''Selenops'' is a spider genus that is found in many arid regions of the world, but some species may also be found in some cooler and even mountainous regions. Most of the 132 species (as of May. 2021) are hard to visually distinguish, and requires study of their finer anatomy. ''S. australiensis'' is found on or under dry bark in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The female reaches 9mm, the male 7mm. It looks superficially like a huntsman spider. ''S. radiatus'' has proved to be an effective controlling agent of the potato tuber moth in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Selenops is the first spider known to be able to steer and glide when falling, in order to land in or on a tree, instead of falling to the ground. Selenops spiders are able to attack prey approaching from all directions. When attacking prey from behind, they show some of the fastest turning movements documented in terrestrial legged animals.

Name

Named after the moon goddess

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...

, and Greek ''-ops'' "eye", because of the moon-like form of the eyes.

Selected species

* '' Selenops australiensis'' * '' Selenops aztecus'' Valdez-Mondragon, 2010 * '' Selenops galapagoensis'' * '' Selenops lobatse'' * '' Selenops muehlmannorum'' Jager & Praxaysombath, 2011Jager, P. & Praxaysombath, B. (2011). "''Selenops muehlmannorum'' spec. nov. from Southern Laos (Araneae: Selenopidae)." ''Zootaxa'' 2883: 65-68. * '' Selenops nesophilus'' * '' Selenops radiatus'' * '' Selenops rosario'' * '' Selenops submaculosus''

References

External links

Picture of ''Selenops sp.''

Selenopidae Araneomorphae genera Spiders of North America Spiders of South America Spiders of Asia Spiders of Africa {{Araneomorphae-stub