Nephilingis dodo

Nephilingis dodo is an araneid spider endemic to Mauritius.[1] It was found to be separate from the related species Nephilingis borbonica in 2011.[2]

Nephilingis dodo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Nephilingis
Species:	N. dodo
Binomial name
Nephilingis dodo (Kuntner & Agnarsson, 2011)[1]
Synonyms[1]
Nephilengys dodo

Anatomy

Female

The abdomen is strikingly white. Females reach a length of about 23mm.[2]

Male

Males only reach a length of 5 to 6 mm, with a yellow-brown sternum and a grey abdomen with white dots.[2]

Distribution

N. dodo is endemic to Mauritius, where it inhabits the native forests.[2]

Name

Named after the vernacular of the extinct flightless bird from Mauritius, the dodo (Raphus cucullatus). These two species once shared their habitat, the increasingly rare native forests in Mauritius. The specific name, a noun in apposition, is meant to increase awareness of the need for urgent conservation of the Mauritius biota.[2]

References

1. "Taxon details Nephilingis dodo (Kuntner & Agnarsson, 2011)", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2017-05-12
2. Kuntner & Agnarsson 2011: Biogeography and diversification of hermit spiders on Indian Ocean islands (Nephilidae: Nephilengys). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59:477-488.

• 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.