New spider species has been only found in the forests of Shivamogga district, Karnataka.
As the saying goes, the creator is keeping a tab of all happenings in the universe and it seems like he is also taking inspiration from movies and comic books when deciding new species.
A new spider species found in the forests of Karnataka has puzzled the scientists after it was discovered that the spider has the shape of the “Sorting Hat” – the hat from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise.
Sorting Hat belongs to Godric Gryffindor and it is used to determines which of the four school Houses each new student should be admitted to.
Interestingly, the new species of spider has been named after Gofric Gryffindor to commemorate the Harry Potter character.
The hat that first appeared in the maiden movie of the Harry Potter franchise Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was noticeable with the weird shape.
The spider found by the scientists in Karnataka has the unique shape of the Sorting Hat and scientists have named the new spider species Eriovixia Gryffindori
Scientists by giving the unique name want to draw the attention of the scientific world to the often-overlooked world of invertebrates.
According to scientists, Eriovixia Gryffindori is “a small, cryptic, nocturnal araneid which takes refuge in and mimics dried foliage, during daylight hours.”
Eriovixia Gryffindori can be distinguished from all congeners by the following characteristics: epigyne sub-triangular, lateral sclerites large, distinct; scape long & stout, prominent, slightly recurved towards the tip, when viewed laterally; the boundary between the base of epigynum and scape clearly demarcated.
The new spider species has been only found in the forests of Shivamogga district, Karnataka.
The new species is a member of Eriovixia Archer, that is characterized by possessing a pilose carapace, sub-triangular abdomen, tapering posteriorly with or without a caudal appendage, legs spiny; epigynum bearing a short, stout scape, with a recurved tip, to which a pair of curved sclerites bearing anterior copulatory openings are completely incorporated, and fused with. Globally represented by 20 species, four are known to occur in India says the report that published in Indian Journal of Arachnology.
A new species from the ‘Kans’ of Shivamogga, Karnataka; specialized forest lands harboring unique microclimatic conditions, and consisting of evergreen and semi-evergreen vegetation, surrounded by deciduous forest (Hemanjali et al., 2015), is described, and herewith placed under the genus.
Researchers, including Javed Ahmed and Rajashree Khalap from Mumbai, found a female specimen of the spider during a survey of the ‘Kans’ of central western ghats.