Firmicus (spider)

Firmicus
	adult female F. bragantinus from South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Thomisidae
Genus:	Firmicus; Simon, 1895
Type species
	F. bragantinus; (Brito Capello, 1866)
Species
	17, see text

Firmicus is a genus of crab spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.^[2]

Distribution

Species in this genus are mainly found in Africa. One species is endemic to Vietnam, and another reaches into Spain and France from Algeria. F. dewitzi is found from Egypt to Iran.^[1]

Life style

Firmicus are free-living plant dwellers more commonly found on trees.^[3]

Description

Females and males are 4 to 6 mm in total length, with males only slightly smaller.^[3]

This genus can be recognised by their flattened body that is frequently elongated. The carapace is flattened and narrower in the eye region. The tubercles of anterior lateral eyes are shallow and clearly larger than posterior lateral eye tubercles. The anterior lateral eyes are larger than the other eyes. The anterior eye row is straight with the eyes equidistantly spaced while the posterior eye row is recurved. The posterior median eyes are distinctly closer to each other than to posterior lateral eyes.^[3]

The abdomen is flattened and slightly elongated. Legs I and II are long, thick and spinous.^[3]

Species

F. abnormis
F. bivittatus
F. campestratus

As of October 2025, this genus includes seventeen species and two subspecies:^[1]

Firmicus abnormis (Lessert, 1923) – South Africa
Firmicus arushae Caporiacco, 1947 – Tanzania
Firmicus aurantipes Jézéquel, 1966 – Ivory Coast
Firmicus biguttatus Caporiacco, 1940 – Ethiopia
Firmicus bimaculatus (Simon, 1886) – Madagascar
Firmicus bipunctatus Caporiacco, 1941 – Ethiopia, Sudan, Cameroon, DR Congo, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa
Firmicus bivittatus Simon, 1895 – Spain, France, Algeria
Firmicus bragantinus (Brito Capello, 1866) – Sudan, DR Congo, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa (type species)
Firmicus campestratus Simon, 1907 – Gabon, DR Congo
- F. c. faradjensis (Lessert, 1928) – DR Congo
- F. c. ogoueensis Simon, 1907 – Gabon
Firmicus dewitzi Simon, 1899 – Egypt, Israel, Iran
Firmicus duriusculus Simon, 1903 – Vietnam
Firmicus haywoodae Jézéquel, 1964 – Ivory Coast
Firmicus insularis (Blackwall, 1877) – Seychelles
Firmicus lentiginosus (Simon, 1886) – DR Congo, near Zambezi River (no details)
Firmicus paecilipes Caporiacco, 1940 – Ethiopia
Firmicus strandi Caporiacco, 1947 – Tanzania
Firmicus werneri Simon, 1906 – Uganda

In synonymy:

F. marginatus Simon, 1897 = Firmicus insularis (Blackwall, 1877)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Gen. Firmicus Simon, 1895". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
^ Simon, E (1895). Histoire naturelle des araignées (in French). Paris: Roret. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-Mo. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 27. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513274. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

External links

Citizen science observations for Firmicus at iNaturalist

[wsc-1] "Gen. Firmicus Simon, 1895". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-03.

[Simo1895-2] Simon, E (1895). Histoire naturelle des araignées (in French). Paris: Roret. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.

[dippenaar2020-3] Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-Mo. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 27. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513274. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

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