Rhomphaea nasica
| Tailed Comb-foot Spider | |
|---|---|
| female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Theridiidae |
| Genus: | Rhomphaea |
| Species: | R. nasica
|
| Binomial name | |
| Rhomphaea nasica | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Rhomphaea nasica is a species of spider in the family Theridiidae.[2] It has a wide distribution across the Mediterranean region, Africa, and St. Helena.[2]
Distribution
Rhomphaea nasica is found across the Canary Islands, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Africa, and St. Helena.[2]
In South Africa, the species has been recorded from five provinces. Notable locations include Fish River, Grahamstown, Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, Kloof, Lhuvhondo Nature Reserve, Venetia Limpopo Valley Reserve, Kruger National Park, Blouberg Nature Reserve, and Uitzicht Annex.[3]
Habitat and ecology
Rhomphaea nasica has been sampled from the Grassland, Savanna, and Thicket biomes at altitudes ranging from 71 to 1,411 m.[3]
Description
Adults of Rhomphaea nasica are slender, long-legged spiders with an elongated abdomen typical of the genus. The body shows a silvery or translucent appearance, which provides camouflage against vegetation. Females are larger than males, as is common in Theridiidae. The species resembles others in the Rhomphaea genus, especially R. argenteola and R. delicatula, with which it was historically confused before synonymization.[1][2]
Conservation
Rhomphaea nasica is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in five protected areas in South Africa.[3]
Taxonomy
Rhomphaea nasica was described by Simon in 1873 as Ariamnes nasica.[1] The species was transferred from Argyrodes to Rhomphaea by Agnarsson in 2004.[4] Several species have been synonymized with R. nasica, including Argyrodes argenteolus and A. delicatulus.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Simon, E. (1873). "Aranéides nouveaux ou peu connus du midi de l'Europe. (2e mémoire)". Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège. 2. 5 (8): 1–174.
- ^ a b c d e f "Rhomphaea nasica (Simon, 1873)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ^ a b c Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Theridiidae of South Africa. Part 2 [R-T]. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 5. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7515998. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
- ^ Agnarsson, I. (2004). "Morphological phylogeny of cobweb spiders and their relatives (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 141 (4): 447–626. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00120.x.