''Nephilingis cruentata'' is an nephilid spider with a strikingly red

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) 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 bl ...

. Females reach a length of about 24 mm. The legs can be uniformly dark red or brown, or annulated. Males are about 4 mm long.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1775 by Johan Fabricius, as ''Araneus cruentata''. In 1887,

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, ...

transferred it to the genus '' Nephilengys''. In 2013,

Matjaž Kuntner Matjaž or Matjaz is a given name. It may refer to: *King Matjaž, legendary king in Slovenia, as well as Croatia and elsewhere * Matjaž Brumen (born 1982), Slovenian handball player * Matjaž Ceraj (born 1983), Slovenian judoka * Matjaž Cvikl (1 ...

et al. decided that four species of ''Nephilengys'' were sufficiently different to require an alternative generic placement. Accordingly, they erected the genus '' Nephilingis'' with ''Nephilingis cruentata'' as 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 ...

Distribution

''N. cruentata'' is found in tropical and subtropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and several limited areas of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

(

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, northern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

), where it has probably been introduced by humans in the late 19th century at the latest.

Name

The species name ''cruentata'' is derived from Latin ''cruentus'' "bloody", probably referring to the female red sternum.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2861919 Nephilidae Spiders of Africa Spiders of South America Spiders described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius