110102 Mesida?
This spider was spotted at Upper Seletar on 100523:
Initially thought to be the female of Tylorida striata, but after seeing the photo of the presumed nationally extinct Jewelled Mesida (Mesida gemmea) in the Red Data Book, it has much greater resemblance to the spider in that photo especially the shape of the abdomen which does not have the hump as on T. striata. However, the illustration of Mesida gemmea in An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia (Frances and John Murphy) is quite different from the photo in the Red Data Book too adding to my confusion. It even illustrates only six eyes on Mesida which is supposed to be from the 8-eyed Tetragnathidae family.
Closeups of the various parts of the spider:
Eye configuration.
Femora 4. Seems to have the straight long and fine feathered hairs on the basal part of femur IV, characteristic of Mesida (FURTHER NOTES ON THE SPIDERS OF NEW GUINEA II (ARANEAE, TETRAGNATHIDAE, THERIDIIDAE), page 28).
Eye configurations from An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia by Frances and John Murphy:
Tylorida striata.
Mesida gemmea.
I think it is Mesida but have yet to find any species description that matches this one fully. The closest is Mesida grayi (page 28) although the description did not include black spots at the abdomen tip like this one. Any information as to the identity of this spider will be greatly appreciated.
===update===
David Court has also seen this spider and shared his find with Joseph Koh! He has very kindly shared his opinions. He has examined the specimen he saw and believes that “because of the the long trichobothrial hairs on the leg IV femur, it would seem to be an unidentified, perhaps undescribed species of Leucauge, of which there may be many dozens of species.” He also believes that there is a need for proper revision of the genera Mesida and Leucauge. Thank you so much David! It seems that there is room for a lot of further research on our local spiders!
