Spartaeus

For greek myth figure, see Spartaeus (mythology).

Spartaeus
S. zhangi from Hong Kong
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Salticidae
Subfamily:	Spartaeinae
Genus:	Spartaeus Thorell, 1891 [1]
Type species
S. spinimanus (Thorell, 1878)
Species
19, see text

Spartaeus is a genus of Asian jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1891. ^[2] These spiders build large sheet webs on tree trunks to capture prey, mostly moths. When walking, they wave their palps and legs in an unusual way. ^[3]

The genus was renamed from Boethus in 1984 because the name was found to be preoccupied. ^[1] It is named after the son of the Rhodian nymph Himalia and Zeus in Greek mythology.

Species

As of August 2019 ^[update] it contains nineteen species, found only in Asia: ^[1]

• Spartaeus abramovi Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 – Vietnam
• Spartaeus bani (Ikeda, 1995) – Japan
• Spartaeus banthamus Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 – Laos
• Spartaeus ellipticus Bao & Peng, 2002 – Taiwan
• Spartaeus emeishan Zhu, Yang & Zhang, 2007 – China
• Spartaeus forcipiformis Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017 – China
• Spartaeus jaegeri Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 – Laos
• Spartaeus jianfengensis Song & Chai, 1991 – China
• Spartaeus karigiri Caleb et al., 2025 – India
• Spartaeus noctivagus Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 – Laos
• Spartaeus pinniformis Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017 – China
• Spartaeus platnicki Song, Chen & Gong, 1991 – China
• Spartaeus serratus Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017 – China
• Spartaeus spinimanus (Thorell, 1878) (type) – Sri Lanka to Indonesia (Borneo, Sumbawa)
• Spartaeus tengchongensis Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017 – China
• Spartaeus thailandicus Wanless, 1984 – China, Thailand
• Spartaeus triapiculus Yang, W. Liu, P. Liu & Peng, 2017 – China
• Spartaeus uplandicus Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
• Spartaeus wildtrackii Wanless, 1987 – Malaysia
• Spartaeus zhangi Peng & Li, 2002 – China, Laos

References

1. "Gen. Spartaeus Thorell, 1891". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2019-09-23.
2. Thorell, T. (1891). "Spindlar från Nikobarerna och andra delar af södra Asien". Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. 24 (2): 1–149.
3. "Web building and predatory behaviour of Spartaeus spinimanus and Spartaeus thailandicus, primitive jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae) from South-East Asia". Research Gate. Retrieved 4 June 2016.