Thelacantha

Thelacantha
	Female T. brevispina from Taiwan
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Thelacantha; Hasselt, 1907
Species:	T. brevispina
Binomial name
	Thelacantha brevispina; (Doleschall, 1857)

Thelacantha is a spider genus of the Araneidae family with only one described species, Thelacantha brevispina.^[2] The species is closely related to Gasteracantha, and was synonymized with it in 1859, but revalidated in 1974.^[1]

Distribution

The species is found in Madagascar, in southern Asia from India to Philippines, Japan and Australia.^[2]^[1]

Taxonomy

Saito described three other Thelacantha species in 1933, which were later synonymized with T. brevispina. T. brevispina has quite often been misidentified as Gasteracantha mammosa, which is now G. cancriformis.^[1]

T. brevispina has gone through a checkered name history, with many synonyms:^[1]

Plectana brevispina Doleschall, 1857
Plectana roseolimbata Doleschall, 1859
Plectana flavida Doleschall, 1859
Gasteracantha mammeata Thorell, 1859
Gasteracantha guttata Thorell, 1859
Gasteracantha borbonica Vinson, 1863
Gasteracantha alba Vinson, 1863
Gasteracantha canningensis Stoliczka, 1869
Gasteracantha suminata L. Koch, 1871
Gasteracantha mastoidea L. Koch, 1872
Stanneoclavis suminata (Karsch, 1878)
Stanneoclavis mastoidea (Karsch, 1878)
Actinacantha maculata Karsch, 1878
Gasteracantha brevispina (Thorell, 1878)
Gasteracantha observatrix O. P.-Cambridge, 1879
Gasteracantha mammosa Hasselt, 1882
Gasteracantha flavida (Hasselt, 1882)
Stanneoclavis latronum Simon, 1890
Gasteracantha sola Saito, 1933
Gasteracantha sparsa Saito, 1933
Gasteracantha formosana Saito, 1933
Thelacantha brevispina (Benoit, 1964)

Diversity of females from Japan

Description

Females grow to a body size of about 6–10 mm, with males reaching a size of 3-5mm.^[2]

Large female *T. brevispinna* from Hilo, Hawai'i ('Akaka Falls region)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Gen. Thelacantha Hasselt, 1882". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Murphy, Frances; Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

External links

[WSC_g413-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Gen. Thelacantha Hasselt, 1882". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2016-02-25.

[MurpMurp00-2] Murphy, Frances; Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

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