''Cyrba'' is a

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 ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). The genus was erected by

Hippolyte Lucas Pierre-Hippolyte Lucas (17 January 1814 – 5 July 1899) was a French entomologist. Lucas was an assistant-natural history, naturalist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. From 1839 to 1842 he studied fauna as part of the scientific com ...

in 1846.

Description

''Cyrba'' spiders are small to medium size spiders that are usually brightly colored. Their

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 long and moderately high. The eyes are

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction *Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle *Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral cons ...

. The

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

is long with bright colorful patterns. Their legs are thin and slender. The genus has been described as primitive because of their pervasive use of

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

s, large posterior

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

eyes, and the secretory organs on the

femora The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with t ...

of males. These characteristics were lost by advanced salticids. The genus are also almost wholly dependent on their

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

. The primary mating season for the spider ''C. algerina'' is May. Juveniles emerge in July, grow to about half the adult size by winter, and then grow to adult size in the spring of the following year. The genus is commonly found on very rocky ground under rocks, or less often walking around on the ground or on the tops of rocks.

Silk and eggs

The spider spins

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

on which to

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

. ''Cyrba'' makes an

egg sac Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...

by spinning a thick

sheet on the side of a rock, and then

oviposit The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

ing the eggs in the center, covering them with another layer of silk. The egg sacs have clusters of white spots. ''Cyrba'' spiders generally stay with their eggs until they hatch. In a laboratory, they do not spin silk for moulting or resting.

Diet

Spiders in this genus feed on other spiders, and prefer them to insects. They also feed on any insect that is caught in their silk. In a laboratory test to see if ''Cyrba'' spiders would attack other salticids, they did not. The spider ''C. algerina'' is the only spider in the genus that is known to hunt at night.

Species

, the World Spider Catalog accepted 9 species: * ''Cyrba algerina'' (Lucas, 1846) – Canary Islands to Central Asia * ''Cyrba boveyi'' Lessert, 1933 – Central Africa * ''Cyrba dotata'' Peckham & Peckham, 1903 – South Africa * ''Cyrba legendrei'' Fred R. Wanless, Wanless, 1984 – Madagascar, Comoro Islands * ''Cyrba lineata'' Wanless, 1984 – South Africa * ''Cyrba nigrimana'' Simon, 1900 – South, East Africa * ''Cyrba ocellata'' (Kroneberg, 1875) – Somalia, Sudan to China, Australia * ''Cyrba simoni'' Wijesinghe, 1993 – tropical Africa * ''Cyrba szechenyii'' Friedrich Karsch, Karsch, 1898 – Hong Kong

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q1731898 Salticidae Salticidae genera Spiders of Africa Spiders of Australia Spiders of Asia