Cyrtophora

Tent-web spider
Green tent-web spider
Cyrtophora moluccensis suspended beneath its web
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Subfamily: Cyrtophorinae
Genus: Cyrtophora
Simon, 1864
Type species
C. citricola
(Forsskål, 1775)
Species

44, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Suzumia

Cyrtophora, the tent-web spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.[2] Although they are in the "orb weaver" family, they 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 millimetres (0.39 in) long. Some members, including Cyrtophora cicatrosa, exhibit the ability to change colour rapidly.[3]

A kleptoparasitic spider (Argyrodes fissifrons) was found to live in a mutualistic relationships with Cyrtophora species.[4][5] Some of the species are considered social spiders, building large structures where the territories of the offspring are built along the margin of the mothers web.[6]

Species

  • C. citricola
  • C. exanthematica
  • C. moluccensis
  • C. petersi

As of October 2025, this genus includes 44 species and three subspecies:[1]

  • Cyrtophora admiralia Strand, 1913 – Admiralty Is.
  • Cyrtophora beccarii (Thorell, 1878) – Laos, Malaysia to Australia (Northern Territory)
  • Cyrtophora bicauda (Saito, 1933) – Taiwan
  • Cyrtophora bidenta Tikader, 1970 – India
  • Cyrtophora bimaculata Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
  • Cyrtophora bituberculata Roy, Saha & Raychaudhuri, 2017 – India
  • Cyrtophora caudata Bösenberg & Lenz, 1895 – East Africa (region)
  • Cyrtophora cephalotes Simon, 1877 – Philippines
  • Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka, 1869) – Pakistan to Australia (Northern Territory)
  • Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) – Southern Europe, Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, India, China, Japan. Introduced to Cuba, Dominican Rep. Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil (type species)
  • Cyrtophora cordiformis (L. Koch, 1871) – Indonesia (New Guinea), Australia (Queensland, Lord Howe Is.)
  • Cyrtophora crassipes (Rainbow, 1897) – Australia (New South Wales)
  • Cyrtophora cylindroides (Walckenaer, 1841) – China to Australia (Queensland)
  • Cyrtophora diazoma (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra)
  • Cyrtophora doriae (Thorell, 1881) – Indonesia (New Guinea), Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
  • Cyrtophora eczematica (Thorell, 1893) – Sinpapore
  • Cyrtophora exanthematica (Doleschall, 1859) – Myanmar to Philippines, Australia (New South Wales)
  • Cyrtophora feae (Thorell, 1887) – India to Myanmar
  • Cyrtophora forbesi (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra)
  • Cyrtophora gazellae (Karsch, 1878) – Papua New Guinea (New Britain)
  • Cyrtophora gemmosa Thorell, 1899 – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea
  • Cyrtophora guangxiensis Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China
  • Cyrtophora hainanensis Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China
  • Cyrtophora hirta L. Koch, 1872 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales)
  • Cyrtophora ikomosanensis (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) – Taiwan, Japan
  • Cyrtophora jabalpurensis Gajbe & Gajbe, 1999 – India
  • Cyrtophora koronadalensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • Cyrtophora ksudra Sherriffs, 1928 – India
  • Cyrtophora lacunaris Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 – China
  • Cyrtophora lahirii Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 – Bangladesh
  • Cyrtophora larinioides Simon, 1895 – Cameroon
  • Cyrtophora limbata (Thorell, 1898) – Myanmar
  • Cyrtophora lineata Kulczyński, 1910 – Solomon Islands, Bismarck Arch.
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis (Doleschall, 1857) – India to Japan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Solomon Islands, Palau, Micronesia, Fiji, Tonga, French Polynesia
  • Cyrtophora monulfi Chrysanthus, 1960 – Indonesia (New Guinea), Australia (Northern Territory)
  • Cyrtophora nareshi Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 – Bangladesh
  • Cyrtophora parangexanthematica Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • Cyrtophora parnasia L. Koch, 1872 – Australia (Western Australia, Tasmania)
  • Cyrtophora petersi Karsch, 1878 – Mozambique, South Africa
  • Cyrtophora rainbowi (Roewer, 1955) – Australia (New South Wales)
  • Cyrtophora sextuberculata Tanikawa & Petcharad, 2015 – Thailand
  • Cyrtophora subacalypha (Simon, 1882) – Yemen
  • Cyrtophora trigona (L. Koch, 1871) – Australia (Queensland), New Guinea
  • Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857) – India, Sri Lanka to Japan, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia (Christmas Is.)

References

  1. ^ a b "Gen. Cyrtophora Simon, 1864". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  2. ^ Simon, E (1895). Histoire naturelle des araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
  3. ^ "Spider Ecology". Earth-Life Web Productions. 31 May 2020.
  4. ^ Tso, I.M.; Severinghaus, L.L. (2000). "Argyrodes fissifrons inhabiting webs of Cyrtophora hosts: Prey size distribution and population characteristics" (PDF). Zoological Studies. 39: 236–242. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
  5. ^ Peng, P; Blamires, SJ; Agnarsson, I; Lin, HC; Tso, IM (2013). "A color-mediated mutualism between two arthropod predators". Curr. Biol. 23 (2): 172–176. Bibcode:2013CBio...23..172P. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.11.057. PMID 23260470.
  6. ^ Downes, M.F. (1995). "Australasian sodal spiders: what is meant by 'soda!'?" (PDF). Records of the Western Australian Museum. 52: 25–32. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
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