''Poecilochroa'' is a
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
ground spiders that was first described by
Niklas Westring
Niklas Westring (13 November 1797, in Gothenburg – 28 January 1882) was a Swedish entomology, entomologist and arachnology, arachnologist.
He started out with the intention to study medicine but this was frustrated by the death of his father. ...
in 1874.
Description
As Gnaphosidae, ''Poecilochroa'' have large cylindrical
spinnerets
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 ar ...
. They are
nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
, spending the day in silken retreats and going out at night to hunt.
''Poecilochroa'' are divided into two gnaphosid groups based on their abdomen colouration: those with plain abdomens are in the ''Echemus'' group, while those with black and white abdomen are in the ''Herpyllus'' group. Males of both groups have well-developed dorsal scuta.
Habitat
''Poecilochroa'' occur in various habitats including on and under stones and dead leaves, on vegetation, in
steppes
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the tropical and subtropical gr ...
,
grasslands
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...
, dry fields,
stream beds and
forest floors.
Species
it contains thirty-nine species and one subspecies:
*''
Poecilochroa albomaculata''
(Lucas, 1846) – Western Mediterranean
*''
Poecilochroa alcala''
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
*''
Poecilochroa anomala''
(Hewitt, 1915) – South Africa
*''
Poecilochroa antineae''
Fage, 1929 – Mali
*''
Poecilochroa barmani''
Tikader, 1982 – India
*''
Poecilochroa behni''
Thorell, 1891 – India (Nicobar Is.)
*''
Poecilochroa bifasciata''
Banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
As banks ...
, 1902 – Ecuador (Galapagos Is.)
*''
Poecilochroa capensis''
Strand
Strand or The Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* ...
, 1909 – South Africa
*''
Poecilochroa carinata''
Caporiacco, 1947 – Uganda
*''
Poecilochroa dayamibrookiana''
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
*''
Poecilochroa devendrai''
Gajbe & Rane, 1985 – India
*''
Poecilochroa faradjensis''
Lessert, 1929 – Congo
*''
Poecilochroa furcata''
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, 1914 – France, Italy, Greece
*''
Poecilochroa golan''
Levy, 1999 – Israel
*''
Poecilochroa haplostyla''
Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe
*''
Poecilochroa incompta''
(Pavesi, 1880) – Tunisia
*''
Poecilochroa insularis''
Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)
*''
Poecilochroa involuta''
Tucker, 1923 – South Africa
*''
Poecilochroa joreungensis
''Poecilochroa'' is a genus of Gnaphosidae, ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1874.
Description
As Gnaphosidae, ''Poecilochroa'' have large cylindrical Spinneret, spinnerets. They are Nocturnality, nocturnal, spendi ...
''
Paik, 1992 – Korea
*''
Poecilochroa latefasciata''
Simon, 1893 – Peru
*''
Poecilochroa loricata''
Kritscher, 1996 – Malta
*''
Poecilochroa malagassa''
Strand, 1907 – Madagascar
*''
Poecilochroa parangunifasciata''
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
*''
Poecilochroa patricia''
(Simon, 1878) – France (Corsica)
*''
Poecilochroa pauciaculeis''
Caporiacco, 1947 – East Africa
*''
Poecilochroa perversa''
Simon, 1914 – France
*''
Poecilochroa phyllobia''
(Thorell, 1871) – Italy
*''
Poecilochroa pugnax''
( O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) – Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel
*''
Poecilochroa rollini''
Berland Berland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*André Berland (1940–2025), French historian and biographer
*Bjørn Berland (born 1977), Norwegian footballer
*Eliezer Berland (born 1937), Israeli Breslov rabbi
*François Berléan ...
, 1933 – French Polynesia (Marquesas Is., Tuamotu)
*''
Poecilochroa sedula''
(Simon, 1897) – India
*''
Poecilochroa senilis''
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) – France (Corsica) to Turkmenistan
**''
Poecilochroa s. auspex''
(Simon, 1878) – Spain, France
*''
Poecilochroa taborensis''
Levy, 1999 – Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal
*''
Poecilochroa taeguensis''
Paik, 1992 – Korea
*''
Poecilochroa tikaderi''
Patel, 1989 – India
*''
Poecilochroa tridotus''
Caleb & Mathai, 2013 – India
*''
Poecilochroa trifasciata''
Mello-Leitão, 1918 – Brazil
*''
Poecilochroa variana''
(C. L. Koch, 1839) (
type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* ...
) – Europe to Central Asia
*''
Poecilochroa viduata''
(Pavesi, 1883) – Ethiopia
*''
Poecilochroa vittata''
Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia (Java)
References
Gnaphosidae genera
Spiders of Africa
Spiders of Asia
Spiders of South America
{{Gnaphosidae-stub