Anasaitis canosa is one of five species in its genus. All occur in the West Indies but only A. canosa is found in North America. When Edwards moved this spider from Corythalia he chose the present generic name based on the work of Bryant in Jamaica and Cuba. Elizabeth Bangs Bryant (1873-1953) was a self-taught arachnologist associated with the Boston Natural History Society and the Agassiz Museum (Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology). Like Elizabeth Peckham, Bryant established her reputation in the male dominated institutions of her era. While Elizabeth Bryant’s professional publications focus largely on Caribbean arachnids, her early association with J. H. Emerton (see Habronattus borealis) resulted in significant contributions to the historical record for New England’s arachnids, especially those in Massachusetts.
Edwards, 1999; Deichmann, 1958