Pararaneus
Genus of spiders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pararaneus is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Lodovico di Caporiacco in 1940.[2]
| Pararaneus | |
|---|---|
| |
| P. spectator | |
 | |
| Male P. cyrtoscapus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Pararaneus Caporiacco, 1940[1] |
| Type species | |
| P. cyrtoscapus (Pocock, 1898) | |
| Species | |
|
5, see text | |
Description
Pararaneus resembles Neoscona species but they are decorated with more and stronger spines, especially the males. Their color varies from dark brown to reddish yellow. In some species the shield-like, dorsally rounded abdomen has a pair of small white spots and in most species there are four or five transverse bands over the abdomen.[3]
Their moderately long legs are the same color as the carapace and bear strong spines, especially in males. Anterior protruding eyes are especially significant in males, with the eyes positioned on tubercles.[3]
Species
female P. cyrtoscapus
P. perforatus
P. perforatus
As of September 2025[update], this genus includes five species:[1]
- Pararaneus cyrtoscapus (Pocock, 1898) – Central, East, Southern Africa, Yemen (Socotra) (type species)
- Pararaneus perforatus (Thorell, 1899) – Central, East, Southern Africa
- Pararaneus pseudostriatus (Strand, 1908) – Central, East Africa
- Pararaneus spectator (Karsch, 1885) – Africa, Middle East
- Pararaneus uncivulva (Strand, 1907) – Madagascar
