Cyrtophora

Tent-web spider
Green Tent Spider
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Subfamily:	Cyrtophorinae
Genus:	Cyrtophora Simon, 1864
Species
See text.
Diversity
38 species

The Tent-web spiders (genus Cyrtophora), although technically orb-web spiders (family Araneidae), do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometimes considered a precursor of the simplified orb web. These webs are aligned horizontally, with a network of supporting threads above them. These spiders often live in colonies. Females have a body length of mostly about 10 mm.

A tent-web spider (Cyrtophora moluccensis) suspended beneath its web

Some members (e.g. Cyrtophora cicatrosa) exhibit the ability to change colour rapidly.^[1]

A kleptoparasitic spider (Argyrodes fissifrons) was found to live in a mutualistic relationships with Cyrtophora species.^[2]

Species

• Cyrtophora acrobalia (Thorell, 1895) — Myanmar
• Cyrtophora admiralia Strand, 1913 — Admiralty Islands
• Cyrtophora beccarii (Thorell, 1878) — Malaysia to New Guinea
• Cyrtophora bicauda (Saito, 1933) — Taiwan
• Cyrtophora bidenta Tikader, 1970 — India
• Cyrtophora caudata Bösenberg & Lenz, 1895 — East Africa
• Cyrtophora cephalotes Simon, 1877 — Philippines
• Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka, 1869) — Pakistan to New Guinea
• Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) — Old World, Hispaniola, Colombia
  • Cyrtophora citricola abessinensis Strand, 1906 — Ethiopia
  • Cyrtophora citricola lurida Karsch, 1879 — West Africa
  • Cyrtophora citricola minahassae Merian, 1911 — Sulawesi
• Cyrtophora cordiformis (L. Koch, 1871) — New Guinea, Queensland, Lord Howe Islands
• Cyrtophora cylindroides (Walckenaer, 1842) — China to Australia
  • Cyrtophora cylindroides scalaris Strand, 1915 — New Britain
• Cyrtophora diazoma (Thorell, 1890) — Sumatra
• Cyrtophora doriae (Thorell, 1881) — New Guinea, Bismarck Arch.
• Cyrtophora eczematica (Thorell, 1892) — Malaysia, Java, Sulawesi, New Guinea
• Cyrtophora exanthematica (Doleschall, 1859) — Myanmar to Philippines, New Guinea
• Cyrtophora feai (Thorell, 1887) — India to Myanmar
• Cyrtophora forbesi (Thorell, 1890) — Sumatra
• Cyrtophora gemmosa Thorell, 1899 — Cameroon
• Cyrtophora guangxiensis Yin et al., 1990 — China
• Cyrtophora hainanensis Yin et al., 1990 — China
• Cyrtophora hirta L. Koch, 1872 — Queensland
• Cyrtophora jabalpurensis Gajbe & Gajbe, 1999 — India
• Cyrtophora koronadalensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
• Cyrtophora ksudra Sherriffs, 1928 — India
• Cyrtophora lacunaris Yin et al., 1990 — China
• Cyrtophora lahirii Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 — Bangladesh
• Cyrtophora larinioides Simon, 1895 — Cameroon
• Cyrtophora leucopicta (Urquhart, 1890) — Fiji
• Cyrtophora limbata (Thorell, 1898) — Myanmar
• Cyrtophora lineata Kulczynski, 1910 — Solomon Islands, Bismarck Arch.
• Cyrtophora moluccensis (Doleschall, 1857) — India to Japan, Australia
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis albidinota Strand, 1911 — Caroline Islands, Palau, Yap
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis bukae Strand, 1911 — Solomon Islands
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis cupidinea Thorell, 1875 — New Caledonia
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis margaritacea (Doleschall, 1859) — Java
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis rubicundinota Strand, 1911 — Keule Islands, near New Guinea
• Cyrtophora monulfi Chrysanthus, 1960 — New Guinea
• Cyrtophora nareshi Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 — Bangladesh
• Cyrtophora parangexanthematica Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
• Cyrtophora parnasia L. Koch, 1872 — Australia, Tasmania
• Cyrtophora petersi Karsch, 1878 — Mozambique
• Cyrtophora subacalypha (Simon, 1882) — Aden
• Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857) — Sri Lanka to Philippines, Australia

References

• Tso, I.M. & Severinghaus, L.L. (2000). Argyrodes fissifrons inhabiting webs of Cyrtophora hosts: Prey size distribution and population characteristics. Zoological Studies. 39:236–242. PDF
• Álvares, É.S.S. & De Maria, M. (2004). First record of Cyrtophora citricola (Forskål) in Brazil (Araneae, Araneidae). Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 21(1):155-156 PDF doi:10.1590/S0101-81752004000100026

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyrtophora.

• Pictures of several Cyrtophora species
• Russian Tent Spider C. hirta (illustrations of web construction)
• Pictures of C. citricola
• Beccari's Tent Spider (C. beccarii)
• Photos and information about Cyrtophora exanthematica
• Photos and information about Cyrtophora citricola