Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Opadometa sarawakensis)

By

Miller, Jeremy A.
Freund, Christian
Rambonnet, Liselotte
Koets, Lianne
Barth, Nadine
Van Der Linden, Corné
Geml, József
Schilthuizen, Menno, 1965-
Burger, Richard
Goossens, Benoit

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018-04-03

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

6

Pages

1--14

Subjects

Borneo , orb web , Sexual size dimorphism , Spider , tropical field course

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e24777
eLocator: e24777

 

Abstract

Males ofOpadometaare difficult to associate with conspecific females, and sex-matching errors may persist in the taxonomic literature. Recommended best practices for definitive sex matching in this genus suggest finding a male in the web of a female, or better yet, mating pairs.A maleOpadometawas observed hanging on a frame line of the web of a femaleOpadometasarawakensis, a species for which the male was previously undescribed. This occurred during a tropical ecology field course held at the Danau Girang Field Centre in Sabah, Malaysia. A taxonomic description was completed as a course activity.