Nephilengys papuana

Nephilengys papuana is a species of nephilid spider.^[1]

Nephilengys papuana
N. papuana from northern Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Nephilidae
Genus:	Nephilengys
Species:	N. papuana
Binomial name
Nephilengys papuana Thorell, 1881[1]
Synonyms[1]
Nephilengys malabarensis papuana Thorell, 1881 Nephilengys rainbowi Hogg, 1899

Description

The species was previously included in Nephilengys malabarensis as the subspecies N. m. papuana, but is now recognized as a separate species.^[1][2]

Female body length is about 28 mm, male length 6 mm.^[3]

Male spiders apparently self-emasculate after copulation.

"At least in Nephilengys, this strategy enables remote copulation, a continuation of sperm transfer after males are detached from copula, which is an additional mechanism to secure eunuch paternity (Li et al. 2012). Although Nephilengys papuana eunuchs have not been subject to experimental testing, early research reported incidents of post-mating emasculation in this species (Robinson and Robinson 1980) and thus its behavior is likely to closely resemble that of its sister species."^[4]

Name

The species name is derived from Papua.

Distribution

The species occurs in New Guinea and tropical Australia (Queensland).^[2][5]

Gallery

• 
  Nephilengys papuana female (centre) and much smaller male (right) taken in Cairns
• 
  side view of female, Cairns
• 
  ventral view of female, Cairns
• 
  enlarged view of male, Cairns
• 
  N. papuana with egg sac and spiderlings