''Cladomelea akermani'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species d ...

in the

orb-weaver spider Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name ...

family Araneidae, found in South Africa. ''Cladomelea'' species, including ''C. akermani'', are "

bolas spider A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider (family Araneidae) that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a "bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying ...

s" – adult females capture their prey by using a sticky drop on the end of a single line which they swing, usually catching male moths attracted by the release of an analogue of the attractant

sex pheromone Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction. Sex pheromones specifically focus on ind ...

produced by the female moth. Juvenile and adult male bolas spiders do not use a bolas, catching prey with their legs alone.

Description

A male and female were described by Levi in 2003. The female had a total length of 15.5 mm, the

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the und ...

being 5.4 mm long with a maximum width of 5.2 mm. The carapace was light orange-brown, with three projections with black ends. The

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. ...

was light orange-brown. The abdomen was whitish, with a pair of brown tubercules on the upper surface and a central white rectangle on the lower surface. The first leg was longest, the

patella The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

and

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

totalling 10.8 mm. The male was much smaller, with a total body length of 1.6 mm, about a tenth of that of the female. Its carapace and the underside of the abdomen were dark brown. The carapace was rough but lacked the projections of the female. The upper surface of the abdomen was spotted with black, grey and white, and had three humps and two hardened discs. The male's

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often desc ...

had a distinct

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

supporting the

embolus An embolus (; plural emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "wedge", "plug") is an unattached mass that travels through the bloodstream and is capable of creating blockages. When an embolus occludes a blood vessel, it is called an embolism or emb ...

. Contrary to an earlier statement by Conrad Akerman that ''C. akermani'' uses its third leg (a statement repeated by others, e.g. Yeargan), the female handles its bolas with the second leg, swinging it in a horizontal plane.

Taxonomy

''Cladomelea akermani'' was first described by John Hewitt in 1923, from a female collected by Conrad Akerman in 1915. ''C. akermani'' is similar to '' C. longipes''. ''Cladomelea'' species are

s, and although the genus was not included in two relevant

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies in 2014 and 2020, would be expected to be part of the "mastophorines", placed in the subfamily

Cyrtarachninae Cyrtarachninae is a subfamily of spiders in the family Araneidae (orb-weaver spiders, araneids). The group has been circumscribed in several different ways. It originated as the group Cyrtarachneae, described by Eugène Simon in 1892. The group w ...

s.l. SL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * SL (rapper), a rapper from London * '' Second Life'', a multi-user 3D virtual world * Sensei's Library, an Internet site dedicated to the game of Go * Subdominant leittonwechselklänge * Leica SL, a mir ...

Distribution and habitat

''Cladomelea akermani'' is native to South Africa. It has been recorded from grasslands in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

, around

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3430125 Araneidae Spiders of South Africa Endemic fauna of South Africa Spiders described in 1923 Taxa named by John Hewitt (herpetologist)