Color phots [diardi] [semicupreus] [treleaveni]
 [TYPE SPECIES H. giganteus ]
 [Baryphas ahenus ?] [albocinctus] [albofasciatus ] [alboplagiatus  [ argyrotoxus ] [besanconi] [ bengalensis  [ bevisi=treleaveni ]
[bifasciatus] [brevitarsis] [congoensis ] [corniger = Evarcha c.] [crinitus] [decellei] [decoratus ] [ deyrollei ] [diardi] [ dotatum]
[duplicidentatus] [guineensis ]  [insularis ] [interrogationis] [janthinus ] [keratodes ] [lacertosus ] 
[ leucomelas ] [longiusculus] [lugubris ] [lwoffi ] [ marleyi =treleaveni ]  [H. maskaranus ] [moestus=treleaveni ]  [normanae ] 
[peckhamorum] [plexippoides][prenanti] [pudicus] [ ramadanii ] [rotundithorax ] [semicupreus] 
 [suillus ][thoracica] [treleaveni ] [ tuberculatus] vinsoni] [walckenaerii ] 

Diagnoses of genera of South East Asia: Dull brown, stout to large salticids. Found on shrubs and plants.
General remarks: Species in this group tend to be found in silken cells in low vegetation in the open. They are not very colourful and are sturdy, solid-looking spiders. Hyllus males can be quite large, (c. 16mm), and "aggressive". A helpful entomologist colleague was once seen using a twig, trying to steer a particularly large Hyllus male on the ground, into an open matchbox. This process was working quite well until the spider sighted the matchbox. Then when the matchbox was in range it quite suddenly jumped and lunged at the matchbox. As a result of this entirely unexpected behaviour, it was observed that the entomologist jumped much further than the spider! Genus: Hyllus. See also Koh, p. 108. This is a large genus of large salticids. They tend to be stout, hairy and dull coloured, something like an outsized Evarcha. The cephalothorax is fairly high, with a long sloping thorax and steep sides. The cephalus is relatively small and slightly convex. In plan the carapace is a broad oval, slightly longer than broad and has a somewhat truncated rear edge. The abdomen is oval, rounded at the front and tapering to a truncate rear. The legs are long and stout with legs I much the longest. A typical hyllid, H. lacertosus, has a shiny black cephalus and the rest of the carapace dark red and covered with short black hairs. The whole abdomen has a sinister, iridescent, dark brown appearance. There is a vague lighter median stripe and there are sparse, long black and white hairs. The legs are dark brown, very spiny and very hairy. The front legs in particular are covered with dense fringes of thin, black hairs. The carapace and legs of, the female are lighter editions of those of the male, but her abdomen is much more attractively patterned. The underlying colour is light brown with wide and narrow black bands radiating from the centre. There is a collar of long whitish hairs around the shoulders. The colour and pattern of other species vary but there is often a hint of the above involved. Distribution: The range of Hyllus stretches from Africa through the tropics to Australia, some Pacific islands, as well as China and Japan. Murphy & Murphy 2000: 338. By courtesy of the Authors' and the Malaysian Nature Society.

Copyright © for the page by J. Proszynski, 1999.