Additions to the araneofauna of Andhra Pradesh, India - part II. Records of interesting species of the comb-footed genera Latrodectus, Rhomphaea and Coleosoma (Araneae: Theridiidae)

Status and Distribution of Red-Backed Spider, <I>Latrodectus hasseltii</I> Thorell (Araneae: Theridiidae) in Gujarat State, Western India

“…Its closely related and similar looking species L. erythromelas Schmidt and Klaas (1991) was reported from Andhra Pradesh, India which is distinguished from L. hasseltii on the bases of absence of 'hour glass marking' on the ventral side (Srinivasulu et al, 2013). Here, the dorsal and ventral view of the specimens showed species specific 'hour glass markings' which confirms their identity as L. hasseltii.…”

“…All the available Red-backed spiders specimens were closely examined with the help of literature (Tikader, 1987;Srinivasulu et al, 2013), photographs were taken and a few of adults were kept alive for several days/months for studies before they were preserved.…”

Faunal diversity of Theridiidae (Araneomorphae: Araneae: Arachnida) in India: An updated checklist

“…Cambridge, 1882  Goa (Pandit and Dharwadkar, 2020)  Gujarat (Patel and Pillai, 1988;Yadav et al, 2017;Solanki et al, 2020)  Kerala (Rajeevan et al, 2019)  Odisha (Prasad et al, 2020) Elsewhere: Bangladesh, China, Hawaii, India, Japan, Myanmar, Philippines, Seychelles, Thailand 48. Coleosoma floridanum Banks, 1900  Andhra Pradesh (Srinivasulu et al, 2013)  Kerala (Sudhikumar et al, 2008;Sebastian et al, 2012)  West Bengal (Levi, 1959) Elsewhere: Central and South America, China, Europe, Japan, Macaronesia, North Pacific Is., Philippines, Seychelles, West Africa 49. Coleosoma sp.…”

“…Latrodectus elegans Thorell, 1898  Manipur (Kanakbala et al, 2012, 2018 Elsewhere: China, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal 75. Latrodectus erythromelas Schmidt and Klaas, 1991  Andhra Pradesh (Javed et al, 2010;Srinivasulu et al, 2013 (Strand, 1907; Jalajakshi and Nanthini, 2020)  Kerala (Sekhar and Sunil Jose, 2017;Sumesh and Sudhikumar, 2020; Smitha and Sudhikumar, 2020)  Madhya Pradesh (Keswani, 2014)  Meghalaya (Kemp, 1924)  Puducherry (Leardi in Airaghi, 1901;Simon, 1905)  Tamil Nadu (Simon, 1885;Sherriffs, 1919)  West Bengal (Talukdar and Sanyal, 2013) Elsewhere: Central and South America, China, Europe, Indonesia, Japan, Macaronesia, Middle East, New Zealand, North Africa, Pacific Is., Sri Lanka, 93. Nihonhimea brookesiana (Barrion and Litsinger, 1995) Syn.…”

First records of the black widow spider Latrodectus elegans Thorell, 1898 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Nepal

“…While the majority of species are found in Africa/Middle East (~13 species) and North/South Americas (11 species) (World Spider Catalog 2020), southern and southeastern Asia exhibit a relatively low Latrodectus species diversity (three species). Among the Asian species, L. erythromelas Schmidt & Klaas, 1991 has an uncharacteristically narrow distribution range (Sri Lanka and southern India: Schmidt & Klaas 1991;Srinivasulu et al 2013), while L. hasselti appears in southern Asia at the western edge of its vast distribution area (Srinivasulu et al 2013), which also includes Australia and New Zealand (Garb et al 2004). The third species native to southern Asia, L elegans, ranges from India, Burma and China to Japan (Yoshida 2009).…”