''Chileotaxus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of Chilean

araneomorph The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their cl ...

spiders in the family

Physoglenidae Physoglenidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Alexander Petrunkevitch in 1928 as a subfamily of Pholcidae. It was later moved to Synotaxidae until a study in 2016 showed that they formed a distinct clade. Genera , the Wor ...

, containing the single species ''Chileotaxus sans''. It was first described by Norman I. Platnick in 1990, and is found in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Originally placed with the Synotaxidae, it was moved to the Physoglenidae in 1973. The generic name is a contraction of "Chilean Synotaxus", and the specific name is an arbitrary combination of letters.

Description

''Chileotaxus sans'' is a green spider with long, spineless legs and a triangular abdomen. Adults range from 1.9–2.3 mm in length. The carapace is longer than it is wide, and narrows towards the anterior end. The eyes cover almost the entire width of the head region. The MOQ forms a trapezium which is wider towards the rear, and with the AME closer together than the PME. The AME are darker and smaller than the other eyes, and the clypeal height is approximately four times the diameter of the AME.

Habitat and Description

The species is found in wet forests in Chile, under the leaves of trees and shrubs. They construct a dome shaped sheet-web, with the apex underneath a leaf.

References

Monotypic Araneomorphae genera Physoglenidae Spiders of South America Taxa named by Raymond Robert Forster Endemic fauna of Chile {{Araneomorphae-stub

Description

Habitat and Description

See also

References