Palystes lunatus
| Murraysburg rain spider | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Sparassidae |
| Genus: | Palystes |
| Species: | P. lunatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Palystes lunatus | |
Palystes lunatus is a spider species in the family Sparassidae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as the Murraysburg rain spider.[3]
Distribution
Palystes lunatus was originally described with the type specimen only labelled as South Africa. According to Croeser, the species may be restricted to a relatively small locality, probably somewhere in the montane interior of the Eastern Cape Province.[3]
Habitat and ecology
Nothing is known about the habitat or ecology of this species.[3]
Description
Conservation
Palystes lunatus is listed as Data Deficient by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The species is known only from a single unspecified site in South Africa. The status of the species remains obscure. Some more sampling is needed to collect the male and to determine the species' range.[3]
Taxonomy
Palystes lunatus was originally described by Pocock in 1896. The species was revised by Croeser in 1996, and is known from only the female.[3]
References
- ^ Pocock, R.I. (1896). "Descriptions of some new South African spiders of the family Heteropodidae". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6. 17 (97): 55–64. doi:10.1080/00222939608680323.
- ^ a b "Palystes lunatus Pocock, 1896". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ^ a b c d e Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2022). The Sparassidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 44. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6614498. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.