''Cyrtophora'', the tent-web spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

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 ''Cyrtophora cicatrosa'', commonly known as the garden tent-web spider or dome spider, is a common species of orb-weavers found in many parts of Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either con ...

'', exhibit the ability to change colour rapidly. A kleptoparasitic spider (''

Argyrodes fissifrons ''Argyrodes fissifrons'', the split-faced silver spider, is a species of spider of the genus ''Argyrodes''. It is found from Sri Lanka to China and Australia. Description The female is larger than the male, at about 12mm in length. The abdomen i ...

'') 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