''Zora'' is a genus of spiders in the family

Miturgidae Miturgidae is a family (biology), family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders that includes nearly 170 species in 29 genus, genera worldwide. First described by Eugène Simon in 1886, it has been substantially revised, and includes the previous f ...

, consisting of small to medium entelegyne,

ecribellate Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates. In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or o ...

spiders. They can be identified as they have two claws with claw tufts, distinct longitudinal bands on 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 ...

, 4-2-2 arrangement of the eight eyes and long overlapping spines on the first two tibiae and metatarsi. Their abdomens show distinct colour patterns which may be useful in identification to species. There are 17 species in the genus which have a

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...

distribution, mostly in Europe and the Middle East but with two species in North America. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is '' Zora spinimana''.

Identification

''Zora'' spiders have a narrow anterior carapace with a characteristic dark compact eye group with both of the rows of eyes strongly recurved. There are paired ventral spines on legs I and II. All of the species are similar in general appearance, their general colour is yellow with a wide brown band extending back from each posterior lateral eye. The

prosoma 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 ...

has a thin Y-shaped brown marking with spots and irregular lines along its flanks.

Species

The following species are listed as accepted in the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

. *'' Zora acuminate'' Zhu & Zhang, 2006 -

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 ...

*'' Zora alpina'' Kulczyński, 1915 -

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

*'' Zora armillata'' Simon, 1878 - Europe,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

*'' Zora distincta'' Kulczyński, 1915 - Eastern Europe *'' Zora hespera'' Corey & Mott, 1991 -

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

*'' Zora lyriformis'' Song, Zhu & Gao, 1993 - China *'' Zora manicata'' Simon, 1878 - Europe,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

*'' Zora nemoralis'' (Blackwall, 1861) -

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

*'' Zora opiniosa'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) -

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

*'' Zora palmgreni'' Holm, 1945 -

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

*'' Zora parallela'' Simon, 1878 - Europe, Russia *'' Zora pardalis'' Simon, 1878 - Europe to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

*'' Zora prespaensis'' Drensky, 1929 - Macedonia *'' Zora pumila'' (Hentz, 1850) - United States of America *'' Zora silvestris'' Kulczyński, 1897 - Europe to Central Asia *'' Zora spinimana'' (Sundevall, 1833) - Palearctic

References

Miturgidae Araneomorphae genera Spiders of Asia Spiders of North America {{Araneomorphae-stub