Five New Armored Spiders Discovered in China

Five new armored spiders have been discovered in the caves of South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

AsianScientist (Mar. 24, 2014) – Scientists have discovered five new species of armored spiders lurking in the darkness of the caves in Southeast China.

Armored spiders (Tetrablemmidae) are medium to small species that derive their name from the complex pattern of the plates covering their abdomen strongly resembling body armor. They are mainly collected from litter and soil, but some have been found in caves. These cave species show typical adaptations of cave spiders, such as the loss of eyes.

The five new spiders were collected from the South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The South China Karst spans the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan, and is noted for its rich biodiversity.

Professor Li Shuqiang and his team have investigated more than 2,000 caves in the South China Karst. The five new species join several hundred other cave spiders reported by Professor Li and colleagues. Over the last ten years, the total known spider species of China has increased from 2,300 species to 4,300 species.

The article can be found at: Lin and Li. (2014) New cave-dwelling armored spiders (Araneae, Tetrablemmidae) from Southwest China.

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Source: Zookeys.

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