''Cyrtophora parangexanthematica'' is a species of tent spider found in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its scientific name comes from its close resemblance to double-tailed tent spiders. It was described from a single female specimen collected in 1995.

Taxonomy

''C. parangexanethematica'' was described by A. T. Barrion and J. A. Litsinger in 1995. The description is based on a single female specimen recovered from a

rice field Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''"parangexanthematica"'' literally means 'like exanthematica' in

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

, referring to their close resemblance to double-tailed tent spiders (''

Cyrtophora exanthematica ''Cyrtophora exanthematica'' are tent spiders common in tropical Asia and Australia. They are commonly known as double-tailed tent spiders because of the pair of blunt projections at the end of their abdomens. They are harmless to humans. Do ...

''). ''C. parangexanthematica'' is classified under the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Cyrtophora ''Cyrtophora'', the tent-web spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895. Although they are in the "orb weaver" family, they do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometime ...

'' (tent-web spiders) and the subfamily

Cyrtophorinae Cyrtophorinae is a subfamily of spiders in the orb-weaver spider family. Unlike other orb-weavers, spiders belonging to Cyrtophorinae build horizontal, finely meshed platforms within a tangle of irregular webs. The usually dome-shaped platfor ...

. They belong to 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 Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Araneidae 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 ...

Description

''C. parangexanthematica'' females had a total body length of . The

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''ceph ...

was yellowish brown in color, long and wide. The sternum (ventral surface of the cephalothorax) was yellow brown with small bumps opposite the coxae (the first segment of the appendages attached to the cephalothorax). The eight eyes were arranged in two recurved rows. The abdomen was yellow in color, long and wide. On the middle of the upper surface was a distinctive black triangular spot surrounding by eight sigilla (small pitted depressions) arranged in two rows. Like its namesake, ''C. parangexanthematica'' had two blunt projections at the posterior end of its abdomen, a pair of 'humps' on the forward part, and a pair of white lines running from the tip of the 'humps' down to below the projections on its rear end. The

spinneret A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and are ...

s were bordered with white rings and the bottom of the abdomen had pale spots. The epigynum possessed a V-shaped scape (or

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

). The sperm receptacles (

spermatheca The spermatheca (pronounced plural: spermathecae ), also called receptaculum seminis (plural: receptacula seminis), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, oligochaeta worms and certain othe ...

e) are globular. The legs were yellow, not striped, and possessed thin spines. The leg formula is I,II,IV,III (relative lengths of the legs from the longest to the shortest, I is the first pair of legs at the front). Nothing is known about males of the species.

Distribution and ecology

The single specimen was found in the island of

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

in the

. Nothing else is known about their habitat or behavior in the wild.

References

parangexanthematica Arthropods of the Philippines Spiders of Asia Spiders described in 1995 {{Araneidae-stub

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and ecology

See also

References