By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 31: A new species of jumping spider was discovered from a tea estate in Ri-Bhoi by a team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata.
The new species, Phintella handersoni is described from the Anderson Tea Estate, situated in Umran Dairy, Ri-Bhoi district, and it has been named in honour of late Handerson Syiemlieh, owner of the tea estate.
The genus Phintella are small to medium-sized spiders characterized by their vivid colours and adorned with metallic iridescent scales.
The species typically exhibits a rounded or oval head with a distinct posterior slope, while the abdomen is ovoid or elongated, showing light and dark horizontal bands.
The team of researchers was led by Dr Souvik Sen, ZSI Kolkata.
Dr Sudhin PP, from ZSI, Kolkata, and Dr John TD Caleb from Saveetha University, Chennai, also participated in the study.
The discovery of the new spider species from Meghalaya has been published in the recent issue i.e., 100(1) of the reputed international journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
Dr Dhriti Banerjee, Director, ZSI pointed out that spiders play a vital role as natural enemy in tea ecosystem and conservation of natural enemies is an important practice under non-conventional pest management practices.
The children and grandchildren of late Handerson Syiemlieh were very much excited about this discovery and appreciated the efforts of the ZSI team led by Dr Sen.
They are hopeful of further discoveries from the unexplored hills of Meghalaya.
