Asceua tertia : New Species
A new species of ground-dwelling spider, Asceua tertia, was recently discovered in the Western Ghats.
- Asceua tertia is a new species of ground-dwelling spider discovered in the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, which forms part of the Western Ghats.
- It is the third species of the genus Asceua to be documented in India, the others being Asceua cingulata (Simon, 1905) and Asceua thrippalurensis (Sankaran, 2023).
- This genus belongs to the ant-eating spider family Zodariidae and is distinguished by its small size, laterally compressed bulbs, well-developed cymbial folds, long and convoluted copulatory ducts, and dual femoral glands.
- The size ranges from 2.54 mm in males to 3.2 mm in females.
- The males of the species have a yellow-brown prosoma with creamy white to yellow-brown leg and palp segments featuring broad brown patches and narrow longitudinal stripes.
- The abdomen displays three pairs of narrow, creamy white stripes arranged obliquely, a white dot near the rear, and numerous tiny creamy white spots on the sides.
- The females have a dark brown prosoma and a wide, oval abdomen with four pairs of creamy white stripes, along with small anterior and broad posterior creamy white patches on the sides.
