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Type: Correspondence
Published: 2013-12-18
Page range: 185–188
Abstract views: 41
PDF downloaded: 1

The female of Heteropoda schwalbachorum Jäger, 2008 (Araneae: Sparassidae)

Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in the Tropics, Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Drinkable Plants Institute (Tea Research Center), Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Arachnology, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Center of Animal Behaviour and Evolution, College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
Araneae

Abstract

Besides the genus Olios Walckenaer, 1837, Heteropoda Latreille, 1804 is the most diverse genus in the spider family Sparassidae. Currently, a total of 217 Heteropoda species is known, among them 16 species from China (Platnick 2013). The species Heteropoda schwalbachorum Jäger, 2008 was first described by only one male specimen from Mt. Bawangling (Hainan Province, China) (Jäger 2008). For the present study, the authors examined Heteropoda specimens recently collected from Hainan Province and found that 18 males and 15 females belong to this species by comparison with the type specimen. Moreover, one couple was collected in copula (Mt. Jianfengling, 18 April 2013). According to these new records, the species appears to be very common on Hainan Island. In the present paper, the female of H. schwalbachorum is described for the first time.