- Theotima minutissima
Taxobox
name ="Theotima minutissima"
image_caption =
image_width = 250px
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Arachnid a
ordo = Araneae
subordo =Araneomorphae
familia =Ochyroceratidae
genus = "Theotima "
species = "T. minutissima"
binomial = "Theotima minutissima"
binomial_authority = (Petrunkevitch, 1929)
range_
range_map_width = 250px"Theotima minutissima" is a minute (0.9mm) spider.
Distribution
"T. minutissima" occurs in
Panama , thePhilippines ,Indonesia ,Thailand andGuam . It is especially abundant in the tropical forest leaf litter on El Yunque,Puerto Rico .However, with more than a thousand specimens collected over many years, none has ever been a male. It is now known that at least this species, and possibly others in the genus "Theotima", reproduce
parthenogenetic ally.Its preferred habitat is litter composed of smaller leaves in second growth forests with understory shrubs or in those forests with damper and more easily decayed leaves such as
mahogany . The species prefers elevations less than 800m.References
* Edwards (2003): Observations of "Theotima minutissimus" (Araneae, Ochyroceratidae), a parthenogenetic spider. "The Journal of Arachnology" 31:274-277 [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v31_n2/arac-031-02-0274.pdf PDF]
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