Biology:Simorcus cotti
| Cotti's Simorcus Crab Spider | |
|---|---|
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| female | |
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| female | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Thomisidae |
| Genus: | Simorcus |
| Species: | S. cotti
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| Binomial name | |
| Simorcus cotti Lessert, 1936[1]
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Simorcus cotti is a species of spider in the family Thomisidae.[2] It is commonly known as Cotti's Simorcus crab spider and occurs in several African countries.[3]
Distribution
Simorcus cotti is known from Tanzania, Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa.[2]
In South Africa, the species has been documented from Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.[3]
Habitat and ecology
Simorcus cotti was collected by beating and sweeping grass, trees, shrubs, and herbs in Forest, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, and Savanna biomes, at altitudes ranging from 4 to 1,758 m.[3]
The species has been collected from various tree species, including:[3]
- several Acacia species
- Aloe marlothii
- Burkea africana
- Croton sylvaticus
- Helichrysum species
- Panicum species
- fever trees
- Pappea capensis
- Philenoptera violacea
- Pterocarpus rotundifolius
- Sclerocarya birrea
- Spigumnosporia species
- Spirostachus africana
- Terminalia sericea woodland.[4]
Adult males were sampled from November to March and females from December to March.[4] The species has also been sampled from citrus orchards.[4]
Description
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female -
female -
female -
female
Conservation
Simorcus cotti is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is recorded in more than ten protected areas throughout South Africa.[3]
Etymology
The species is named after B.-B. Cott, who collected specimens during the expedition to Portuguese East Africa.[1]
Taxonomy
Simorcus cotti was described by Roger de Lessert in 1936 from Mozambique.[1] Van Niekerk and Dippenaar-Schoeman synonymized Simorcus zuluanus with this species in 2010. The species was revised by Van Niekerk and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 2010 and is known from both sexes.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lessert, R. de (1936). "Araignées de l'Afrique orientale portugaise, recueillies par MM. P. Lesne et B.-B. Cott". Revue Suisse de Zoologie 43: 207-306. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.144393.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Simorcus cotti Lessert, 1936". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/41532. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 2 My-R. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 64. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513276.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 van Niekerk, P.; Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. (2010). "A revision of the spider genus Simorcus Simon, 1895 (Araneae: Thomisidae) of the Afrotropical region". African Entomology 18: 66-86.
External links
- {{Inaturalist taxon}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
Wikidata ☰ Q2799888 entry
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