Gaius villosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Idiopidae
Genus: Gaius
Species:
G. villosus
Binomial name
Gaius villosus
Synonyms[1]
  • Anidiops villosus (Rainbow, 1914)

Gaius villosus is a species of spider in the family Idiopidae (armored trapdoor spiders) found in Western Australia in a variety of different habitats.[2]

Originally described in 1914 as Gaius villosus by William Joseph Rainbow,[1][3] in 1957 it was transferred to Anidiops by Barbara Main[1][4] (a genus no longer recognized). In 2017, it was returned to Gaius by Rix and others[1][5] – at the time it was the sole species in the genus,[5] although others have been added since.[1]

Number 16,[6] aged approximately 43 years at death and thought to be the longest-lived spider on record, was a female of this species.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Gen. Gaius Rainbow, 1914", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 16 May 2018
  2. ^ "Threatened Trapdoor Spiders of the Avon" (PDF). Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management. p. 8. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  3. ^ Rainbow, W. J. (15 August 1914). "Studies in Australian Araneidae. No. 6. The Terretelarinae" (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum. 10 (8): 187–270. doi:10.3853/J.0067-1975.10.1914.901. ISSN 0067-1975. Wikidata Q56196374.
  4. ^ Main, B. Y. (1957). "Biology of Aganippine trapdoor spiders (Mygalomorphae: Ctenizidae)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 5 (4): 402. doi:10.1071/ZO9570402. ISSN 0004-959X. Wikidata Q99572730.
  5. ^ a b Rix, Michael G.; Raven, Robert J.; Main, Barbara York; Harrison, Sophie E.; Austin, Andrew D.; Cooper, Steven J.B.; Harvey, Mark S. (2017). "The Australasian spiny trapdoor spiders of the family Idiopidae (Mygalomorphae : Arbanitinae): a relimitation and revision at the generic level". Invertebrate Systematics. doi:10.1071/IS16065.
  6. ^ Leanda Denise Mason; Grant Wardell-Johnson; Barbara York Main (2018). "The longest-lived spider: mygalomorphs dig deep, and persevere" (PDF). Pacific Conservation Biology. 24 (2): 203. doi:10.1071/PC18015. ISSN 1038-2097. Wikidata Q56657531.
  7. ^ Nelson, Bryan (28 April 2018). "World's longest-lived spider died at the ripe old age of 43". MNN - Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  8. ^ "The extraordinary life and death of the world's oldest known spider". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 31 December 2021.


Categories