Cheiramiona silvicola

Forest Long-legged Sac Spider
Conservation status
Least Concern  (SANBI Red List)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Cheiracanthiidae
Genus:	Cheiramiona
Species:	C. silvicola
Binomial name
Cheiramiona silvicola (Lawrence, 1938)

Cheiramiona silvicola is a species of spider in the family Cheiracanthiidae. ^[1] It is a South African endemic originally described from Nkandla Forest in KwaZulu-Natal. ^[2]

The specific name "silvicola" means "forest dwelling" in Latin'

Distribution

The species is known from three provinces and six protected areas at elevations from 20-1783 m above sea level. ^[2]

Habitat

This species is a free-living plant dweller collected from indigenous forests in the Thicket, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Fynbos and Savanna biomes. At Ngome State Forest it has also been sampled from commercial pine plantations. ^[2]

Conservation

Due to its wide geographical range, the species is listed as Least Concern. It is protected in several reserves including Katberg State Forest, Silaka Nature Reserve, Ngome State Forest, Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve and Swartberg Nature Reserve. ^[2]

References

1. "Cheiramiona silvicola (Lawrence, 1938)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
2. Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Cheiracanthiidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. Irene. pp. 1–62. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6033586.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.