Rothus aethiopicus

Common Rothus nursery-web spider
Female
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Rothus
Species:
R. aethiopicus
Binomial name
Rothus aethiopicus
(Pavesi, 1883)
Synonyms
  • Ocyale aethiopicus Pavesi, 1883
  • Rothus purpurissatus Simon, 1898
  • Rothus catenulatus Simon, 1898
  • Rothus lineatus Pocock, 1902
  • Pisaura insula Strand, 1913
  • Rothus magnus Caporiacco, 1940
  • Rothus upembanus Roewer, 1955
  • Rothus pictus Roewer, 1955
  • Rothus mossamedesus Roewer, 1955
  • Rothus vestitus Roewer, 1955

Rothus aethiopicus is a spider species in the family Pisauridae. The species is commonly known as the common Rothus nursery-web spider.

Distribution

Rothus aethiopicus has been recorded from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Egypt, and Israel.

In South Africa, the species has been sampled from all provinces at altitudes ranging from 4 to 1795 m.

Habitat and ecology

These are free-running plant dwellers very commonly found on plants at night.

The species has been sampled from the Fynbos, Grassland, Nama Karoo, Savanna, and Succulent biomes. It has also been sampled from lucerne fields, pecan orchards, and vineyards.

Description

Conservation

Rothus aethiopicus is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in more than 15 protected areas. There are no significant threats to the species.

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Pavesi in 1883 as Ocyale aethiopicus from Ethiopia. It was revised by Blandin in 1977 and by Silva and Sierwald in 2015, and is known from both sexes. It was previously known as Rothus purpurissatus.

References

  1. 1 2 Pavesi, P. (1883). "Spedizione italiana nell'Africa equatoriale. Risultati zoologici. Aracnidi del regno di Scioa". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. 20: 5–105.
  2. 1 2 "Rothus aethiopicus (Pavesi, 1883)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Pisauridae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. pp. 51–52. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7157775. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ Blandin, P. (1977). "Etudes sur les Pisauridae africaines VIII. Les genres Chiasmopes Pavesi, 1883 et Rothus Simon, 1898 (Araneae - Pisauridae - Pisaurinae)". Revue Zoologique Africaine. 91 (3): 538–557.
  5. ↑ Silva, E.L.C. da; Sierwald, P. (2015). "First description of the male of Rothus vittatus Simon, 1898 (Araneae: Pisauridae), with a review of the African nursery web spider genus Rothus Simon, 1898". African Invertebrates. 56 (2): 325–341. Bibcode:2015AfrIn..56..325S. doi:10.5733/afin.056.0207.