Helsdingenia

Helsdingenia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Linyphiidae
Genus:	Helsdingenia Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2003 [1]
Type species
H. ceylonica (van Helsdingen, 1985)
Species
4, see text

Helsdingenia is a genus of dwarf spiders that was first described by Michael I. Saaristo & A. V. Tanasevitch in 2003. ^[2] The name is a reference to Dr. P. J van Helsdingen. ^[3]

They are usually pale colored spiders that grow up to 2.45 millimetres (0.096 in) long. Males are smaller than females, but females are distinguishable by their finger-like extensions in epigyne. ^[3] There are four pairs of dark spots in an abdominal pattern that are connected to each other, creating two parallel stripes.

Species

As of May 2019 ^[update] it contains four species, found in Cameroon, Comoros, Indonesia, on Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka: ^[1]

• Helsdingenia ceylonica (van Helsdingen, 1985) (type) – Nepal, Sri Lanka
• Helsdingenia extensa (Locket, 1968) – St. Helena, Africa, Madagascar, Comoros
• Helsdingenia hebes (Locket & Russell-Smith, 1980) – Nigeria, Cameroon
• Helsdingenia hebesoides Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2003 – Indonesia (Sumatra)

See also

• List of Linyphiidae species (A–H)

References

1. "Gen. Helsdingenia Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2003". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2019-06-15.
2. Saaristo, M. I.; Tanasevitch, A. V. (2003). "Helsdingenia gen.n., a new micronetid genus from Old-World tropics (Aranei: Linyphiidae: Micronetinae)". Arthropoda Selecta. 11: 153–158.
3. "Helsdingenia gen.n., a new micronetid from Old World Tropics" (PDF). Arthropoda Selecta. Retrieved 2016-05-06.