Novanapis Explained

Novanapis is a genus of South Pacific araneomorph spiders in the family Anapidae, containing the single species, Novanapis spinipes. It was first described by Norman I. Platnick & Raymond Robert Forster in 1989,^[1] and has only been found in New Zealand.^[2]

Taxonomy

This species was described as Chasmocephalon spinipes in 1951 by Ray Forster from male and female specimens.^[3] It was later transferred to Pseudanapis in 1959.^[4] The species was given its own genus name by Norman Platnick and Ray Forster in 1989. The holotype is stored in Canterbury Museum.

Description

The male is recorded at 1.48mm in length whereas the female is 1.49mm. This species is coloured dark brown.

Distribution

This species is known from the North Island and most of the South Island of New Zealand.

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Not Threatened".^[5]

Notes and References

1. Platnick . N. I. . Forster . R. R. . 1989 . A revision of the temperate South American and Australasian spiders of the family Anapidae (Araneae, Araneoidea). . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 190 . 1–139.
2. Web site: Gen. Novanapis Platnick & Forster, 1989. World Spider Catalog. 2019-05-09. Natural History Museum Bern.
3. Forster . R.R. . 1951 . New Zealand spiders of the family Symphytognathidae . Records of the Canterbury Museum . 5 . 231–244.
4. Forster . R.R. . 1959 . The spiders of the family Symphytognathidae . Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand . 86 . 3/4 . 269–329.
5. 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 . New Zealand Threat Classification Series . English . 34 . 1–37.