Cerbalus aravaensis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Sparassidae |
Genus: | Cerbalus |
Species: | C. aravaensis
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Binomial name | |
Cerbalus aravaensis
Levy, 2007
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Cerbalus aravaensis is a huntsman spider found in the southern Arava Valley of Israel and Jordan. [1] The species was first described by Gershom Levy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2007, [1] [2] 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. [3] [4] The spider has a leg span of 14 centimetres (5.5 in), making it the largest member of the family Sparassidae in the Middle East. [1] Males have a body length of 1.85–2.40 centimetres (0.73–0.94 in), while females' body length is 2.20–2.65 centimetres (0.87–1.04 in). [1]
Cerbalus aravaensis lives in sand dunes, and partly stable sands at the edge of salt marshes. [1] It is nocturnal and is most active in the hotter summer months. [3] It constructs underground dens with hinged, trap-door like operculum made of sand and silk, in order to disguise the entrance from predators. [3] [1]
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 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi), but now cover less than 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) 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. [4] Should the Sands of Samar be destroyed, it is unlikely that Cerbalus aravaensis would survive. [3]