Selenopidae
| Wall crab spiders | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Selenops insularis Jamaica | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae Simon, 1897[1] |
| Genera | |
| Diversity | |
| 10 genera, 257 species | |
| |
| (Not complete) | |
The Selenopidae are a family of araneomorph spiders, sometimes called wall crab spiders, but also wall spiders[2] and flatties.[3] The Selenopidae are one of several families whose English name includes the phrase "crab spider".
This family consists of about 257 species in ten genera, of which Selenops is the best known. The Selenopidae occur worldwide and are primarily tropical and subtropical, though several species are found in deserts, and can be found from sea level to over 2500 meters.[4] The genus Selenops is the most widely distributed, whilst the genus Anyphops is found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining genera have more specific distributions. At least one (possibly extinct) species of Garcorops, G. jadis, is known only from subfossil copal.[5]
Selenopidae are a variety of colors including various shades of grey, brown, yellow, and orange, with darker markings on the cephalothorax and spots or mottling on the abdomen, and annulations on the legs of most species.[4] The spiders are very flat dorsoventrally, have two tarsal claws and laterigrade legs. They are commonly found on walls or under rocks. They are exceptional in that both their running and striking speeds place them amongst the world’s fastest animals,[4] making them difficult to capture. In addition, their coloring makes them often quite difficult to see. Like almost all Entelegynae, they have eight eyes arranged in two rows of six and two.[6]
Genera
The World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[1]
- Amamanganops Crews & Harvey, 2011 (Philippines)
- Anyphops Benoit, 1968 (Africa, Madagascar)
- Garcorops Corronca, 2003 (Madagascar, Comoro Islands)
- Godumops Crews & Harvey, 2011 (New Guinea)
- Hovops Benoit, 1968 (Madagascar, Reunion)
- Karaops Crews & Harvey, 2011 (Australasia)
- Makdiops Crews & Harvey, 2011 (India, Nepal)
- Pakawops Crews & Harvey, 2011 (Taiwan)
- Selenops Latreille, 1819 (America, Asia, Africa, Mediterranean)
- Siamspinops Dankittipakul & Corronca, 2009 (SE Asia)
See also
References
- ^ a b "Family Selenopidae Simon, 1897". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
- ^ Dippenaar-Schoeman, Ansie, "A Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa"], LAPA Publishers, 2014.
- ^ "Arachne.org.au", Retrieved 2018-01-16.
- ^ a b c Crews CS, Harvey MS (2011), "The spider family Selenopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Australasia and the Oriental Region.",ZooKeys 99: 1–103. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.99.723
- ^ Bosselaers, J. (2004). "A new Garcorops species from Madagascar copal (Araneae: Selenopidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 445: 1–7.
- ^ Jocqué R and Dippenaar-Schoeman AS, "Spider families of the world."], ARC-PPRI, Tervuren, 2006.
- Penney, D., Ono, H. & Selden, P.A. (2005). A new synonymy for the Madagascan copal spider fauna (Araneae, Selenopidae). J. Afrotrop. Zool. 2:41-44. PDF[permanent dead link]
External links
