Colonus (spider) explained

Colonus is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family, Salticidae. Colonus species are endemic to North and South America, ranging from New York to Argentina.^[1] All members of the genus have two pairs of bulbous spines on the ventral side of the first tibiae. The function of these spines is unknown.^[1] Colonus was declared a junior synonym of Thiodina by Eugène Simon in 1903, but this was reversed by Bustamante, Maddison, and Ruiz in 2015.^[2]

Species

, the World Spider Catalog accepted 14 species of Colonus:^[3]

• Colonus branicki (Taczanowski, 1871) – Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana
• Colonus candidus (Mello-Leitão, 1922) – Brazil
• Colonus germaini (Simon, 1900) – Brazil, Argentina
• Colonus hesperus (Richman & Vetter, 2004) – United States, Mexico
• Colonus melanogaster (Mello-Leitão, 1917) – Brazil
• Colonus pallidus (C. L. Koch, 1846) – Colombia to Argentina
• Colonus pseustes (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936) – Panama, French Guiana
• Colonus puerperus (Hentz, 1846) – eastern United States
• Colonus punctulatus (Mello-Leitão, 1917) – Brazil
• Colonus rishwani (Makhan, 2006) – Suriname
• Colonus robustus (Mello-Leitão, 1945) – Argentina
• Colonus sylvanus (Hentz, 1846) – United States to Panama
• Colonus vaccula (Simon, 1900) – Peru, Brazil
• Colonus vellardi (Soares & Camargo, 1948) – Brazil

External links

Videos

• David Edwin Hill: Male Colonus sylvanus feeding on Oxyopes salticus — Video 220 Mb
• David Edwin Hill: Movement of the articulated pretarsal claws and footpads by a walking jumping spider, Colonus sylvanus — Video 218 Mb
• David Edwin Hill: Colonus sylvanus feeding on Leucauge venusta — Video
• David Edwin Hill: Colonus sylvanus walking and turning slowly — Video

Pictures

• Picture of C. puerperus
• Pictures of C. sylvanus

Notes and References

1. 10.1636/H03-45. A Review of the Spider Genus Thiodina (Araneae, Salticidae) in the United States. Richman. David B.. Richard S. Vetter . The Journal of Arachnology. 2004. 32. 3. 418–431. 84978604.
2. Bustamante. Abel A.. Maddison. Wayne P.. Ruiz. Gustavo R. S.. The jumping spider genus Thiodina Simon, 1900 reinterpreted, and revalidation of Colonus F.O.P-Cambridge, 1901 and Nilakantha Peckham & Peckham, 1901 (Araneae: Salticidae: Amycoida). Zootaxa. September 2, 2015. 4012. 1. 181–90. 10.11646/zootaxa.4012.1.10. 26623852.
3. Web site: Gen. Colonus F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 . World Spider Catalog . Natural History Museum Bern . 2015-11-30 .