Patu (genus)
| Patu | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Symphytognathidae |
| Genus: | Patu Marples, 1951 |
| Species | |
|
See text. | |
| Diversity | |
| 8 species | |
Patu is a genus of spiders in the family Symphytognathidae that occurs in Colombia and Oceania. Patu digua is the smallest species of spider described to date.
Name
The name is possibly derived from some Polynesian term like the Māori patu (a type of short-handed club), Samoan patupatu (with a lumpy shape), fatu (a stone or another hard object) or patutu (to strike or hit something or someone). These terms all imply a rounded shape and hardness (enabling one to strike or hammer something with such an object).
Species
- Patu digua Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu eberhardi Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu marplesi Forster, 1959 (Samoa)
- Patu saladito Forster & Platnick, 1977 (Colombia)
- Patu samoensis Marples, 1951 (Samoa)
- Patu silho Saaristo, 1996 (Seychelles)
- Patu vitiensis Marples, 1951 (Fiji)
- Patu woodwardi Forster, 1959 (New Guinea)