Poltys is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1843. Many species are cryptic and are known to masquerade as leaves and twigs during the day, with the shape of the opisthosoma giving it the impression of a rough and broken branch, and the shape can vary among individuals within a species, promoting crypsis. As an orb-weaver, these spiders build an orb web at night to capture prey; the web is eaten up before dawn and reconstructed after dusk.

Description

Poltys is a rather distinctive araneid genus that can be recognized by a combination of widely separated lateral eyes and a pear-shaped carapace, where the "stalk" of the pear is an eye tubercle present as a frontally elevated projection.

The median ocular quadrangle is as long as it is wide, the lateral eyes are widely separated and the median eyes are situated anterior on eye tubercles. Legs I and II are long with flat curved and spinulose tibiae and metatarsi. The large abdomen is anteriorly elevated and bears irregular tubercles.

Species

it contains 42 described species:

African species: Poltys baculiger Simon, 1907 – Gabon Poltys caelatus Simon, 1907 – Sierra Leone, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe Poltys corticosus Pocock, 1898 – Kenya Poltys fornicatus Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe Poltys furcifer Simon, 1881 – Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa Poltys monstrosus Simon, 1897 – Sierra Leone

Indo-Pacific species: Poltys acuminatus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar Poltys apiculatus Thorell, 1892 – Singapore Poltys bhabanii (Tikader, 1970) – India Poltys bhavnagarensis Patel, 1988 – India Poltys columnaris Thorell, 1890 – India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Sumatra), Japan Poltys dubius (Walckenaer, 1841) – Vietnam Poltys elevatus Thorell, 1890 – Indonesia (Sumatra) Poltys ellipticus Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China Poltys frenchi Hogg, 1899 – New Guinea, Indonesia (Moluccas), Australia (Queensland) Poltys grayi Smith, 2006 – Australia (Lord Howe Is.) Poltys hainanensis Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China Poltys horridus Locket, 1980 – Comoros, Seychelles Poltys idae (Ausserer, 1871) – China, Borneo Poltys illepidus C. L. Koch, 1843 (type) – Thailand to Australia (mainland, Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is.) Poltys jujorum Smith, 2006 – Australia (Queensland) Poltys kochi Keyserling, 1864 – Mauritius, Madagascar Poltys laciniosus Keyserling, 1886 – Australia Poltys longitergus Hogg, 1919 – Indonesia (Sumatra) Poltys milledgei Smith, 2006 – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory), Indonesia (Bali, Sumbawa) Poltys mouhoti (Günther, 1862) – Vietnam Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982 – Iran, India Poltys nigrinus Saito, 1933 – Taiwan Poltys noblei Smith, 2006 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria) Poltys pannuceus Thorell, 1895 – Myanmar Poltys pogonias Thorell, 1891 – India (Nicobar Is.) Poltys pygmaeus Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China Poltys raphanus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar Poltys reuteri Lenz, 1886 – Madagascar Poltys squarrosus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar Poltys stygius Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar to Australia (Queensland) Poltys timmeh Smith, 2006 – New Caledonia, Loyalty Is. Poltys turriger Simon, 1897 – Vietnam Poltys turritus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar Poltys unguifer Simon, 1909 – Vietnam Poltys vesicularis Simon, 1889 – Madagascar Poltys waipo Mi, Wang & Li, 2024 – China

Unnamed species of leaf mimic, southwest China and Vietnam.

References