Chrysso

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Golden comb-footed spider

female C. spiniventris

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Theridiidae
Genus:	Chrysso O. P-Cambridge, 1882

Diversity

64 species

Species

C. albomaculata
C. compressa
C. nordica
C. pelyx
C. pulcherrima
C. spiniventris
C. venusta
many others

male C. pulcherrima

Chrysso is a spider genus that mostly occurs in the Americas and Asia. C. pulcherrima is pantropical, C. nordica occurs from Hungary to Mongolia, and in North America, and C. spiniventris has been intruced in Europe.

The females are about 9 mm long, the hairs on the tip of the abdomen are blade-like. Many species are strikingly colored, but, as in most theridiids, the coloration is variable. C. compressa for example has a striking black sternum and abdomen with a black venter in Brazil, but a yellow venter in Peru. C. venusta has been observed to rapidly change its color when disturbed.

[edit] References

Werner, F.G. (1957): Spiders of the New Genus Arctachaea (Araneae, Theridiidae). Psyche 64: 102-106. PDF
Levi, Herbert W. (1962): More American Spiders of the Genus Chrysso (Araneae, Theridiidae). Psyche 69: 209-237. PDF