Pandercetes Explained

Pandercetes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in his 1875 treatise on Australian spiders.^[1] They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat.^[2]

The genus is characterized by the internal anatomy of the reproductive structures. Males have irregular coils at the terminal end, while females have screw like copulatory ducts.^[3]

Species

it contains sixteen species and one subspecies, found in tropical forests in Asia, extending east to Australia:^[4]

• Pandercetes celatus Pocock, 1899 – India
• Pandercetes celebensis Merian, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • Pandercetes c. vulcanicola Merian, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
• Pandercetes decipiens Pocock, 1899 – India, Sri Lanka
• Pandercetes gracilis L. Koch, 1875 (type) – Indonesia (Moluccas, Sulawesi), New Guinea, Australia (Queensland)
• Pandercetes isopus Thorell, 1881 – Indonesia (Moluccas), New Guinea
• Pandercetes longipes Thorell, 1881 – Papua New Guinea (Yule Is.)
• Pandercetes macilentus Thorell, 1895 – Myanmar
• Pandercetes malleator Thorell, 1890 – Malaysia, Indonesia (Aru Is.)
• Pandercetes manoius Roewer, 1938 – New Guinea
• Pandercetes niger Merian, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
• Pandercetes nigrogularis (Simon, 1897) – Indonesia (Java)
• Pandercetes ochreus Hogg, 1922 – Vietnam
• Pandercetes palliventris Strand, 1911 – New Guinea
• Pandercetes peronianus (Walckenaer, 1837) – New Zealand
• Pandercetes plumipes (Doleschall, 1859) – Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Ambon), New Guinea
• Pandercetes plumosus Pocock, 1899 – Papua New Guinea (New Britain)

See also

• List of Sparassidae species

External links

• Atlas of Living Australia

Notes and References

1. Book: Koch, L.. 1875. Die Arachniden Australiens. Nürnberg 1. 577–740. Ludwig_Carl_Christian_Koch.
2. Book: The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Arachnida. Pocock, R.I.. 1909. Taylor and Francis. London. 259–265.
3. Heteropodinae: Transfers and Synonymies (Arachnida: Araneae : Sparassidae). Jäger, Peter. Acta Arachnologica. 51. 1. 33–61 . 2002. 10.2476/asjaa.51.33.
4. Gen. Pandercetes L. Koch, 1875. World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. 2019-11-13. 2019. Natural History Museum Bern. 10.24436/2.