Cladomelea
| Cladomelea | |
|---|---|
| female C. longipes | |
| female C. debeeri | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Subfamily: | Cyrtarachninae s.l. |
| Genus: | Cladomelea Simon, 1895[1] |
| Type species | |
| C. longipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877)
| |
| Species | |
|
4, see text | |
Cladomelea is a genus of African orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.[2] Adult females of the genus are bolas spiders, capturing their prey with one or more sticky drops at the end of a single line of silk rather than in a web. Males and juvenile females capture their prey directly with their legs.[3]
Species
As of September 2025, this genus includes four species:[1]
-
C. akermani
-
C. debeeri
-
C. longipes
- Cladomelea akermani Hewitt, 1923 – South Africa
- Cladomelea debeeri Roff & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2004 – South Africa
- Cladomelea longipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877) – Cameroon, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, South Africa (type species)
- Cladomelea ornata Hirst, 1907 – Central Africa
References
- ^ a b "Genus Cladomelea". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
- ^ Simon, E (1892). Histoire naturelle des araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
- ^ Levi, H.W. (2003). "The bolas spiders of the genus Mastophora (Araneae: Araneidae)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 157: 309–382.