Runcinia insecta

Runcinia insecta
	juvenile female
	male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Thomisidae
Genus:	Runcinia
Species:	R. insecta
Binomial name
	Runcinia insecta; (L. Koch, 1875)
Synonyms
	Diaea insecta L. Koch, 1875 ; Runcinia affinis Simon, 1897 ; Runcinia annamita Simon, 1903 ; Runcinia albostriata Bösenberg & Strand, 1906 ; Plancinus advecticius Simon, 1909 ; Runcinia cataracta Lawrence, 1927 ; Thomisus cherapunjeus Tikader, 1966 ; Runcinia chauhani Sen & Basu, 1973 ; Runcinia sangasanga Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 ; Thomisus cherapunjius Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2024 ;

Runcinia insecta is a species of spider in the family Thomisidae.^[2] It is a common species with a very wide global distribution in the Afrotropical, Oriental, and Palaearctic regions.^[3] It has been introduced to Australia.^[2]

Distribution

Runcinia insecta occurs throughout Africa and Asia and has been introduced to Australia.^[2]

In South Africa, the species is known from all provinces except Northern Cape.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

Runcinia insecta are free-living on plants.^[3]

In South Africa, they are commonly found on grass in Forest, Fynbos, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 7 to 1,842 m. The species has also been sampled in cotton, lucerne, and strawberry fields.^[3]

Description

juvenile female
male
male
male
male

References

^ Koch, L. (1875). Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Vol. 1. Nürnberg: Bauer & Raspe. pp. 577–740. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.121660.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Runcinia insecta (L. Koch, 1875)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 2 My-R. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 58. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513276. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

External links

Citizen science observations for Runcinia insecta at iNaturalist

[koch1875-1] Koch, L. (1875). Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Vol. 1. Nürnberg: Bauer & Raspe. pp. 577–740. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.121660.

[wsc-2] "Runcinia insecta (L. Koch, 1875)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.

[dippenaar2020-3] Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 2 My-R. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 58. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513276. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

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