Linothele

Linothele
L. fallax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Dipluridae
Genus: Linothele
Karsch, 1879[1]
Type species
L. curvitarsis
Karsch, 1879
Species

66, see text

Synonyms[1][2]

Linothele is a genus of curtain web spiders that was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879.[3] All but one of the described species are from South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). The exception is L. septentrionalis from the far-away Bahamas, although it has certain features that suggest it may belong in another genus.[4] Additionally, an undescribed species of Linothele is known from Panama.[5]

Linothele females are stouter and tend to be more conspicuously colored than males.[4] They make relatively complex webs that in most species are on or near the ground, mudbanks or rock walls (a few are arboreal), with females spending most of their life in a tunnel-like retreat. The male may wander and often inhabits a smaller web near a female's.[4] The webs of Linothele are commonly co-inhabited by tiny kleptoparasitic spiders of the genus Mysmenopsis.[4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NMBE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Raven, R. J. (1985). "The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182: 74–75.
  3. ^ Karsch, F. (1879). "Arachnologische Beitrage". Zeitschrift für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften. 52: 534–562.
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Duperré2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Paz, N.S. (1988). "Ecologia y aspectos del comportamiento en Linothele sp . (Araneae, Dipluridae)". Arachnol. 16: 5–22.