Unicorn (spider) added to category
| ← Previous revision | Revision as of 00:06, 27 June 2016 | ||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
==Description== |
==Description== |
||
| − | Species of ''Unicorn'' range from 2.2 to 3.0 mm in body length (from tip of the [[Spider anatomy#Cephalothorax|cephalothorax]] to end of abdomen, excluding legs). The cephalothorax, yellow in color, ranges from 1 to 1.2 mm long (around |
+ | Species of ''Unicorn'' range from 2.2 to 3.0 mm in body length (from tip of the [[Spider anatomy#Cephalothorax|cephalothorax]] to end of abdomen, excluding legs). The cephalothorax, yellow in color, ranges from 1 to 1.2 mm long (around 40–49% of body length depending on species) and often possesses a central grey patch with four lines radiating towards the eyes. The [[opisthosoma|abdomen]] is white with dark chevron patterns on the dorsal surface, and in some species a pair of dark lines on the underside. The body is covered with a dense covering of long stiff hairs ([[setae]]). The legs are long, slender, and yellow. There are six eyes, roughly equal in size, arranged in roughly triangular groups of three, with two eyes meeting in the middle, forming a wide "H" or bow-tie pattern. Species of ''Unicorn'' are considered "soft-bodied", as the abdomen lacks the hardened plates that occur in many other goblin spiders. The abdomen possesses six [[Spinneret (spider)|spinnerets]].<ref name="Platnick&Brescovit1995">{{cite journal|authors=Platnick, N. I. & Brescovit, A. D.|year=1995|title= On ''Unicorn'', a new genus of the spider family Oonopidae (Araneae, Dysderoidea)|journal= American Museum Novitates|number= 3152|pages=1–12|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/3670//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3152.pdf?sequence=1}}</ref><ref name="Reyes et al. 2010">{{cite journal|authors=Gonzales Reyes, A. X., Corronca, J. A., & Cava, M. B. |year=2010|title= New species of ''Unicorn'' Platnick & Brescovit (Araneae, Oonopidae) from north-west Argentina|journal= Munis Entomology & Zoology|volume= 5|number=2|pages=374–379|url=http://www.munisentzool.org/yayin/vol5/issue2/374-379.pdf}}</ref> |
[[File:Unicorn catleyi, embolus and translucent sclerite.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Male pedipalp of ''U. catleyi'' showing embolus, sub-basal hook, and translucent sclerite]] |
[[File:Unicorn catleyi, embolus and translucent sclerite.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Male pedipalp of ''U. catleyi'' showing embolus, sub-basal hook, and translucent sclerite]] |
||
Males and females show some differences in morphology: male jaws ([[chelicerae]]) are longer and more slender than those of females; the male palpal tibiae—the penultimate segment of the [[pedipalp]]s—are enlarged compared to females; and males alone possess a "clypeal horn", a forward-pointing projection of the [[clypeus]] surrounded by long stiff hairs, from which the genus name ''Unicorn'' ("one horn" in Latin) derives.<ref name="Platnick&Brescovit1995"/>{{efn|The species name of ''U. sikus'' also alludes to the horn, which, according to the team that described ''U. sikus'', is reminiscent of the [[Siku (instrument)|sikus]], a traditional Andean panpipe.<ref name="Reyes et al. 2010"/>}} |
Males and females show some differences in morphology: male jaws ([[chelicerae]]) are longer and more slender than those of females; the male palpal tibiae—the penultimate segment of the [[pedipalp]]s—are enlarged compared to females; and males alone possess a "clypeal horn", a forward-pointing projection of the [[clypeus]] surrounded by long stiff hairs, from which the genus name ''Unicorn'' ("one horn" in Latin) derives.<ref name="Platnick&Brescovit1995"/>{{efn|The species name of ''U. sikus'' also alludes to the horn, which, according to the team that described ''U. sikus'', is reminiscent of the [[Siku (instrument)|sikus]], a traditional Andean panpipe.<ref name="Reyes et al. 2010"/>}} |
||
| Line 48: | Line 48: | ||
==Habitat== |
==Habitat== |
||
| − | Species of ''Unicorn'' have mostly been found at elevations between {{convert|1,000|to|4,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level, many from [[semi-desert]] regions. ''U. socos'' has been collected at {{convert|360|m|ft|abbr=on}} in central Chile.<ref name="Platnick&Brescovit1995"/> The spiders are hard to detect in the field, and most species have been collected by [[pitfall trap]]ping. They are uncommon in museum collections, and almost nothing is known about their natural history.<ref name="Reyes et al. 2010"/><ref name="Izquierdo&Rubio2011">{{cite journal|last1=Izquierdo|first1= Matías A.|first2= Gonzalo D.|last2= Rubio|title=Male genital mutilation in the high-mountain goblin spider, ''Unicorn catleyi''|journal=Journal of Insect Science|volume= 11| number =118|year=2011|doi=10.1673/031.011.11801|url=http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/1/118}}</ref> |
+ | Species of ''Unicorn'' have mostly been found at elevations between {{convert|1,000|to|4,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level, many from [[semi-desert]] regions. ''U. socos'' has been collected at {{convert|360|m|ft|abbr=on}} in central Chile.<ref name="Platnick&Brescovit1995"/> The spiders are hard to detect in the field, and most species have been collected by [[pitfall trap]]ping. They are uncommon in museum collections, and almost nothing is known about their natural history.<ref name="Reyes et al. 2010"/><ref name="Izquierdo&Rubio2011">{{cite journal|last1=Izquierdo|first1= Matías A.|first2= Gonzalo D.|last2= Rubio|title=Male genital mutilation in the high-mountain goblin spider, ''Unicorn catleyi''|journal=Journal of Insect Science|volume= 11|issue= 118|pages= 1| number =118|year=2011|doi=10.1673/031.011.11801|url=http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/1/118}}</ref> |
==Species and distribution== |
==Species and distribution== |
||
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire