Diphya simoni
| Simon's Diphya Web Spider | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Tetragnathidae |
| Genus: | Diphya |
| Species: | D. simoni
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| Binomial name | |
| Diphya simoni | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Diphya simoni is a species of spider in the family Tetragnathidae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as Simon's Diphya web spider.[3]
Distribution
[edit | edit source]Diphya simoni is found across five South African provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West, and Western Cape. The species has been recorded from numerous locations including Kruger National Park, Table Mountain National Park, and various sites along the Eastern Cape coast.[3]
Habitat and ecology
[edit | edit source]The species inhabits Grassland and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 418 to 2,826 m. Specimens have been collected low in grasses using sweep nets.[3]
A photograph documented D. simoni constructing a small vertical orb-web in dead wood at Klapmuts in the Western Cape.[3]
Description
[edit | edit source]The abdomen is stout and rounded, pale to dark with a pattern. The legs are long and slender with the front legs longer than the others.[3]
The species can be recognized by an anterior row of stiff inflexible setae on the tibia and metatarsi I and II. The male palp features a spine-like cymbial outgrowth.[3]
Conservation
[edit | edit source]Diphya simoni is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Although presently known only from females, the species has a wide geographical range. It is protected in Kruger National Park and Table Mountain National Park.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]The species was originally described by Hans Kauri in 1950 from Kruger National Park.[1] It was redescribed by Marusik in 2017 and by Omelko, Marusik and Lyle in 2020, who synonymized Diphya tanikawai with D. simoni.[4]
References
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This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Citizen science observations for Diphya simoni at iNaturalistLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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