webs to catch prey, like other stray spiders do. They catch the insects they eat using their powerful chelicerae (jaws) and quick movements. More than 140 individuals belonging to Heteropoda languida Simon, 1887 species, were collected from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and brought back to lab, and then stored in 75% ethanol. Among which 36 individuals were males and 104 individuals were females. Our research findings provide previously unknown male of Heteropoda languida Simon, 1887 for the first time, and the female is re-described from Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan, China. Our results also adding a little knowledge to Heteropoda species distribution, and may help to study the biogeography and dispersal route of Heteropoda spiders. In this paper, we provide the diagnosis, description, illustration, and field photos with distribution map for both males and females.

Source: University of Sindh Journal of Animal Sciences (USJAS)

DOI: 10.57038/usjas.v7i03.6501

Authors: SHAKAL KHAN KORAI, KAI WANG

Institutions: State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, Hubei University

Language: English

Topic: Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Awards: G1244435583, G4991285940, G6926822640