Nephilengys papuana

Nephilengys papuana
N. papuana from northern Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Nephilidae
Genus:	Nephilengys
Species:	N. papuana
Binomial name
Nephilengys papuana (Thorell, 1881)
Synonyms
Nephilengys malabarensis var. β Nephilengys rainbowi Nephilengys malabarensis Nephila malabarensis papuana Nephila malabarensis

Nephilengys papuana is a species of nephilid spider.

N. papuana with egg sac and spiderlings

These animals are currently considered a population of Nephilengys malabarensis. A recent publication ^[1] presents the case for them to be reinstated as a full species.

Female body length is about 17 mm, male length less than 5 mm.

Male spiders apparently self-emasculate after copulation.

At least in Nephilengys, this strategy enables remote copulation, a continuation of sperm transfer after males are detached from copula, which is an additional mechanism to secure eunuch paternity (Li et al. 2012). Although Nephilengys papuana eunuchs have not been subject to experimental testing, early research reported incidents of post-mating emasculation in this species (Robinson and Robinson 1980) and thus its behavior is likely to closely resemble that of its sister species.^[2]

Name

The species name is derived from Papua.

Distribution

The species occurs in New Guinea and tropical Australia (Queensland).^[1]

References

1. 1 2 Matjaž Kuntner (2007). "A monograph of Nephilengys, the pantropical 'hermit spiders' (Araneae, Nephilidae, Nephilinae)". Systematic Entomology. 32 (1): 95–135. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2006.00348.x. 
2. ↑ Kuntner, Matjaž, et al. "Eunuch supremacy: evolution of post-mating spider emasculation." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69.1 (2015): 117-126.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nephilengys papuana.