Paraplectana thorntoni
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Thornton's Red Ladybird Spider | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Paraplectana |
| Species: | P. thorntoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Paraplectana thorntoni (Blackwall, 1865)[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Paraplectana thorntoni is a species of spider in the family Araneidae.[2] It is commonly known as Thornton's red ladybird spider and is an African endemic species.[3]
Paraplectana thorntoni is an African endemic species originally described in 1865 as Eurysoma thorntoni from Mozambique from a region through which the river Shire flows to its confluence with the Zambezi. The species is known from Mozambique, Ghana, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, and Yemen.[3]
In South Africa, the species is rare but recorded from six provinces at altitudes ranging from 49 to 1,303 m above sea level.[3] Records include locations in Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Western Cape provinces, with specific localities such as Kentani, Beechamwood, Pretoria, Estcourt, Polokwane, Nelspruit, Garden Route National Park, and Mossel Bay.[3]
Habitat and ecology
P thorntoni is known to build spanning thread orb-webs at night. During the day they rest on vegetation, resembling a ladybird beetle. It is part of a possible mimetic complex involving two tortoise beetles (Chiridopsis suffriani, the "normal" form of C. nigrosepte) as well as ladybird beetles with similarity to Cheilonomes lunata. The species has been found in the Fynbos, Grassland and Savanna biomes.[3]
Description
P. thorntoni
