Meotipa pulcherrima

Meotipa pulcherrima is a species of cobweb spider in the family Theridiidae. It is found in Tropical Africa, and has been introduced into the Americas, Papua New Guinea, China, Korea, Japan, and the Pacific Islands.^[2]

Meotipa pulcherrima
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Theridiidae
Genus:	Meotipa
Species:	M. pulcherrima
Binomial name
Meotipa pulcherrima (Mello-Leitão, 1917)[1]
Synonyms[2]
Argyrodes pulcherrimus Mello-Leitão, 1917 Meotipa clementinae Petrunkevitch, 1930 Chrysso clementinae Levi, 1962 Chrysso pulcherrima Levi, 1967 Argyrodes elevatus Levi, 1967 Chrysso mussau Chrysanthus, 1975

Distribution

Meotipa pulcherrima is found in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia (New Guinea), and the Pacific Islands. It has been introduced to the Americas and tropical Africa.^[2]

In South Africa, the species has been recorded from the provinces Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Notable locations include Addo Elephant National Park and Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

Meotipa pulcherrima inhabits areas at altitudes from 416 to 496 m above sea level, where it has been sampled from the Savanna and Thicket biomes.^[3]

This species may be found in a tangled web associated with vegetation but is small and not easily seen.^[3]

Description

See also: Glossary of spider terms

• 
  female with egg sac

Conservation

Meotipa pulcherrima is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in Addo Elephant National Park and Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve.^[3]

Taxonomy

The species was transferred to Meotipa from Chrysso by Yoshida in 2009.^[4]