Vol. 1, Issue 1, November, 2017
ISSN: 2521-8328
New distribution record of the abandoned-web orb-weaver, Parawixia dehaani (Doleschall, 1859) (Araneae: Araneidae) from the wet zone of Sri Lanka
Tharaka Wijerathna, Dilini Tharanga, Mayuri R. Wijesinghe
Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences,University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
The orb weavers are a highly diversified group of spiders with Family Araneidae having the highest number of species. The distribution records of many of the orb-weaver species in Sri Lanka are scanty, and there is little published information on the descriptions of their morphological features. The current paper reports a new distribution record of Parawixia dehaani, the only orb weaver spider of this genus recorded in Sri Lanka. The present record of the spider is from Keeragala and Indikada Mukalana, both located in the South Western wet zone of the country. The only previous record of this species is from Trincomalee in the North Eastern coast of Sri Lanka, documented 117 years ago. In this paper we also describe the morphometric characteristics, habitats and behavior of this spider found in the newly documented locations.
Keyword
Parawixi adehaani , Sri Lanka, New record, Behavior
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