[Arachnida • 2022] Meotipa Species (Araneae: Theridiidae) from China

Meotipa pulcherrima female with its spiderlings;

  M. picturata female on its web; M. spiniventris female with egg sac

in Deng, Agnarsson, Chen & Liu, 2022. 

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1082.75400

Photographs by Zhongwei Deng in Yunnan Province.

Abstract

In an ongoing effort to expand knowledge of the Chinese cobweb spider fauna (Theridiidae), the genus Meotipa Simon, 1894 is reviewed. Two new species are described, Meotipa pseudopicturata sp. nov., Meotipa striata sp. nov., and five known species are redescribed: Meotipa argyrodiformis (Yaginuma, 1952), Meotipa pulcherrima (Mello-Leitão, 1917), Meotipa picturata Simon, 1895, Meotipa spiniventris (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869), and Meotipa vesiculosa Simon, 1895.

Keywords: Cobweb spider, comb-footed spider, flattened black spines, long-legged theridiid spiders, new species, taxonomy

Field photographs A M. picturata female on its web B M. spiniventris female with egg sac
C, D M. pulcherrima female with its spiderlings.

Photographs by Zhongwei Deng in Yunnan Province.

 Zhongwei Deng, Ingi Agnarsson, Zhanqi Chen and Jie Liu. 2022. Meotipa Species (Araneae, Theridiidae) from China. ZooKeys. 1082: 153-178. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1082.75400