Scotospilus westlandicus explained

Scotospilus westlandicus is a species of Hahniidae spider endemic to New Zealand.^[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described as Tuana westlandica by Ray Forster in 1970 from a female specimen. In 1986, Tuana was recognized as a synonym of Scotospilus, so the species name was changed to Scotospilus westlandicus.^[2] The holotype is stored in Otago Museum.

Description

The female is recorded at 1.87mm in length. It is coloured similarly to Scotospilus plenus.

Distribution

This species is only known from Westland, New Zealand.

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Data Deficient" with the qualifiers of "Data Poor: Size", "Data Poor: Trend" and "One Location".^[3]

Notes and References

1. Forster, R. R. (1970). The spiders of New Zealand. Part III. Otago Museum Bulletin 3: 1-184
2. Brignoli, P. M. (1986). Spiders from Melanesia III. A new Alistra (Araneae, Hahniidae) from the Solomon Islands. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona 11: 327-332
3. Sirvid . P. J. . Vink . C. J. . Fitzgerald . B. M. . Wakelin . M. D. . Rolfe . J. . Michel . P. . 2020-01-01 . Conservation status of New Zealand Araneae (spiders), 2020 . New Zealand Threat Classification Series . English . 34 . 1–37.