Small Mouse Spider Missulena minima Marsh, Stevens & Framenau, 2023
Fauna Portal species: 12678
Missulena minima male, dorsal (WAM T148307; West Perenjori Nature Reserve, Western Australia)
Image: Marsh et al. (2014; 2d)
Fauna Portal Image No. 7172Diagnosis
(after Marsh et al. 2023): Males of Missulena minima are morphologically closest to males of M. mainae and M. ignea, which share a bright red pars cephalica, pars thoracica, and chelicerae. They differ from M. ignea by the absence of scopulae on tarsus III and IV, and the presence of a swollen metatarsus IV. They can be separated from M. mainae by the larger number of spines in the rasps of patella IV, with ca. 35 in M. minima, whereas M. mainae has 12 on patella IV. They further differ by the smaller size, ranging from 4.14−5.10 in M. minima, and 5.27−6.09 in M. mainae, and by the number of maxillary cuspules, ranging from 86−108 in M. mainae and 52−60 in M. minima. They can be further separated by the shape of the embolus, which is elongate and curved in M. minima, but is short, with a basal embolar intumesence in M. mainae.
Status
- native
Linnean Holotype
Australia
- Western Australia
Fauna Portal Records
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