Nops (spider)
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| Nops Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nops variabilis with egg sac, Colombia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Caponiidae |
| Genus: | Nops authority = MacLeay, 1839[1] |
| Type species | |
| N. guanabacoae MacLeay, 1839 | |
| Species | |
|
38, see text | |
Nops is a genus of medium-sized South American, Central American, and Caribbean spiders in the family Caponiidae, first described by Alexander Macleay in 1839.[2] It has a great richness on the Caribbean islands, and most mainland species are located in high proportion toward the Caribbean coast. It likely has a neotropical distribution, though most species of South America are known only from the coast of Colombia and Venezuela, including the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Trinidad.[1]
Nops have subsegmented tarsi, as well as two other leg characters often found in nopine genera: a ventral translucent keel on the anterior metatarsi and a translucent membrane between the anterior metatarsi and tarsi. These spiders can be distinguished from similar genera with these modifications by their elongated unpaired claw on the anterior legs, extending dorsally between the paired claws.[3][4][5][6]
