Pritha

Pritha is a genus of crevice weavers that was first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967.

Species

it contains nineteen species found in Asia and Europe:

Pritha albimaculata – Israel
Pritha ampulla Wang, 1987 – China
Pritha beijingensis Song, 1986 – China
Pritha condita – Azores, St. Helena
Pritha crosbyi – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Central Asia
Pritha debilis – Algeria
Pritha dharmakumarsinhjii Patel, 1978 – India
Pritha garfieldi Marusik & Zamani, 2015 – Iran
Pritha hirsuta – Israel
Pritha nana – Mediterranean, India
Pritha napadensis – India
Pritha pallida – Madeira, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Georgia
Pritha parva Legittimo, Simeon, Di Pompeo & Kulczycki, 2017 – France, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria
Pritha poonaensis – India
Pritha sagittata Legittimo, Simeon, Di Pompeo & Kulczycki, 2017 – Italy, Switzerland, Croatia
Pritha spinula Wang, 1987 – China
Pritha tenuispina – Israel
Pritha vestita – France, Bulgaria
Pritha zebrata – Myanmar

Description

They are small to medium sized spiders. Females have a fishbone-like pattern on the abdomen, while males have a whitish spot on the dorsal side of the abdomen. Their posterior median eyes are larger than the anterior medians. The cribellum is bipartite, and the calamistrum has three rows of setae of various lengths, however, the middle row is always the shortest.

Behaviour and ecology

They are mostly synanthropic: they are found commonly inside buildings, in door or window frames. They make three-dimensional webs that have retreats into cracks and crevices. However, they are also found under pine or oak bark, close to human settlements. They feed on small arthropods.