[Title
Page] [List
of Genera] Comparison of Drawings] [Regional
Keys to Genera] [Descriptions of New Taxa] [Geographical
Distribution] [Color Photographs] See also Catalogue
of Salticidae [ Title page] List
of Genera - names beginning with: A
BC DEFG
HIJKL MN
OPQ RS
TUVWXYZ References:
Authors beginning with: A
BC DEFG
HIJKL MN
OPQ RS
TUVWXYZ [See
also Catalogue: Diplocanthopoda ]
Salticidae: Diagnostic Drawings Library
by Jerzy Proszynski 1999
Genus Diplocanthopoda Abraham, 1926
Diagnoses of genera of
South East Asia: Dull greenish-grey salticid. Found under stones
in intertidal zone and in mountains. Genus: Diplocanthopoda. As far as we
know, D. marina, described by Abraham in 1926, is the only salticid species
which has this particular life style. When the tide comes in, the spider retreats
to a small hole in the rock and seals the entrance with silk. The cephalothorax
is low. It curves upwards from the from the front to the rear eyes, runs level
for a short distance before descending smoothly to the posterior edge. It is rather
longer than wide, with the sides parallel, slightly rounded to the front and very
rounded to the rear. The carapace is black with vague reddish-brown markings,
and the male has a broad white mark along the lateral and posterior margins. The
abdomen is oval, tapering to the rear. It is uniformly greenish-grey in colour
with whitish spots which are more pronounced on the male. The legs are all of
similar size, greenish-grey in colour and spiny. When resting, these spiders can
resemble small crabs occupying the same habitat. A second species has recently
been placed in the same genus. Curiously, this appears to come from a mountainous
region of Papua New Guinea.
Distribution: Diplocanthopoda is known only from P. Malaysia and
Papua New Guinea. Murphy &
Murphy 2000: 355. By courtesy of the Authors' and the Malaysian Nature
Society.
Copyright © for the page by J. Proszynski, 2000.