Triaeris stenaspis
| Triaeris stenaspis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Oonopidae |
| Genus: | Triaeris |
| Species: | T. stenaspis |
| Binomial name | |
|
Triaeris stenaspis Simon, 1891 |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Triaeris stenaspis is a species of spider in the family Oonopidae, with a pantropical distribution. It is also found in Iran and has been introduced into Europe. A very small spider, with a maximum body length of under 2 mm (0.08 in), it has been shown to prey successfully on springtails. Only females have ever been found, and the species may be parthenogenetic, being able to produce female offspring from unfertilized eggs.
The male of the species is unknown. The female is generally pale orange or yellowish brown, with a body about 1.8 mm (0.07 in) long. Like most members of the family Oonopidae, T. stenaspis has only six eyes. Adults, but not immature stages, have hardened, darker plates or scuta on the abdomen. On the upper surface, the dorsal scutum covers most of the abdomen. On the lower surface, the ventral scutum is divided into two halves by the epigastric furrow, so that sources variously describe it as one or two scuta, making two or three scuta in total.
A diagnostic character of the genus Triaeris is the long patella; the patella of the first leg of T. stenaspis is almost as long as the tibia. In adults, the first leg has three pairs of spines on the ventral surface of the patella and five pairs on ventral surface of the tibia. Immatures have fewer spines. The genitalia are complex, occupying most of the ventral scutum.
The species was first described by Eugène Simon in 1891, based on a specimen collected in the West Indian island of Saint Vincent. It is the type species of the genus. Simon also noted that it had been found in Venezuela. The generic name Triaeris is derived from the Latin word triēris, meaning "three rows of oars" (as in trireme); the specific epithet stenaspis here means "with a narrow carapace".
Triaeris stenapis has a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, including the Americas from the southern United States south to Argentina, central Africa and Madagascar, Taiwan, Queensland in Australia, and isolated islands such as the Galápagos, Hawaii, the Marquesas and the Cook Islands. In Europe it has been introduced in heated greenhouses, including those in Finland, Britain, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In larger European cities that are warmer than the surrounding countryside, it has also been found in more natural habitats.
...
Wikipedia