''Cyrtophora'', the tent-web spiders, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895. Although they are in the "orb weaver" family, they do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometimes considered a precursor of the simplified orb web. These webs are aligned horizontally, with a network of supporting threads above them. These spiders often live in colonies. Females have a body length of mostly about long. Some members, including '' Cyrtophora cicatrosa'', exhibit the ability to change colour rapidly. A

kleptoparasitic Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when f ...

spider ('' Argyrodes fissifrons'') was found to live in a mutualistic relationships with ''Cyrtophora'' species. Some of the species are considered social spiders, building large structures where the territories of the offspring are built along the margin of the mothers web.

Species

it contains fifty-three species: *'' C. admiralia'' Strand, 1913 – Admiralty Is. *'' C. beccarii'' (Thorell, 1878) – Laos, Malaysia to Australia (Northern Territory) *'' C. bicauda'' (Saito, 1933) – Taiwan *'' C. bidenta'' Tikader, 1970 – India *'' C. bimaculata'' Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China *'' C. bituberculata'' Roy, Saha & Raychaudhuri, 2017 – India *'' C. caudata'' Bösenberg & Lenz, 1895 – East Africa *'' C. cephalotes'' Simon, 1877 – Philippines *'' C. cicatrosa'' (Stoliczka, 1869) – Pakistan to Australia (Northern Territory) *'' C. citricola'' (Forsskål, 1775) – Southern Europe, Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, India, China, Japan. Introduced to Dominican Rep., Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil **'' Cyrtophora c. abessinensis'' Strand, 1906 – Ethiopia **'' Cyrtophora c. lurida'' Karsch, 1879 – West Africa **'' Cyrtophora c. minahassae'' Merian, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi) *'' C. cordiformis'' (L. Koch, 1871) – New Guinea, Australia (Queensland, Lord Howe Is.) *'' C. crassipes'' (Rainbow, 1897) – Australia (New South Wales) *'' C. cylindroides'' (Walckenaer, 1841) – China to Australia (Queensland) **'' Cyrtophora c. scalaris'' Strand, 1915 – Papua New Guinea (New Britain) *'' C. diazoma'' (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra) *'' C. doriae'' (Thorell, 1881) – New Guinea, Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.) *'' C. eczematica'' (Thorell, 1892) – Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi), New Guinea *'' C. exanthematica'' (Doleschall, 1859) – Myanmar to Philippines, Australia (New South Wales) *'' C. feae'' (Thorell, 1887) – India to Myanmar *'' C. forbesi'' (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra) *'' C. gazellae'' (Karsch, 1878) – Papua New Guinea (New Britain) *'' C. gemmosa'' Thorell, 1899 – Cameroon *'' C. guangxiensis'' Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China *'' C. hainanensis'' Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China *'' C. hirta'' L. Koch, 1872 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales) *'' C. ikomosanensis'' (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) – Taiwan, Japan *'' C. jabalpurensis'' Gajbe & Gajbe, 1999 – India *'' C. koronadalensis'' Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines *'' C. ksudra'' Sherriffs, 1928 – India *'' C. lacunaris'' Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China *'' C. lahirii'' Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 – Bangladesh *'' C. larinioides'' Simon, 1895 – Cameroon *'' C. limbata'' (Thorell, 1898) – Myanmar *'' C. lineata'' Kulczyński, 1910 – Solomon Is., Bismarck Arch. *'' C. moluccensis'' (Doleschall, 1857) – India to Japan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, French Polynesia **'' Cyrtophora m. albidinota'' Strand, 1911 – Caroline Is., Palau Is., Yap Is. **'' Cyrtophora m. bukae'' Strand, 1911 – Solomon Is. **'' Cyrtophora m. cupidinea'' (Thorell, 1875) – New Caledonia **'' Cyrtophora m. margaritacea'' (Doleschall, 1859) – Indonesia (Java) **'' Cyrtophora m. rubicundinota'' Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (Keile Is.) *'' C. monulfi'' Chrysanthus, 1960 – New Guinea, Australia (Northern Territory) *'' C. nareshi'' Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 – Bangladesh *'' C. parangexanthematica'' Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines *'' C. parnasia'' L. Koch, 1872 – Australia, Tasmania *'' C. petersi'' Karsch, 1878 – Mozambique *'' C. rainbowi'' (Roewer, 1955) – Australia (New South Wales) *'' C. sextuberculata'' Tanikawa & Petcharad, 2015 – Thailand *'' C. subacalypha'' (Simon, 1882) – Yemen *'' C. trigona'' (L. Koch, 1871) – Australia (Queensland), New Guinea *'' C. unicolor'' (Doleschall, 1857) – India, Sri Lanka to Japan, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia (Christmas Is.)

References

External links

Pictures of several ''Cyrtophora'' species

(illustrations of web construction)

{{Taxonbar, from=Q981013 Araneomorphae genera Spiders of Asia Spiders of Africa Spiders of Australia