Kingdom Animalia Class Arachnida Infraorder Araneomorphae Rank Genus | Phylum Arthropoda Order Araneae Family Telemidae | |
Similar Telema, Wendilgarda, Celaenia, Meta bourneti, Uroctea durandi | ||
Apneumonella is a genus of araneomorph spiders of the family of Telemidae. It is one of several genera, including Telema, Usofila, and Cangoderces, whose relationship within the family and to these other genera is still poorly understood. A. jacobsoni is only known from a single female specimen. Whether or not it belongs in this genus is impossible to say without a described male, and some claim that it would fit better in Cangoderces.
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Species
The two species in this genus are A. oculata and A. jacobsoni.
A. jacobsoni
Two species of A. jacobsoni have been described, found in Sumatra and Malaysia. It is the first of the Telemidae family to be found in tropical Asia. This species has a similar appearance to those of the Ochyroceratidae family, but several features, including the simple chelicerae, colulus, and the respiratory system consisting of tracheae with four separated stigmata, show that it belongs in the Telemidae family. The first specimen was found in Malaysia, and though the morphology of the genitalia could have earned it a new genus, because the specimen was female, it was instead provisionally placed in existing genus Apneumonella, though it could also have fit in Cangoderces.
A. oculata
The first species of the genus was an adult female found in a cave in Tanzania. Instead of being completely adapted to cave life like many species of Telema, A. oculata still retains characteristics of life outside caves, including retaining its eyes, at least partial skin pigmentation, and relatively short legs. The abdomen is white, though parts of the carapace, mouth, colulus, and some other parts are red to brown. The carapace is slightly longer than wide, truncated in the rear, and convex toward the middle, slowly sloping in the thoracic part. There are six eyes in total. This species was placed among the Leptonetidae in the subfamily Teleminae, as but the relative proportions of the legs doesn't quite fit. The formula I <II <IV <III is specific to Telema tenella, but does not apply to this species. This may mean that Telema and Apneumonella belong in a separate group from that of Leptonetidae.