Clitaetra
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| Clitaetra | |
|---|---|
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| juvenile | |
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| juvenile | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Nephilidae |
| Genus: | Clitaetra Simon, 1889[1] |
| Species | |
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See text | |
| Diversity | |
| 6 species | |
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Clitaetra is a genus of spiders in a family Nephilidae.[1] It occurs in Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka, hinting to a Gondwanan origin. a split between Clitaetra and related genera may be as old as 160 million years.[2]
Females have a total length of 5.7–9.9 mm, while males are smaller at 2.8–3.6 mm. The female carapace and chelicerae are yellow-grey, with the sternum yellow and bearing irregular white patches along the middle and four pairs of sternal slit sensilla.[3]
The abdomen is pentagonal and dorsoventrally flattened, with five pairs of dorsomedian apodemes. The dorsum has a grey, brown and white pattern, while the venter has a broad white median stripe extending from the epigastric furrow to the spinnerets, with a broken white pattern around the spinnerets. The legs are whitish-yellow with dark brown spine-sockets and spines, and brown tarsi.
Males have a light brown sternum and both eye rows are recurved. The abdomen is oval with three pairs of dorsal apodemes and a dark brown scutum with a white frontal band. The venter is brown to dark grey, with three pairs of white dots around the spinnerets.[3]
Name
The etymology of the genus name is unknown.[2]
Taxonomy
The genus Clitaetra was transferred from Tetragnathidae to Nephilidae by Kuntner in 2006, and subsequently transferred from Nephilidae to Araneidae.[3]
