Stalita taenaria is an araneomorph spider species in the family Dysderidae.[2] The species is classified as a member of troglofauna, more precisely a troglobiont species, meaning such spiders are obligate cave-dwellers adapted to living in dark surroundings.[3][4] Stalita taenaria is a species of a few European countries.[5] The spider is thought to be the first described species of true (eyeless[6]) cave spider in the world.[7][8]
| Stalita taenaria | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stalita taenaria, cave in Slovenian Karst | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Dysderidae |
| Genus: | Stalita |
| Species: | S. taenaria
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| Binomial name | |
| Stalita taenaria | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Taxonomy
editThe species was first described and named by Danish entomologist Jørgen Matthias Christian Schiødte in 1847.[9] In the same year Schiødte also named and described the genus Stalita,[10] while making Stalita taenaria its type species.[11] Besides S. taenaria there are three more species in the same genus.[12]
Description
editMales
editMales of this species are approximately 6.7 millimetres long. They have densely haired and oval opisthosoma (abdomen) which is of bright ivory colour. Their legs are reddish-brown and covered with many characteristic spines which are located only on a spider's tibial and femoral part of a leg. A spider has a flattened prosoma (cephalothorax) of dark rusty-brown colour. Bulbs of their pedipalps are quite long and shaped nearly cylindrical; they end with many long teeth. A peak of the embolus is claw-shaped.[5]
Females
editFemales of this species are a bit bigger, usually reaching from 7 to 9 millimetres of length, with their prosoma reaching from 3.2 to 3.7 millimetres. A female's mouth parts, the chelicerae, consist of a promargin with three and retromargin containing only one tooth. A characteristic of females is also a vulva, which has T-shaped anterior part.[5]
Distribution
editStalita taenaria is a relatively rare European troglobite species, limited to countries of Slovenia, Italy and Croatia.[5]
Gallery
edit
References
edit- ^ a b "Stalita taenaria Schiödte, 1847". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Bern, Natural History Museum. "NMBE - World Spider Catalog - Stalita taenaria". wsc.nmbe.ch. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ "Jamarski leksikon". www.jamarska-zveza.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ Pipan T., Pečnik M., Drole F., Kozel P. Inventarizacija jamske favne na Kočevskem - Poročilo o rezultatih raziskave pred sanacijskim čiščenjem jam (2016). Retrieved 24.10.2021 (in Slovenian).
- ^ a b c d "Araneae (Spiders of Europe) - Stalita taenaria Schiödte, 1847". araneae.nmbe.ch. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ Mammola, Stefano; Isaia, Marco (2017-04-26). "Spiders in caves". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1853): 20170193. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0193. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5413924. PMID 28446696.
- ^ Pavlek, Martina; Arnedo, Miquel; Gasparo, Fulvio; Adrian, Silvia (2018). "Unraveling the evolutionary history of the cave-dwelling Dysderidae in the Dinarides". ARPHA Conference Abstracts. 1. doi:10.3897/aca.1.e29975. S2CID 85557661.
- ^ Ramšak, Lucija (2007). "Vpliv turizma na kopensko favno Postojnske in Otoške jame : diplomsko delo". repozitorij.uni-lj.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ "ITIS - Report: Stalita taenaria". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ "ITIS - Report: Stalita". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ "World Spider Catalog- Stalita". research.amnh.org. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ^ "NMBE - World Spider Catalog - Stalita". wsc.nmbe.ch. Retrieved 2021-10-24.