Poecilochroa

Poecilochroa
Poecilochroa sp. from Saul Kere, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Gnaphosidae
Genus:	Poecilochroa Westring, 1874 [1]
Type species
P. variana (C. L. Koch, 1839)
Species
39, see text

Poecilochroa is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1874. ^[2]

Description

As Gnaphosidae, Poecilochroa have large cylindrical spinnerets. They are nocturnal, spending the day in silken retreats and going out at night to hunt. ^[3]

Poecilochroa are divided into two gnaphosid groups based on their abdomen colouration: those with plain abdomens are in the Echemus group, while those with black and white abdomen are in the Herpyllus group. Males of both groups have well-developed dorsal scuta. ^[4]

Habitat

Poecilochroa occur in various habitats including on and under stones and dead leaves, on vegetation, in steppes, grasslands, dry fields, stream beds and forest floors. ^{[5] [6]}

Species

As of September 2025 ^[update] , this genus includes 28 species: ^[1]

• Poecilochroa albomaculata (Lucas, 1846) – Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
• Poecilochroa alcala Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
• Poecilochroa anomala (Hewitt, 1915) – South Africa, Lesotho
• Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982 – India
• Poecilochroa bifasciata Banks, 1902 – Galapagos
• Poecilochroa capensis Strand, 1909 – South Africa
• Poecilochroa carinata Caporiacco, 1947 – Uganda
• Poecilochroa dayamibrookiana Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
• Poecilochroa exoculata Lissner, 2024 – Canary Islands
• Poecilochroa faradjensis Lessert, 1929 – DR Congo
• Poecilochroa haplostyla Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe
• Poecilochroa insularis Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)
• Poecilochroa involuta Tucker, 1923 – South Africa
• Poecilochroa joreungensis Paik, 1992 – Korea
• Poecilochroa khodiar (Patel, 1988) – India
• Poecilochroa kuljitae (Tikader, 1982) – India
• Poecilochroa latefasciata Simon, 1893 – Peru
• Poecilochroa parangunifasciata Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
• Poecilochroa patricia (Simon, 1878) – France (Corsica)
• Poecilochroa pauciaculeis Caporiacco, 1947 – Eritrea
• Poecilochroa phyllobia (Thorell, 1871) – Italy
• Poecilochroa rollini Berland, 1933 – French Polynesia (Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu)
• Poecilochroa taeguensis Paik, 1992 – Korea
• Poecilochroa tridotus Caleb & Mathai, 2013 – India
• Poecilochroa trifasciata Mello-Leitão, 1918 – Brazil
• Poecilochroa variana (C. L. Koch, 1839) – Europe, Central Asia (type species)
• Poecilochroa viduata (Pavesi, 1883) – Ethiopia
• Poecilochroa vittata Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)

References

1. "Genus Poecilochroa". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
2. Westring, N. (1874). "Bemerkungen über die Arachnologischen Abhandlungen von Dr T. Thorell unter dem Titel: 1°, On European Spiders, pts 1 et 2, Upsala, 1869-70. 2°, Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, Upsala, 1872-73". Göteborgs Kungliga Vetenskaps och Vitterhets Samhälles Handlingar. 14: 1–68.
3. "Flat-bellied ground spiders, Gnaphosidae". ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
4. Chatzaki, J. Lissner M. (2016-01-01). First records of Poecilochroa taborensis Levy, 1999 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Greece and Cyprus with notes on some closely related species. OCLC   1248842562.
5. Bayram, Abdullah; Varol, M. İsmail (2003). "On Poecilochroa variana, recently collected in Turkey for the first time (Araneae: Gnaphosidae)" . Zoology in the Middle East. 30 (1): 101–104. doi:10.1080/09397140.2003.10637994. ISSN   0939-7140. S2CID   84776303.
6. Alioua, Youcef; Bosmans, Robert (May 2020). "Poecilochroa senilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) recorded for the first time in Algeria and Morocco, with the proposition of a new synonym". The Arachnological Bulletin of the Middle East and North Africa. 17 (2): 121–126.