This study examined the endemic species of kleptoparasitic spiders in the genus Argyrodes from the Hawaiian Islands, a lineage previously known in the archipelago from only a single described species, Argyrodes hawaiiensis Simon. Here, two additional endemic species are described, A. ilipoepoe Rivera and Gillespie, n. sp., and A. laha Rivera and Gillespie, n. sp., with their biogeographical patterns, and the allotype female and paratypes of A. hawaiiensis are designated. As with A. hawaiiensis, both new species are commonly found as kleptoparasites on the sheet webs of large nocturnal spiders in the genus Orsonwelles (Linyphiidae). Hawaiian Argyrodes are characterized by small and rounded abdomens, unpronounced clypeal projections, and variably long fangs. Argyrodes hawaiiensis; A. ilipoepoe, n. sp.; and A. laha, n. sp., include all the known endemic representatives of the group in the Hawaiian Islands, which mostly occur in wet and mesic forests.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2010
New Species of Endemic Kleptoparasitic Spiders of the Genus Argyrodes (Araneae: Theridiidae) in the Hawaiian Islands
Malia Rivera,
Rosemary G. Gillespie
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Pacific Science
Vol. 64 • No. 2
April 2010
Vol. 64 • No. 2
April 2010