Misumessus
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| Misumessus | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| M. oblongus in Washington D.C. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Thomisidae |
| Genus: | Misumessus Banks, 1904 |
| Type species | |
| Misumessus oblongus (Keyserling, 1880) | |
| Species | |
|
7, see text. | |
Misumessus is a genus of North American and Caribbean crab spiders first described by Nathan Banks in 1904. They look similar to members of Misumena, but are much spinier.[1] It was considered a monotypic genus until 2017,[2] but its taxonomic standing has been debated throughout the 20th century, first as a synonym of Misumenops,[3] then later as its subgenus.[4] It was raised to genus status in 2008,[5] but has still been confused with similar genera, some of which were only known by character descriptions made by Eugène Simon nearly fifty years earlier.[5]