Heriaeus


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:
In synonymy:
  • H. claveatus = Heriaeus hirtus
  • H. fimbriatus Lawrence, 1942 = Heriaeus crassispinus Lawrence, 1942
  • H. kumaonensis = 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