Gasparia
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| Gasparia | |
|---|---|
_Te_Papa_125470_262249.jpg) | |
| Gasparia delli | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Toxopidae |
| Genus: | Gasparia Marples, 1956[1] |
| Type species | |
| G. nebulosa Marples, 1956 | |
| Species | |
|
22, see text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Gasparia is a genus of South Pacific araneomorph spiders in the family Toxopidae, and was first described by Brian J. Marples in 1956. Originally placed with the intertidal spiders, it was moved to the Toxopidae in 2017. Ranging in size between 1.5–4 mm (0.059–0.157 in), the genus is endemic to New Zealand, with most members found living in forested areas.
In the original description, Marples described the genus as below:
Size small. Chelicerae with teeth on both margins of the groove. None of the spinnerets enlarged.[3]
Members of the genus range in size from 1.5–4 mm (0.059–0.157 in), have a relatively low carapace and an ill-defined head region. The eye-group occupies between half to two-thirds of the width of the animal's heads. Eyes are ordered into two rows, and the clypeus is low. The genus most closely resembles Gohia visually, but can be differentiated by internal genitalia.[4]
Taxonomy
The genus was first described by Brian J. Marples in 1956, naming G. nebulosa as the type species.[3] Originally a monotypic genus, G. nebulosa was joined by G. delli in 1967, when Pekka T. Lehtinen recombined the species (originally known as Ostearius delli, and later Hina delli).[2] In the same paper, Lehtinen synonymised the genus Hina with Gasparia.[2] The genus was greatly expanded in 1970, when Ray Forster described 19 new members of the genus, and recombined Myro manningeri as a member of Gasparia.[4]
In 2017, the genus was moved from the Desidae family to Toxopidae, based on phylogenetic analysis. The analysis suggests that the closest related genus to Gasparia is Otagoa, and that the genus is more distantly related to Lamina, Myro and Ommatauxesis.[5]
Behaviour
Members of Gasparia do not construct snares, and typically lay egg sacs in a typical domed structure.[4]