Caerostris

Caerostris
C. sexcuspidata in web
C. corticosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Caerostris
Thorell, 1868
Species

20, see text

Synonyms

Trichocharis Simon, 1895

Front view of C. sexcuspidata

Caerostris, sometimes called bark spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1868. Most species are found in south eastern Africa and neighboring Madagascar.

Taxonomy

The genus Caerostris was erected in 1868 by Tamerlan Thorell with the type species being Epeira mitralis Vinson, 1863, which Thorell transferred to Caerostris mitralis. Up to 2009, only 11 species had been described. A further species, C. darwini, was described in 2010, and six more species in 2015. Two of the "species", C. sexcuspidata and C. sumatrana, will probably need to be divided further to produce genetically uniform species.

A molecular phylogenetic study of 12 of the species of Caerostris produced the phylogenetic tree shown below, showing that the African and Madagascan species form a monophyletic group.
African and Madagascan species

Behavior

Species

As of September 2025, this genus includes twenty species:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Genus Caerostris". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  2. ↑ Grasshoff, M. (1984). "Die Radnetzspinnen-Gattung Caerostris (Arachnida: Araneae)". Revue Zoologique Africaine. 98 (4): 725–765. OCLC 717108186. NAID 10022018721.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gregorič, Matjaž; Blackledge, Todd A.; Agnarsson, Ingi; Kuntner, Matjaž (2015). "A molecular phylogeny of bark spiders reveals new species from Africa and Madagascar (Araneae: Araneidae: Caerostris)". Journal of Arachnology. 43 (3): 293–312. doi:10.1636/0161-8202-43.3.293. S2CID 53953991.
  4. 1 2 Thorell, T. (1868), "Araneae. Species novae minusve cognitae", in Virgin, C.A. (ed.), Kongliga Svenska Fregatten Eugenies Resa omkring Jorden (in Latin), Uppsala, pp. 1–34{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ↑ Kuntner, Matjaž; Agnarsson, Ingi (2010). "Web gigantism in Darwin's bark spider, a new species from Madagascar (Araneidae: Caerostris)". The Journal of Arachnology. 38 (2): 346–356. doi:10.1636/B09-113.1. S2CID 54079094.