''Carrhotus viduus'' is a species of spider in the family Salticidae. It is found in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and Southeast Asia. It is the type species of the genus ''

Carrhotus ''Carrhotus'' is a genus of Salticidae, jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1891. The name is derived from the Greek Κάῤῥωτος. Species it contains thirty-three species, found in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Bra ...

''.

Description

The male is black, with two thick white stripes running along either side of the head. Another two stripes run along the abdomen, and it doesn't meet at the abdomen tip. It has a slightly iridescent maroon 'face' and a small white spot on the 'forehead'. Its eyes have an orange border. Carrhotus viduus 8384

The female has an overall orange color, with various yellow and orange markings along its abdomen. The

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

is red and brown, with horizontal white streaks under the eyes. Carrhotus viduus female 6002

The head and cephalothorax of both sexes is longer than its width. Its abdomen is large near the base but kinks inward into a cone. They have black hairs on their legs and white hairs on the abdomen. The spinnerets (silk-producing organs) are clearly visible at the end of their abdomen.

Range

It is found in from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and India east to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Vietnam and there have been some unconfirmed reports from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the Sundas.

Behaviour and ecology

It normally moves quickly, and can actively and suddenly jump in an escape.

Habitat

It is found in tropical and subtropical woodlands, including gardens, preferring thick foliage of short trees and shrubs.

Taxonomic history

The species was first described as ''Plexippus viduus'' by

Carl Ludwig Koch Carl Ludwig Koch (21 September 1778 – 23 August 1857) was a German entomologist and arachnologist. He was responsible for classifying a great number of spiders, including the Brazilian whiteknee tarantula and common house spider. He was bo ...

in 1846 and moved to genus Carrhotus by in 1999. Then, a new species of Plexippus, ''Plexippus gajbei ,'' got published, but although the paper mentioned a female and male holotype, the female was never deposited and the male was determined to be ''C. viduus.'' In 2020, ''Marpissa lakshmikantapurensis, Marpissa tikaderi'' and ''Marpissa decorata'' was also synonymized with ''C. viduus.''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2306355 Salticidae Fauna of Vietnam Spiders of the Indian subcontinent Spiders of China Fauna of Myanmar