Protaeus
| Protaeus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Genus: | Protaeus Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025[1] |
| Type species | |
| P. nyarlathotep Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025
| |
| Species | |
|
6, see text | |
Protaeus is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae.[2]
Distribution
Protaeus is endemic to China.[2]
Etymology
The genus is named after Proteus, because of the "shape-shifting", variable nature of this genus' tibial apophyses.[1]
Species
As of January 2026, this genus includes six species:[2]
- Protaeus dracosquamus Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025 – China
- Protaeus forcipiformis (Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017) – China
- Protaeus gulliwingus Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025 – China
- Protaeus jianfeng (Song & Zhu, 1998) – China (Hainan)
- Protaeus nyarlathotep Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025 – China
- Protaeus shiwandashan (Wang, Mi, Li & Xu, 2024) – China
References
- ^ a b Ni, Y.; Yu, K.; Zhang, J. X. (2025). "Phylogenomic placement of a new genus and species of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Spartaeini) based on UCE data". Invertebrate Systematics. 39: 1–25. doi:10.1071/IS25033.
- ^ a b c "Gen. Protaeus Ni, Yu & Zhang, 2025". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2026-01-21.