Cithaeronidae

The Cithaeronidae are a small spider family with only six species in two genera.

Biology

Cithaeronidae are fast-moving spiders that actively hunt at night. They rest during the day in silken retreats they construct below rocks.^[1]. Female Cithaeron are about 5 to 7 mm long, males about 4 mm. They are pale yellowish, and have a preference for very hot, dry stony places.^[2]

Distribution

While Inthaeron occurs only in India, members of the genus Cithaeron can be found in Africa, India and parts of Eurasia. Three adult females of C. praedonius were found in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. As they were found in and near human housings, they presumably were accidentally introduced.^[1] This is probably also the case for finds in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Species

Cithaeron O. P-Cambridge, 1872

• Cithaeron delimbatus Strand, 1906 — East Africa
• Cithaeron indicus Platnick & Gajbe, 1994 — India
• Cithaeron jocqueorum Platnick, 1991 — Ivory Coast
• Cithaeron praedonius O. P.-Cambridge, 1872 — Greece, Libya to Malaysia, Australia and Brazil
• Cithaeron reimoseri Platnick, 1991 — Ethiopia

Inthaeron Platnick, 1991

• Inthaeron rossi Platnick, 1991 — India

Notes

References

• Murphy, Frances & Murphy, John (2000): An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Malaysian Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.
• Platnick, N.I. (2002): A revision of the Australasian ground spiders of the families Ammoxenidae, Cithaeronidae, Gallieniellidae, and Trochanteriidae (Araneae, Gnaphosoidea). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 271. PDF (26Mb) — Abstract
• Carvalho, L.S.; Bonaldo, A.B. & Brescovit, A.D. (2007): The first record of the family Cithaeronidae (Araneae, Gnaphosoidea) to the new world. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24(2): 512–514. PDF (124kb)
• Platnick, Norman I. (2009): The world spider catalog, version 10.0. American Museum of Natural History.

External links

• Hi-Res Photographs of Cithaeron praedonius