Bertrana Explained

Bertrana is a genus of Central and South American orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1884.^[1] It includes some of the smallest known araneid orb-weavers.^{[2] [3]} Bertrana striolata females are 4.5 mm long or less. The eight eyes are in two rows. The abdomen is white on top and on the sides, with multiple hieroglyphic-like lines and bars of many different shapes and length. In females, these are red, in males, black.^[4]

Species

it contains twelve species:^[5]

• Bertrana abbreviata (Keyserling, 1879) – Colombia
• Bertrana arena Levi, 1989 – Costa Rica
• Bertrana benuta Levi, 1994 – Colombia
• Bertrana elinguis (Keyserling, 1883) – Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, French Guiana
• Bertrana laselva Levi, 1989 – Costa Rica
• Bertrana nancho Levi, 1989 – Peru
• Bertrana planada Levi, 1989 – Colombia, Ecuador
• Bertrana poa Levi, 1994 – Ecuador
• Bertrana rufostriata Simon, 1893 – Venezuela, Brazil
• Bertrana striolata Keyserling, 1884 – Costa Rica to Argentina
• Bertrana urahua Levi, 1994 – Ecuador
• Bertrana vella Levi, 1989 – Panama, Colombia

Notes and References

1. Keyserling. E.. 1884. Neue Spinnen aus America. V.. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 649–684. 33. 10.5962/bhl.part.25328.
2. Levi. H.W.. 1989. The Neotropical orb-weaver genera Epeiroides, Bertrana, and Amazonepeira (Araneae: Araneidae). Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 96. 1–2. 75–99. 10.1155/1989/65890. free.
3. Cisneros-Heredia. D.F.. Carrazco. I.. 2016. First record of Bertrana striolata (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae) in Amazonian Ecuador. PeerJ Preprints. 10.7287/peerj.preprints.2242v1. free.
4. Arthur M. Chickering. Chickering. A. M.. 1963. The Female of Bertrana hieroglyphica Petrunkevitch (Araneac, Argiopidae). Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 70. 129–132. 10.1155/1963/30864. free.
5. Web site: Gen. Bertrana Keyserling, 1884. World Spider Catalog. 2019-05-12. Natural History Museum Bern.