Leo's Money Spider Laetesia leo van Helsdingen, 1972
Fauna Portal species: 7553
Laetesia leo female, epigyne ventral (WAM 72/324; Koonalda Cave (5N-4), Nullarbor Plain, South Australia)
Image: van Helsdingen (1972; fig. 16)
Fauna Portal Image No. 5899Diagnosis
(after van Helsdingen 1972): Laetesia leo resembles L. oceaniae from the New Hebrides in size, abdominal pattern, slenderness of the legs, and the lack of femoral spines. The cephalothorax has a different pattern (dark brown with a light spot on the fovea in L. oceaniae), while the latero-ventral scapes of the epi gyne of L. oceaniae are longer with small (still functional?) terminal sockets. In all other species of the genus the latero-ventral scapes are broader, and their tips bear well-developed sockets, and L. oceaniae and L. leo therefore also have in common the general shape of the epigyne.
Status
- native
Australia
- South Australia
Fauna Portal Records
The map shows all records that have been verified as part of the Fauna Portal project and may not represent the true distribution of a species. Specifically, for described species, check the link to the Atlas of Living Australia on this page for potential wider distributions. Fauna Portal Reference specimens and Linnean types are shown in red. If you identified a specimen that exceeds the distribution of an undescribed species as illustrated here, please contact the Fauna Portal team who can assist with the lodgement of the specimen in a public institution and display on the map.
Publications
(1972): An account of money spiders from down under (Araneida, Linyphiidae). Zoologische Mededelingen. 47: 369 - 390