Hypsosinga

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Hypsosinga
Hypsosinga lithyphantoides 304634488 549199296.jpg
female H. lithyphantoides
Hypsosinga pygmaea 298110303 536946378.jpg
male H. pygmaea
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Hypsosinga
Ausserer, 1871 [1]
Type species
H. sanguinea
(C. L. Koch, 1844)
Species

20, see text

Hypsosinga is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871, [2] with a wide global distribution. [1]

Contents

Distribution

Most Hypsosinga species are found in Eurasia from Greenland to Japan, while a few occur in Africa and North America

In 2015, female Hypsosinga heri spiders were identified at the RSPB Radipole Lake nature reserve in Dorset, England. The previous recorded sightings of the species in the UK were in 1898 and 1912 at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire. [3]

Life style

Hypsosinga live on low plants where their small orb-webs frequently go unnoticed. Levy (1984) reported on a species that lives under stones and which could easily be confused with theridiids (especially Steatoda spp.). Hypsosinga make a complete orb-web sually with a retreat. They are frequently sampled in sweep nets in grassland. [4]

Description

Markings of the back of Singa variabilis (H. pygmaea). Common Spiders U.S. 436 Hypsosinga pygmaea.png
Markings of the back of Singa variabilis (H. pygmaea).

The genera Singa and Hypsosinga comprise small spiders identifiable by a shiny body decorated with spots or lines. Hypsosinga has a carapace that is smooth and rather wide in front, wider than the eye area, with no thoracic depression or sometimes only a small longitudinal black mark in the male. [4]

The integument is shiny, the eye area is usually black, and the posterior median eyes are usually their own diameter apart. Hypsosinga differs from Singa in having the posterior median eyes as the largest, while the ocular quadrangle is wider behind than in front, or rectangular. [4]

The abdomen in Hypsosinga, unlike that of Singa, tends to be oval and widest in the middle, with either two dorsal longitudinal bands or four dark spots. The epigynum differs from those of both Singa and Araneus in lacking a scape. [4]

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the Greek "hypso", meaning "high", referring to the higher clypeus than those of the genus Singa . [5]

Species

As of September 2025, this genus includes twenty species and three subspecies: [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Genus Hypsosinga". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  2. Ausserer, A. (1871). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Arachniden-Familie der Territelariae Thorell (Mygalidae Autor)". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 21: 117–224.
  3. "'Extinct' Hypsosinga heri spider found in Dorset reserve". BBC News Online. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N.; Webb, P. (2022). The Araneidae of South Africa. Version 2: part 2 (E-Ne). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 20. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6619195. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  5. "Genus Hypsosinga". BugGuide. Retrieved 2019-05-13.