It is difficult to identify an individual as being an A. angelinajolieae specimen due to the species' morphological similarity to A. atomarius and A. stanfordianus. A set of unique mitochondrial DNAnucleotide substitutions sets the species apart and allows a diagnosis. A. angelinajolieae inhabits the north of Monterey County, California, restricted to the Santa Lucia Range west of the Salinas Valley, which probably serves as a dispersal barrier. Its ecoregion consists of chaparral forest and shrub. It is not found in the coastal dunes, which are the habitat of the geographically proximate but lighter colored A. stephencolberti. Female specimens are normally seen on road cuts and humid, shaded steep banks. The species creates shallow burrows with a thin silk-soil trapdoor and white silken lined retreat.[4]
Taxonomy
Due to the Salinas Valley barrier, there is no genetic exchangeability between Aptostichus angelinajolieae and other Aptostichus species. This and the species' exclusivity as a lineage in DNA studies makes it a cohesion species. A. angelinajolieae belongs to the AtomariusSibling Species Complex along with the closely related species A. atomarius, A. dantrippi, A. miwok, A. stanfordianus and A. stephencolberti.[4]
Conservation status
In addition to being widespread and abundant in its range, the Angelina Jolie trapdoor spider flourishes in moderately developed residential areas. Therefore, in terms of its conservation status, it is not considered to be a threatened species.[4]
^ abBond, Jason E. & Amy K. Stockman (2008). "An Integrative Method for Delimiting Cohesion Species: Finding the Population-Species Interface in a Group of Californian Trapdoor Spiders with Extreme Genetic Divergence and Geographic Structuring". Systematic Biology. 57 (4): 628–646. doi:10.1080/10635150802302443. PMID18686196.
^ abcBond, Jason E. (2012). Phylogenetic Treatment and Taxonomic Revision of the Trapdoor Spider Genus Aptostichus Simon: Aranea, Mygalomorphae, Euctenizidae. PenSoft Publishers LTD. pp. 59–69. ISBN978-9546426642.