Cyatholipus tortilis

Cyatholipus tortilis
Conservation status
Rare
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Cyatholipidae
Genus:	Cyatholipus
Species:	C. tortilis
Binomial name
Cyatholipus tortilis Griswold, 1987 [1]

Cyatholipus tortilis is a species of spider in the family Cyatholipidae. It is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. ^{[2] [3]}

Distribution

Cyatholipus tortilis is known only from Cathedral Peak in the Ukahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage site, where it occurs at approximately 1649 metres above sea level. ^[3]

Habitat

The species builds small horizontal sheet webs in vegetation and was collected from open montane grasses in the Grassland Biome. This habitat is seasonally wet and interlaced with permanent streams that harbour tree ferns and other mesic vegetation. ^[3]

Etymology

The species epithet tortilis is Latin meaning "twisted" or "coiled".

Conservation

The species is known only from the type locality and only males have been collected. It occurs in a protected area with no obvious threats and is listed as Rare. The species is likely under-collected and may occur more widely in the Drakensberg Mountain Range. ^[3]

References

1. Griswold, C.E. (1987). "A review of the southern African spiders of the family Cyatholipidae Simon, 1894 (Araneae: Araneomorphae)". Annals of the Natal Museum. 28: 499–542.
2. "Cyatholipus tortilis Griswold, 1987". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
3. Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2022). The Cyatholipidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. Irene. pp. 1–27. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6759933.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.