Ascuta monowai

Ascuta monowai is a species of Orsolobidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.^[1]

Ascuta monowai
Conservation status
Data Deficient (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Orsolobidae
Genus:	Ascuta
Species:	A. monowai
Binomial name
Ascuta monowai Forster & Platnick, 1985

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1985 by Ray Forster and Norman Platnick from a single female specimen collected at Lake Monowai. The species name refers to the locality of the holotype. The holotype is stored at Otago Museum.^[1]

Description

The female is recorded at 3.04mm in length. The carapace and abdomen are patterned.^[1]

Distribution

This species is only known from near Lake Monowai in Southland, 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".^[2]

References

1. Forster, R.R; Platnick, N.L (1985). "A review of the austral spider family Orsolobidae (Arachnida, Araneae), with notes on the superfamily Dysderoidea". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 181: 1–230.
2. 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.