Biology:Themacrys irrorata
| Hluluwe Themacrys Hackled Band 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: | Phyxelididae |
| Genus: | Themacrys |
| Species: | T. irrorata
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| Binomial name | |
| Themacrys irrorata Simon, 1906[1]
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| Synonyms | |
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Themacrys irrorata is a species of spider in the family Phyxelididae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as the Hluluwe Themacrys hackled band spider.[3] The species serves as the type species for its genus.[2]
Distribution
Themacrys irrorata is distributed across three South African provinces, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga.[3] The species occurs at altitudes ranging from 17 to 1,795 m above sea level.
Habitat and ecology
This species inhabits the Grassland, Savanna, and Indian Ocean Coastal Belt biomes.[3] Themacrys irrorata is a ground retreat-web cryptic spider that lives in dark places. This is a forest species found in coastal evergreen forest, coastal dune forest, and indigenous forest.[3]
Description
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female
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juvenile female
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juvenile female
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Conservation
Themacrys irrorata is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute.[3] The species is recorded from three provinces including four protected areas: Enseleni Nature Reserve, Hluhluwe Nature Reserve, Dlinza Forest, and Ngotsche State Forest. Due to its wide geographical range, there are no significant threats to the species.[3]
Taxonomy
The species was originally described by Eugène Simon in 1906 from Hluhluwe Nature Reserve.[1] It was revised by Griswold in 1990.[3] Themacrys irrorata serves as the type species for the genus Themacrys and is known from both sexes.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Simon, E. (1906). "Etude sur les araignées de la section des cribellates". Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 50: 284–308. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.19947.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Themacrys irrorata Simon, 1906". World Spider Catalog. https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/27135. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Phyxelididae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. pp. 25. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6813843. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6813843. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
External links
- {{Inaturalist taxon}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
Wikidata ☰ Q2074080 entry
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