Three new species of Idiops Perty, 1833 (Araneae: Idiopidae) from India

Abstract

Three new species of the front-eyed trapdoor genus Idiops, viz., Idiops joida sp. nov. from the Western Ghats of Karnataka, I. mettupalayam sp. nov. from the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and I. oriya sp. nov. from Odhisa, are described. Natural history information for all these species is provided as is an identification key to Idiops species from South andSoutheast Asia.

Five new species of trap-door spiders (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) from India

“…nov. closely resemble those of I. bombayensis Siliwal et al, 2005, I. constructor (Pocock, 1900), andI. mettupalayam Ganeshkumar &Siliwal, 2013 in having a triangular spine on tibial spur of leg I but can be distinguished from those of other Idiops species by having prolateral metatarsi I normal without any excavation, see Fig. 31 (like I. joida Gupta et al, 2013 andI.…”

“…mettupalayam Ganeshkumar &Siliwal, 2013 in having a triangular spine on tibial spur of leg I but can be distinguished from those of other Idiops species by having prolateral metatarsi I normal without any excavation, see Fig. 31 (like I. joida Gupta et al, 2013 andI. pylorus Schwendinger, 1991) and slightly bent at base, see Fig.…”

“…Since 2009, interest in trapdoor spiders has gained momentum amongst aspiring arachnologists and a number of species have been described or redescribed (Sanap & Mirza 2011, 2015Sen et al 2012;Gupta et al 2013). Due to lack of detailed descriptive literature and comparative materials, however, many species have been either misidentified or have undergone taxonomic changes (Siliwal 2009;.…”

Taxonomic revision of the Neotropical spiders of the genus Idiops Perty, 1833 (Araneae, Idiopidae), with description of four new species

“…These burrows provide a suitable microclimate that protects the spiders from predators, parasites and microbial infections, and behave as effective expansions for ambushing prey (Dippenaar-Schoeman 2002;Pérez-Miles & Perafán 2017). Idiops spiders live in a variety of habitats, ranging from dry environments with scattered vegetation and harder soils to more humid environments with dense vegetation and softer soils (Dippenaar-Schoeman 2002;Gupta et al 2013;RFF pers. obs.).…”

Natural history of the trapdoor spider Idiops joida Gupta et al 2013 (Araneae: Idiopidae) from the Western Ghats in India

“…This species was also selected because it is highly vulnerable to habitat modification and habitat destruction due to its sedentary habit, extended maturation time, and prolonged nesting time. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to understand habitat preference and burrow characteristics of Idiops joida Gupta et al, 2013 (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) across different habitats.…”