Cerbalus aravaensis
{{Short description|Species of spider}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Cerbalus aravaensis.JPG
| name = Cerbalus aravaensis
| taxon = Cerbalus aravaensis
| authority = Levy, 2007
}}
Cerbalus aravaensis is a huntsman spider found in the southern Arava Valley of Israel and Jordan.{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Gershom |date=15 August 2007 |title=Calommata (Atypidae) and new spider species (Araneae) from Israel |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1551 |pages=1–30 |location=Auckland, New Zealand |publisher=Magnolia Press |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1551.1.1 |issn=1175-5334 |oclc=231969221}} The species was first described by Gershom Levy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2007,{{cite journal|url=http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/SPARASSIDAE.html|title=Fam. Sparassidae|first=Norman I.|last=Platnick|authorlink=Norman I. Platnick|date=10 December 2011|journal=The World Spider Catalog, Version 12.5|publisher=American Museum of Natural History|location=New York, NY, USA|doi=10.5531/db.iz.0001|accessdate=21 April 2012}} though news agencies later reported it in 2010 as a new discovery (with a slightly different spelling) by a team of biologists from the University of Haifa.{{cite web |url=http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/haifa-u-discovers-new-spider-species |title=Haifa U discovers new spider species |date=January 14, 2010 |publisher=Israel 21c |accessdate=January 20, 2010}}
{{cite news |title=New Spider Species Is Largest of Its Type in Middle East | date=January 12, 2010 | accessdate=January 13, 2010 | publisher=Science Daily | url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100111102534.htm}} The spider has a leg-span of {{convert|14|cm|in|sp=us}}, making it the largest member of the family Sparassidae in the Middle East. Males have a body length of {{convert|1.85|-|2.40|cm|sp=us|in}}, while females' body length is {{convert|2.20|-|2.65|cm|sp=us|in}}.
Habitat
Cerbalus aravaensis lives in sand dunes, and partly stable sands at the edge of salt-marshes. It is nocturnal and is most-active in the hotter summer months. It constructs underground dens with hinged, trap-door-like operculum made of sand and silk, in order to disguise the entrance from predators.
Conservation
The Sands of Samar, the last remaining sand dunes in the southern Arava region of Israel and home to Cerbalus aravaensis, are disappearing. The sands once covered as many as {{convert|7|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, but now cover less than {{convert|3|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} due to re-zoning of areas for agriculture and sand quarries. Mining projects on the sands are intended to be renewed in the near future and thus the habitat's future is uncertain. Should the Sands of Samar be destroyed, it is unlikely that Cerbalus aravaensis would survive.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/giant-middle-eastern-spider-discovered |title=Giant Spider Species Discovered in Middle Eastern Sand Dunes |date=January 11, 2010 |publisher=Wired Science}}
- {{cite news |url=http://www.livescience.com/animals/news-spider-species-100111.html |title=Big Spider Discovered in Disappearing Sand Dunes |date=January 12, 2010 |publisher=LiveScience}}
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