Rothus
Genus of spiders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rothus is a genus of nursery web spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1898.[2] Its three species are found in Africa, with R. aethiopicus reaching into Israel.[1]
| Rothus | |
|---|---|
| |
| R. aethiopicus | |
 | |
| R. vittatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Pisauridae |
| Genus: | Rothus Simon, 1898[1] |
| Species | |
| |
Life style
These are free-running plant dwellers found in vegetation and are active at night. Some species sometimes wander into residences.[3]
Description
Members of this genus can be distinguished from all other African pisaurid genera by having three cheliceral teeth on the retromargin, an anterior eye row that is slightly procurved, and a posterior eye row that is recurved and wider than the anterior eye row.[3]
In males, the tegulum is large with a pronounced anterior projection, the conductor is large and pointed, the embolus is sickle-shaped, and the median apophysis is aligned and points almost horizontally retrolaterad. The retrolateral tibial apophysis is elongated and has a divided tip.[3]
The female copulatory organs feature an anteriorly excavated middle field and prominent curved lateral lobes.[3]
Taxonomy
The genus was reviewed by Silva and Sierwald in 2015.[3]
Species
As of October 2025[update], this genus includes three species:[1]
- Rothus aethiopicus (Pavesi, 1883) – Cameroon, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Egypt, Israel (type species)
- Rothus auratus Pocock, 1900 – South Africa
- Rothus vittatus Simon, 1898 – South Africa
