''Ischnocolus vanandelae'' is a

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

species in the ''

Ischnocolus ''Ischnocolus'' is a genus of Theraphosidae, tarantulas that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. This tarantula genus includes some of the smallest in the family. Diagnosis Males of this genus can be distinguished by the palpal bulb ...

'' genus, it is found in

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, it was first described in 2020 by Vivian M. Montemor, Rick C. West,

Alireza Zamani Alireza Zamani (born 11 January 1994) is an Iranian arachnologist and taxonomist. Life and career Zamani has been interested in spiders since childhood, when he spent most of his time collecting and rearing different species that he could colle ...

. This

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

is named after Mrs. Priscilla M. J. van Andel, a Dutch wildlife enthusiast, who first collected this species with her husband Mr. J. H. Hans Raaijmakers.

Description

Males and females have pale golden short hairs on the body, with legs being barely darker and a noticeable lineal pattern on abdomen. Males differ from other

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, except for

Ischnocolus jickelii ''Ischnocolus jickelii'' is a small, old-world tarantula. It is found in Aden, Djibouti, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Somalia. It was first described by Ludwig Koch in 1875. In 1890, French arachnologist Eugène Simon described ''Chaeto ...

as the shape of the

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often descr ...

has a long embolus, tapering towards the apical end, with a slight fold at the apex. They can be distinguished from

by the size of the embolus, being longer in ''Ischnocolus vanandelae'', and by the embolus tip. Females can be distinguished by the shape of

spermathecae The spermatheca (pronounced : spermathecae ), also called ''receptaculum seminis'' (: ''receptacula seminis''), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, Oligochaeta worms and certain other inver ...

, composed by two triangle receptacles, Ischnocolus jickelli having a smaller

Behavior

In Iran, a subadult female was found in a rocky dry plain, under a large rock in a self made hide along the underside of the rock, not extending vertically down. They are usually found under large rocks or at the base of large trees. The entrance to the hide was lightly silken, and younger specimens were more easily found at their hide entrances.

Prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

remains found in hide of this

consisted of small

darkling beetles Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin genus, generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour be ...

. A mature male was found wandering the ground at night in early June suggesting a

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...

between May and June.

Habitat

This

is found in

and

, is found in the

semi-deciduous Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...

transition zones along the

Dhofar Mountains The Dhofar Mountains () are a mountain range in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, they extend from Dhofar Governorate in Oman to Hadhramaut Governorate in Yemen, and are located between the Hajar in the northern ...

, where there is

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and evergreen woodlands. In the majority of this areas there are no permanent waterways, but there are plenty of spring pools, throughout most of the year, the area can be considered

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

, although in some months, the rain peaks. The annual rainfall is about 45–154 mm a year, peaking in July, with the average temperatures being 27 °C.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q86450552 Spiders described in 2020 Spiders of Asia Theraphosidae