Leaf-curling Orb-weaver Leviana dimidiata (L. Koch, 1871)

(after Framenau & Kuntner 2022): Leviana dimidiata is most similar to L. folium in both somatic (size, colouration) and genitalic morphology. However, they can be clearly separated by the abdominal pattern, particularly by the shape of the black anterior shoulder marks and lateral lines. In L. dimidiata, the anterior black marks and lateral lines form an obtuse internal angle, whereas in L. folium this angle is acute. Male pedipalp morphology differs subtly in some key sclerites; for example, the terminal apophysis has a sclerotised tip in L. dimidiata which is absent in L. folium, the conductor is more prominent and more elongated and the spine in the basal arch of the median apophysis is comparatively much larger. The base of the scape of the female epigyne protrudes further anteriorly in L. dimidiata than in L. folium.

• native

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Queensland
• Victoria