''Stegodyphus'' 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 velvet spiders that was first described 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 1873. They are distributed from

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 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

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 ...

, with one species (''S. manaus'') found in

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 ...

. The name is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

('' stegos''), meaning "covered". At least three species are

social spider A social spider is a spider species whose individuals form relatively long-lasting aggregations. Whereas most spiders are solitary and even aggressive toward other members of their own species, some hundreds of species in several families show ...

s, and several are known to use

ballooning Ballooning may refer to: * Hot air ballooning * Balloon (aeronautics) * Ballooning (spider) * Ballooning degeneration, a disease * Memory ballooning In computing, memory ballooning is a technique that is used to eliminate the need to overcommit ...

as a method of dispersal.

Species

it contains twenty species: *'' Stegodyphus africanus'' ( Blackwall, 1866) – Africa *'' Stegodyphus bicolor'' ( O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869) – Southern Africa *'' Stegodyphus dufouri'' ( Audouin, 1826) – North, West Africa *''

Stegodyphus dumicola ''Stegodyphus dumicola'', commonly known as the African social spider, is a species of spider of the family Velvet spider, Eresidae, or the velvet spider family. It is native to Central Africa, Central and southern Africa. This spider is one of t ...

'' Pocock, 1898 – Central, Southern Africa *'' Stegodyphus hildebrandti'' ( Karsch, 1878) – Central, East Africa, Zanzibar *'' Stegodyphus hisarensis'' Arora & Monga, 1992 – India *''

Stegodyphus lineatus ''Stegodyphus lineatus'' (desert spider) is the only European species of the spider genus '' Stegodyphus.'' Male ''S. lineatus'' can grow up to 12 mm long while females can grow up to 15 mm. The colour can range from whitish to alm ...

'' (Latreille, 1817) (

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. * ...

) – Southern Europe, North Africa to Tajikistan *'' Stegodyphus lineifrons'' Pocock, 1898 – East Africa *'' Stegodyphus manaus'' Kraus & Kraus, 1992 – Brazil *'' Stegodyphus manicatus'' Simon, 1876 – North, West Africa *'' Stegodyphus mimosarum'' Pavesi, 1883 – Africa, Madagascar *'' Stegodyphus mirandus'' Pocock, 1899 – India *'' Stegodyphus nathistmus'' Kraus & Kraus, 1989 – Morocco to Yemen *'' Stegodyphus pacificus'' Pocock, 1900 – Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, India *'' Stegodyphus sabulosus'' Tullgren, 1910 – East, Southern Africa *''

Stegodyphus sarasinorum ''Stegodyphus sarasinorum'', also known as the Indian cooperative spider, is a species of velvet spider of the family Eresidae. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar. This spider is a social spider that exhibits communal predation ...

'' Karsch, 1892 – India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar *'' Stegodyphus simplicifrons'' Simon, 1906 – Madagascar *'' Stegodyphus tentoriicola''

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

, 1904 – South Africa *'' Stegodyphus tibialis'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869) – India, Myanmar, Thailand, China *'' Stegodyphus tingelin'' Kraus & Kraus, 1989 – Cameroon Colonial Spiders (Stegodyphus dumicola) (6607372243).jpg, The community nesting spider, '' S. dumicola''

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

Social spider (Stegodyphus dumicola) nest.jpg, Nest of ''S. dumicola''

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1835835 Araneomorphae genera Eresidae Spiders of Africa Spiders of Asia Spiders of Brazil Taxa named by Eugène Simon