Description of a new species of Cladomelea bolas-spider from South Africa, with notes on its behaviour (Araneae: Araneidae)
Author
Roff, John
Author
Dippenaar-Schoeman, Ansie
text
African Invertebrates
2004
2004-12-31
45
1
6
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.7909888
2305-2562
7909888
Genus
Cladomelea
Simon, 1895
Cladomelea
Simon, 1895: 886
;
Leroy
et al
. 1998: 8
;
Levi 2003: 378
.
Type
species:
Cyrtarachne longipes
(O.P. Cambridge, 1877), by original designation.
According to
Levi (2003)
the three genera in the bolasspider group,
Mastophora
Holmberg
,
Ordgarius
Keyserling
and
Cladomelea
have outgrowths on the carapace. Based on
Leroy
et al
. (1998)
Cladomelea
is characterised by the following: it is the only genus in the subfamily where the female lacks a row of strong spines on the anterior legs. In
Cladomelea
the spines are replaced by a dense layer of thin, long setae (
Leroy
et al
. 1998: 5
). A double row of teeth is present on the inferior cheliceral margin with denticles scattered in between. The new species contains all these characteristics.