''Laufeia'' is a

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of the jumping spider family,

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

, with a mainly

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter.

Description

''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish spiders. The

chelicera The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or as a type ...

usually has a tooth with two cusps on the rear-facing edge. The male generally has a slightly hardened plate (

scutum The ''scutum'' (; :''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC. The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formation of ...

) on the upper surface of the abdomen. The

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

vary considerably between species; for example, the male

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 descr ...

has either a long or short embolus, which may or may not be coiled.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Laufeia'' was erected by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

in 1889 for the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

'' Laufeia aenea'', which had been collected in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan. Simon did not explain the origin of the genus name. In

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, Laufeia was the mother of the god

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

. Four more ''Laufeia'' species were known to Andrzej Bohdanowicz and

Jerzy Prószyński Jerzy Prószyński (born 1935 in Warsaw) is a Polish arachnologist specializing in systematics of jumping spiders (family Salticidae). He is a graduate of the University of Warsaw, a long-term employee of the Siedlce University of Natural Sc ...

in 1987; they doubted that three of them belonged in the genus. In 2012, Prószyński and

Christa Deeleman-Reinhold Christa Laetitia Deeleman-Reinhold (23 November 1930 – 26 March 2025) was a Dutch arachnologist. She specialized in spiders from Southeast Asia and Southern Europe, particularly cave-dwelling and tropical spiders. She donated a collection of ...

split off some ''Laufeia'' species into the genera ''Orcevia'' and ''Junxattus'', noting the diversity of genital structures. A molecular and morphological study in 2015 showed that the original circumscription of ''Laufeia'' constituted a strongly supported

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

, and Junxia Zhang and

Wayne Maddison Wayne Paul Maddison (born 1958) is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, arachnologist, and biological illustrator. He is Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and a professor at the departments of zoology and botany at the University of British ...

restored all the species to ''Laufeia'', arguing that strong

sexual selection Sexual selection is a mechanism of evolution in which members of one sex mate choice, choose mates of the other sex to mating, mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex ...

could produce genital diversity even in closely related species.

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted the following species: *'' Laufeia aenea'' Simon, 1889 (

) – China, Korea, Japan *'' Laufeia aerihirta'' (Urquhart, 1888) – New Zealand *''

Laufeia concava ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Zhang & Maddison, 2012 – Malaysia *''

Laufeia daiqini ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' (Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2012) – Sumatra *''

Laufeia eucola ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' (Thorell, 1890) – Sumatra *''

Laufeia eximia ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Zhang & Maddison, 2012 – China *''

Laufeia keyserlingi ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' (Thorell, 1890) – Sumatra, Java *''

Laufeia kuloni ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' (Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2012) – Java *''

Laufeia longapophysis ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Lei & Peng, 2012 – China *''

Laufeia perakensis ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' (Simon, 1901) – Malaysia, Java *''

Laufeia proszynskii ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Song, Gu & Chen, 1988 – China *''

Laufeia sasakii ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Ikeda, 1998 – Japan *''

Laufeia sicus ''Laufeia'' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution, where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter. Description ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish sp ...

'' Wu & Yang, 2008 – China *'' Laufeia squamata'' (Zabka, 1985) – China, Vietnam

References

External links

Diagnostic drawings of ''Laufeia'' species

{{Taxonbar, from=Q430299 Salticidae Salticidae genera Spiders of Asia Spiders of Oceania