Phoroncidia puketoru

Phoroncidia puketoru
Conservation status
Data Deficient (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Theridiidae
Genus:	Phoroncidia
Species:	P. puketoru
Binomial name
Phoroncidia puketoru (Marples, 1955)
Synonyms
Ulesanis puketoru

Phoroncidia puketoru is a species of cobweb spider that is endemic to New Zealand.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1955 by Brian John Marples from male and female specimens.[1] It was moved to the Phoroncidia genus in 1983.[2] The holotype is stored in Otago Museum.[1]

Description

The male is recorded at 1.42mm in length whereas the female is 1.68mm. The body is mostly dark brown. The abdomen has mottled patches of pale cream.[1]

Distribution

This species is known from scattered localities throughout New Zealand.[1]

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Data Deficient" with the qualifiers of "Data Poor: Size" and "Data Poor: Trend".[3]

References

1. Marples, B. J.; Mattaews, L. Harrison (1955). "A new type of web spun by spiders of the genus Ulesanis with the description of two new species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 125 (3–4): 751–760. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1955.tb00625.x. ISSN 0370-2774.
2. Brignoli, P. M. (1983). A catalogue of the Araneae described between 1940 and 1981. Manchester University Press, 755 pp
3. Sirvid, P. J.; Vink, C. J.; Fitzgerald, B. M.; Wakelin, M. D.; Rolfe, J.; Michel, P. (2020-01-01). "Conservation status of New Zealand Araneae (spiders), 2020" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 34: 1–37.