Scotospilus westlandicus

Scotospilus westlandicus
Conservation status
Data Deficient (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Hahniidae
Genus:	Scotospilus
Species:	S. westlandicus
Binomial name
Scotospilus westlandicus (Forster, 1970)
Synonyms
Tuana westlandica

Scotospilus westlandicus is a species of Hahniidae spider endemic to New Zealand. ^[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described as Tuana westlandica by Ray Forster in 1970 from a female specimen. ^[1] In 1986, Tuana was recognized as a synonym of Scotospilus , so the species name was changed to Scotospilus westlandicus. ^[2] The holotype is stored in Otago Museum. ^[1]

Description

The female is recorded at 1.87mm in length. It is coloured similarly to Scotospilus plenus . ^[1]

Distribution

This species is only known from Westland, New Zealand. ^[1]

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Data Deficient" with the qualifiers of "Data Poor: Size", "Data Poor: Trend" and "One Location". ^[3]

References

1. Forster, R. R. (1970). The spiders of New Zealand. Part III. Otago Museum Bulletin3: 1-184
2. Brignoli, P. M. (1986). Spiders from Melanesia III. A new Alistra (Araneae, Hahniidae) from the Solomon Islands. Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona11: 327-332
3. Sirvid, P. J.; Vink, C. J.; Fitzgerald, B. M.; Wakelin, M. D.; Rolfe, J.; Michel, P. (2020-01-01). "Conservation status of New Zealand Araneae (spiders), 2020" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 34: 1–37.