Poecilochroa is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1874.[2]
| Poecilochroa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Poecilochroa sp. from Saul Kere, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 | |
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 May 2019[update] it contains thirty-nine species and one subspecies:[1]
- Poecilochroa albomaculata (Lucas, 1846) – Western Mediterranean
- Poecilochroa alcala Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
- Poecilochroa anomala (Hewitt, 1915) – South Africa
- Poecilochroa antineae Fage, 1929 – Mali
- Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982 – India
- Poecilochroa behni Thorell, 1891 – India (Nicobar Is.)
- Poecilochroa bifasciata Banks, 1902 – Ecuador (Galapagos Is.)
- Poecilochroa capensis Strand, 1909 – South Africa
- Poecilochroa carinata Caporiacco, 1947 – Uganda
- Poecilochroa dayamibrookiana Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
- Poecilochroa devendrai Gajbe & Rane, 1985 – India
- Poecilochroa faradjensis Lessert, 1929 – Congo
- Poecilochroa furcata Simon, 1914 – France, Italy, Greece
- Poecilochroa golan Levy, 1999 – Israel
- Poecilochroa haplostyla Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe
- Poecilochroa incompta (Pavesi, 1880) – Tunisia
- Poecilochroa insularis Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)
- Poecilochroa involuta Tucker, 1923 – South Africa
- Poecilochroa joreungensis Paik, 1992 – Korea
- Poecilochroa latefasciata Simon, 1893 – Peru
- Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996 – Malta
- Poecilochroa malagassa Strand, 1907 – Madagascar
- Poecilochroa parangunifasciata Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
- Poecilochroa patricia (Simon, 1878) – France (Corsica)
- Poecilochroa pauciaculeis Caporiacco, 1947 – East Africa
- Poecilochroa perversa Simon, 1914 – France
- Poecilochroa phyllobia (Thorell, 1871) – Italy
- Poecilochroa pugnax (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) – Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel
- Poecilochroa rollini Berland, 1933 – French Polynesia (Marquesas Is., Tuamotu)
- Poecilochroa sedula (Simon, 1897) – India
- Poecilochroa senilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) – France (Corsica) to Turkmenistan
- Poecilochroa s. auspex (Simon, 1878) – Spain, France
- Poecilochroa taborensis Levy, 1999 – Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal
- Poecilochroa taeguensis Paik, 1992 – Korea
- Poecilochroa tikaderi Patel, 1989 – India
- Poecilochroa tridotus Caleb & Mathai, 2013 – India
- Poecilochroa trifasciata Mello-Leitão, 1918 – Brazil
- Poecilochroa variana (C. L. Koch, 1839) (type) – Europe to Central Asia
- Poecilochroa viduata (Pavesi, 1883) – Ethiopia
- Poecilochroa vittata Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)