Pritha is a genus of crevice weavers that was first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967.
Species it contains nineteen species found in Asia and Europe: Pritha albimaculata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) – Israel Pritha ampulla Wang, 1987 – China Pritha beijingensis Song, 1986 – China Pritha condita (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873) – Azores, St. Helena Pritha crosbyi (Spassky, 1938) – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Central Asia Pritha debilis (Simon, 1911) – Algeria Pritha dharmakumarsinhjii Patel, 1978 – India Pritha garfieldi Marusik & Zamani, 2015 – Iran Pritha hirsuta (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) – Israel Pritha nana (Simon, 1868) (type) – Mediterranean, India Pritha napadensis (Patel, 1975) – India Pritha pallida (Kulczyński, 1897) – Madeira, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Georgia Pritha parva Legittimo, Simeon, Di Pompeo & Kulczycki, 2017 – France, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria Pritha poonaensis (Tikader, 1963) – India Pritha sagittata Legittimo, Simeon, Di Pompeo & Kulczycki, 2017 – Italy, Switzerland, Croatia Pritha spinula Wang, 1987 – China Pritha tenuispina (Strand, 1914) – Israel Pritha vestita (Simon, 1873) – France (Corsica), Bulgaria Pritha zebrata (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar
Description They are small to medium sized spiders. Females have a fishbone-like pattern on the abdomen, while males have a whitish spot on the dorsal side of the abdomen. Their posterior median eyes are larger than the anterior medians. The cribellum is bipartite, and the calamistrum has three rows of setae of various lengths, however, the middle row is always the shortest. Mondal, Ayan & Chanda, Debomay & Vartak, Atul & Kulkarni, Siddharth. (2020). A Field Guide to the Spider Genera of India.
Behaviour and ecology They are mostly synanthropic: they are found commonly inside buildings, in door or window frames. They make three-dimensional webs that have retreats into cracks and crevices. However, they are also found under pine or oak bark, close to human settlements. They feed on small arthropods.
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