Poltys (spider)
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 abdomen 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 recognised 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
- Poltys acuminatus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
- Poltys apiculatus Thorell, 1892 – Singapore
- Poltys bhabanii – India
- Poltys bhavnagarensis Patel, 1988 – India
- Poltys columnaris Thorell, 1890 – India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan
- Poltys dubius – Vietnam
- Poltys elevatus Thorell, 1890 – Indonesia
- Poltys ellipticus Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
- Poltys frenchi Hogg, 1899 – New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia
- Poltys grayi Smith, 2006 – Australia
- Poltys hainanensis Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
- Poltys horridus Locket, 1980 – Comoros, Seychelles
- Poltys idae – China, Borneo
- Poltys illepidus C. L. Koch, 1843 – Thailand to Australia
- Poltys jujorum Smith, 2006 – Australia
- Poltys kochi Keyserling, 1864 – Mauritius, Madagascar
- Poltys laciniosus Keyserling, 1886 – Australia
- Poltys longitergus Hogg, 1919 – Indonesia
- Poltys milledgei Smith, 2006 – Australia, Indonesia
- Poltys mouhoti – Vietnam
- Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982 – Iran, India
- Poltys nigrinus Saito, 1933 – Taiwan
- Poltys noblei Smith, 2006 – Australia
- Poltys pannuceus Thorell, 1895 – Myanmar
- Poltys pogonias Thorell, 1891 – India
- 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
- 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