Rothus vittatus

Cape Rothus nursery-web spider
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Rothus
Species:
R. vittatus
Binomial name
Rothus vittatus
Simon, 1898

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

Distribution

Rothus vittatus is endemic to South Africa, where it has been sampled from three provinces: Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Western Cape.

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, and Thicket biomes at altitudes ranging from 4 to 951 m. It has also been sampled from pistachio orchards.

Description

Conservation

Rothus vittatus is listed as Least Concern. Although the species is presently known only from females, it has a wide geographical range. The species is protected in Swartberg Nature Reserve and Table Mountain National Park. There are no significant threats to the species.

Taxonomy

The species was described by Simon in 1898, with the type locality given only as Cape of Good Hope. It was revised by Silva and Sierwald in 2015 and is known only from the female.

References

  1. 1 2 Simon, E. (1898). "Descriptions d'arachnides nouveaux des familles des Agelenidae, Pisauridae, Lycosidae et Oxyopidae". Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 42: 5–34.
  2. ↑ "Rothus vittatus Simon, 1898". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 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. p. 54. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7157775. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ 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. doi:10.5733/afin.056.0207.