Euprosthenops australis is a species of spider in the family Pisauridae.[2] It is found across several African countries and is commonly known as the African Euprosthenops nursery-web spider.[3]
The species inhabits multiple biomes including Grassland, Savanna, and Thicket biomes.[3] Funnel-web pisaurids construct their webs in short shrubs and bushes close to the ground, or make large webs in trees. The capture web is sheet-like and composed of dense criss-crossing threads with a funnel at the bottom. Euprosthenops australis moves under the web and the female carries the egg sac below the body, building a nursery-web when spiderlings emerge.[3]
The species is sometimes found in houses, and care of the egg sac and spiderlings has been observed in the field.[3]
The species name australis is Latin meaning "southern", referring to the species' southern African distribution.
Taxonomy
The species was originally described by Eugène Simon in 1898.[1] It was revised by Blandin in 1976, and the male was first described by Silva & Sierwald in 2014.[3]
References
1 2 Simon, E. (1898). "Descriptions d'arachnides nouveaux des familles des Agelenidae, Pisauridae, Lycosidae et Oxyopidae". Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 42: 5–34.
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