Spintharus berniesandersi

Spintharus berniesandersi is a species of Spintharus ("smiley-faced spiders") in the family Theridiidae. It is endemic to Cuba.

Spintharus berniesandersi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Spintharus
Species:
S. berniesandersi
Binomial name
Spintharus berniesandersi
Agnarsson & Sargeant, 2018[1][2]

It was described in 2018 by Ingi Agnarsson and Lily Sargeant of the University of Vermont in a revision of the genus by Agnarsson and colleagues.[2] This revision is in contrast to Herbert Walter Levi's taxonomy, which considered it to be intraspecific variation within Spintharus flavidus.[3][4]

Distribution

The specimens mentioned in the original species description all came from Cuba. The holotype was collected in Mensura-Piloto National Park, near Mayarí, Holguín Province. Additional specimens were collected from El Yunque Mountain, near Baracoa, Guantánamo Province and Gran Piedra, Santiago de Cuba Province.[2]

Description

The female abdomen lacks humps and is nearly oval.[2]

Measurements

The male's total length is 2.47–2.66 mm, with a cephalothorax length of 0.74–0.98 mm and femur I length of 1.23–1.90 mm. The female's total length is 2.89–2.40 mm, with a cephalothorax length of 0.91–0.80 mm and a femur I length of 1.75–1.44 mm.[2]

Genetics

Part of the diagnosis of S. berniesandersi includes the combination of four specific mitochondrial DNA nucleotide substitutions.[2]

Etymology

The specific name honors Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, whom the authors describe as "a tireless fighter for human rights and equality, and environmentally aware social democracy".[2] Due to its name, this species received media attention.[5][6][7]

gollark: > yknow it takes a lot of effort to write code that makes shell scripts look beautiful and elegant
gollark: Python "shell" scripting.
gollark: Ugh, my internet connection is like an internet connection which isn't working.
gollark: There are, what, 200 words in it?
gollark: It's a really simple conlang.

See also

References
  1. World Spider Catalog (2018). "Spintharus berniesandersi Agnarsson & Sargeant, 2018". World Spider Catalog. 19.0. Bern: Natural History Museum. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. Agnarsson, Ingi; Van Patten, Chloe; Sargeant, Lily; Chomitz, Ben; Dziki, Austin; Binford, Greta J. (2018). "A radiation of the ornate Caribbean 'smiley-faced spiders', with descriptions of 15 new species (Araneae: Theridiidae, Spintharus)" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 182 (4): 772. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx056.
  3. Levi, Herbert W. (1954). "The Spider Genera Episinus and Spintharus from North America, Central America and the West Indies (Araneæ: Theridiidæ)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 62 (2): 65–90. JSTOR 25005540.
  4. Levi, Herbert W. (1963). "The American Spider Genera Spintharus and Thwaitesia (Araneae: Theridiidae)". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 70 (4): 223–234. doi:10.1155/1963/54690.
  5. Guarino, Ben (26 September 2017). "Meet Bernie Sanders's new namesake: A spider from Cuba". Washington Post.
  6. Lewis, Rachel (26 September 2017). "Meet the New Spider Species Named After Bernie Sanders". Time. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  7. Klepper, Jordan; Miller, Stuart; Noah, Trevor. "September 26, 2017: Neal Katyal". The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. Season 1. Episode 2. Comedy Central. Scientists have named a new species of spider after Bernie Sanders, and I can only assume its webs try to cover everybody.


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