Heriaeus is a genus of crab spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1875.
Distribution Most species in this genus are found from Turkey to China, though less than half are African species.
Life style Heriaeus are free-living plant and ground dwellers.
Description The genus Heriaeus can be recognized by the integument bearing different types of setae that vary from long white erect setae to a combination of numerous short, club-shaped or blunt-tipped abdominal setae.
Females and males measure 4 to 5 mm in total length, with males slightly smaller. Their colour varies from grey-white to pale green with a pinkish tint.
The carapace is as wide as long and narrower in the eye region, both eye rows are recurved, and eyes are on tubercles with the lateral tubercles larger than the median ones. The abdomen is round to oval with indistinct markings. Legs are the same colour as the carapace.
Taxonomy The genus was revised by van Niekerk and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 2013.
Species
, this genus includes 37 species:
Heriaeus algericus Loerbroks, 1983 – Algeria Heriaeus allenjonesi van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – South Africa Heriaeus antoni van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Senegal, Yemen Heriaeus buffoni (Audouin, 1826) – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Western Asia, Canary Islands Heriaeus buffonopsis Loerbroks, 1983 – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Heriaeus capillatus Utochkin, 1985 – Kazakhstan Heriaeus chareshi Sen & Sureshan, 2022 – India Heriaeus charitonovi Utochkin, 1985 – Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Heriaeus concavus Tang & Li, 2010 – China Heriaeus convexus Tang & Li, 2010 – China Heriaeus copricola van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Lesotho, South Africa Heriaeus crassispinus Lawrence, 1942 – Africa Heriaeus delticus Utochkin, 1985 – Russia Heriaeus fedotovi Charitonov, 1946 – Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Heriaeus foordi van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – South Africa Heriaeus graminicola (Doleschall, 1852) – Caucasus, Iran Heriaeus hirtus (Latreille, 1819) – Caucasus, Turkey (type species) Heriaeus horridus Tystshenko, 1965 – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Ukraine, Russia Heriaeus latifrons Lessert, 1919 – Tanzania Heriaeus madagascar van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Madagascar Heriaeus maurusius Loerbroks, 1983 – Morocco Heriaeus mellotteei Simon, 1886 – China, Japan, Korea Heriaeus muizenberg van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – South Africa Heriaeus numidicus Loerbroks, 1983 – Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Spain Heriaeus oblongus Simon, 1918 – Kazakhstan, Caucasus, Russia Heriaeus orientalis Simon, 1918 – Turkey, Ukraine, Greece Heriaeus peterwebbi van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Namibia, South Africa Heriaeus pilosus Nosek, 1905 – Turkey Heriaeus setiger (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) – Caucasus, Turkey, Middle East, South-eastern Europe Heriaeus simoni Kulczyński, 1903 – Turkey, Bulgaria, Southern Europe Heriaeus sossusvlei van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Namibia, South Africa Heriaeus spinipalpus Loerbroks, 1983 – Turkmenistan, Western Asia Heriaeus transvaalicus Simon, 1895 – South Africa Heriaeus xanderi van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – Tanzania, South Africa Heriaeus xinjiangensis Liang, Zhu & Wang, 1991 – China Heriaeus zanii van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2013 – South Africa Heriaeus zhalosni Komnenov, 2017 – Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia
In synonymy: H. claveatus (Walckenaer, 1837) = Heriaeus hirtus (Latreille, 1819) H. fimbriatus Lawrence, 1942 = Heriaeus crassispinus Lawrence, 1942 H. kumaonensis (Tikader, 1980) = Heriaeus horridus Tyschchenko, 1965 H. propinquus Kulczyński, 1903 = Heriaeus simoni Kulczyński, 1903 H. sareptanus Loerbroks, 1983 = Heriaeus horridus Tyschchenko, 1965
Nomina dubia H. difficilis Strand, 1906 H. melanotrichus Simon, 1903
See also List of Thomisidae species
References
Further reading
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