Chiasmopes lineatus

Chiasmopes lineatus is a species of spider in the family Pisauridae. It is found in several African countries and is commonly known as the striped Chiasmopes nursery-web spider.

Distribution

Chiasmopes lineatus has been recorded from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Eswatini and South Africa.
In South Africa, it has been recorded from seven provinces. Localities include Humansdorp, Mazeppa Bay, Thyspunt, Addo Elephant National Park and Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve in the Free State, multiple sites in Gauteng, several locations in KwaZulu-Natal including Dukuduku Forest Station and Tembe Elephant Park, Graskop and Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga, and multiple sites in the Western Cape including Fernkloof Nature Reserve and Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.

Habitat and ecology

The species is a sheet-web pisaurid that constructs webs in vegetation close to the ground, especially in short shrubs and bushes but occasionally also between longer grass tussocks. The sheet-web consists of many criss-crossing silk threads. They are active at night.
The species has been sampled from the Fynbos, Forest, Grassland, Savanna and Thicket biomes at altitudes ranging from 17 to 2102 m, and has also been sampled from maize fields.

Conservation

Chiasmopes lineatus is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in more than 10 protected areas in South Africa. There are no significant threats to the species.

Etymology

The species name lineatus is Latin for "striped" or "lined".

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1898 as Spencerella lineata from Durban in South Africa. It was transferred to Chiasmopes by Blandin in 1977, who also synonymized Spencerella sexmaculata Lessert, 1916 with this species. The species is known from both sexes and has been revised by Blandin.