Antillena rickwesti
| Antillena rickwesti | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Theraphosidae |
| Genus: | Antillena |
| Species: | A. rickwesti
|
| Binomial name | |
| Antillena rickwesti (Bertani & Huff, 2013)[2]
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Antillena rickwesti is a species of spider belonging to the family Theraphosidae, the tarantulas. This species is endemic to the Dominican Republic.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]Antillena rickwesti was first formally described in 2013 by Rogério Bertani and Jeremy Huff, as Avicularia rickwesti.[2][3] Only the female was known. The specific name recognizes the contributions to the study of the family Theraphosidae by Rick C. West. At the time of description, it was noted that the species was "very distinct" from others in the genus Avicularia, but no alternative generic placement seemed better.[3] A phylogenetic study published in 2017 suggested that the species was sufficiently distinct from Avicularia to be placed in a separate new genus, Antillena.[4] A second species of Antillena spider, A. miguelangeli, was described in 2017, also from the Dominican Republic.[5]
Etymology
[edit]Antillena rickwesti is the type species of the genus Antillena, this name refers to the Antilles, where the species' only known locality, the Dominican Republic, is located.[4] The specific name as an eponym, honoing the Canadian arachnologist Rick C. West for his contributions to te study of the taxonomy and biology of the spiders in the family Theraphosidae.[3]
Description
[edit]Antillena rickwesti was identified as a new species because it differed from other species in Avicularia by the possession of two extremely short and wide spermathecae, the width of these being twice the length, witha hight scleroticized outer half. They also haveleg coxae have spinelike setae.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Antillena rickwesti is endemic to the Dominican Republic on Hispaniola. The holotype collected from Jaragua National Park in Pedernales Province, subsquently specimens have been collected from Independencia Province, Peravia Province, Azua Province and Barahona Province.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Lista de Especies de Fauna en Peligro de Extinción, Amenazadas o Protegidas de la República Dominica (Lista Roja Nacional) (PDF), Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, 2018, retrieved 2024-11-28
- ^ a b c d "Gen. Antillena Bertani, Hiff & Fukushima, 2017", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2017-03-10
- ^ a b c d Bertani, R. & Huff, J. (2013), "Avicularia rickwesti sp. nov., a remarkable new species of Avicularia (Theraphosidae: Aviculariinae) from Dominican Republic", Zoologia, 30 (3): 333–337, doi:10.1590/S1984-46702013000300012
- ^ a b Fukushima, C.S. & Bertani, R. (2017), "Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of Avicularia Lamarck, 1818 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae) with description of three new aviculariine genera", ZooKeys (659): 1–185, Suppl. 1–5, Bibcode:2017ZooK..659....1F, doi:10.3897/zookeys.659.10717, PMC 5345366, PMID 28331414
- ^ a b Santos, G.D.L. & Bertani, R. (2024). "A new species of the Hispaniolan endemic genus Antillena Bertani, Huff and Fukushima, 2017 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae), with notes on the natural history of the genus". Zootaxa. 5493 (4): 419–430. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5493.4.7.