Nephilingis cruentata

Nephilingis cruentata is an araneid spider with a strikingly red sternum.

Nephilingis cruentata
Female N. cruentata in Mozambique
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Nephilingis
Species:
N. cruentata
Binomial name
Nephilingis cruentata
(Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms

Aranea cruentata
Epeira diadela
Epeira brasiliensis
Epeira azzara
Nephila genualis
Nephila borbonica mossambicensis
Nephila brasiliensis
Araneus diadelus
Nephila cruentata chiloangensis
Nephilengys cruentata

Females reach a length of about 24 mm. The legs can be uniformly dark red or brown, or annulated. Males are about 4 mm long.[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1775 by Johan Fabricius, as Araneus cruentata. In 1887, Eugène Simon transferred it to the genus Nephilengys. In 2013, Matjaž Kuntner et al. decided that four species of Nephilengys were sufficiently different to require an alternative generic placement. Accordingly, they erected the genus Nephilingis with Nephilingis cruentata as the type species.[1][3]

Distribution

N. cruentata is found in tropical and subtropical Africa and several limited areas of South America (Brazil, northern Colombia and Paraguay), where it has probably been introduced by humans in the late 19th century at the latest.[2]

Name

The species name cruentata is derived from Latin cruentus "bloody", probably referring to the female red sternum.[2]

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References
  1. "Taxon details Nephilingis cruentata (Fabricius, 1775)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  2. Matjaž Kuntner (2007). "A monograph of Nephilengys, the pantropical 'hermit spiders' (Araneae, Nephilidae, Nephilinae)". Systematic Entomology. 32 (1): 95–135. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2006.00348.x.
  3. Kuntner, M.; Arnedo, M. A.; Trontelj, P.; Lokovsek, T. & Agnarsson, I. (2013). "A molecular phylogeny of nephilid spiders: evolutionary history of a model lineage". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69: 961–979. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.008. PMID 23811436.
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