Pandercetes

Genus of spiders

Pandercetes
Pandercetes cf. celatus from the Western Ghats showing typical cryptic patterning
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Pandercetes
L. Koch, 1875[1]
Type species
P. gracilis
L. Koch, 1875
Species

16, see text

Pandercetes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in his 1875 treatise on Australian spiders.[2] They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat.[3]

The genus is characterized by the internal anatomy of the reproductive structures. Males have irregular coils at the terminal end, while females have screw like copulatory ducts.[4]

Species

Showing moss-like appearance and the head elevated above the plane of the cephalothorax

As of October 2019[update] it contains sixteen species and one subspecies, found in tropical forests in Asia, extending east to Australia:[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Gen. Pandercetes L. Koch, 1875". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  2. ^ Koch, L. (1875). Die Arachniden Australiens. Nürnberg 1. pp. 577–740.
  3. ^ Pocock, R.I. (1909). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Arachnida. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 259–265.
  4. ^ Jäger, Peter (2002). "Heteropodinae: Transfers and Synonymies (Arachnida: Araneae : Sparassidae)" (PDF). Acta Arachnologica. 51 (1): 33–61. doi:10.2476/asjaa.51.33.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pandercetes.
  • Atlas of Living Australia
Taxon identifiers
Pandercetes