Poltys (spider)

Poltys is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1843.^[2] Many species are cryptic and are known to masquerade as leaves and twigs during the day,^[3] and build an orb web at night to capture prey. The shape of the abdomen which often gives the impression of a rough and broken branch can vary among individuals within a species.^[4] The web is eaten up before dawn and reconstructed after dusk.^[5]

Poltys
Poltys mouhoti
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Poltys C. L. Koch, 1843[1]
Type species
P. illepidus C. L. Koch, 1843
Species
43, see text

Species

As of April 2019^[update] it contains forty-three species:^[1]

• Poltys acuminatus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
• Poltys apiculatus Thorell, 1892 – Singapore
• Poltys baculiger Simon, 1907 – Gabon
• Poltys bhabanii (Tikader, 1970) – India
• Poltys bhavnagarensis Patel, 1988 – India
• Poltys caelatus Simon, 1907 – Sierra Leone, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe
• Poltys columnaris Thorell, 1890 – India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Sumatra), Japan
• Poltys corticosus Pocock, 1898 – East Africa
• Poltys dubius (Walckenaer, 1841) – Vietnam
• Poltys elevatus Thorell, 1890 – Indonesia (Sumatra)
• Poltys ellipticus Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
• Poltys fornicatus Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe
• Poltys frenchi Hogg, 1899 – New Guinea, indonesia (Moluccas), Australia (Queensland)
• Poltys furcifer Simon, 1881 – Tanzania (Zanzibar), South Africa
• Poltys godrejii Bastawade & Khandal, 2006 – India
• Poltys grayi Smith, 2006 – Australia (Lord Howe Is.)
• Poltys hainanensis Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
• Poltys horridus Locket, 1980 – Comoros, Seychelles
• Poltys idae (Ausserer, 1871) – China, Borneo
• Poltys illepidus C. L. Koch, 1843 (type) – Thailand to Australia (mainland, Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is.)
• Poltys jujorum Smith, 2006 – Australia (Queensland)
• Poltys kochi Keyserling, 1864 – Mauritius, Madagascar
• Poltys laciniosus Keyserling, 1886 – Australia
• Poltys longitergus Hogg, 1919 – Indonesia (Sumatra)
• Poltys milledgei Smith, 2006 – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory), Indonesia (Bali, Sumbawa)
• Poltys monstrosus Simon, 1897 – Sierra Leone
• Poltys mouhoti (Günther, 1862) – Vietnam
• Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982 – Iran, India
• Poltys nigrinus Saito, 1933 – Taiwan
• Poltys noblei Smith, 2006 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria)
• Poltys pannuceus Thorell, 1895 – Myanmar
• Poltys pogonias Thorell, 1891 – India (Nicobar Is.)
• Poltys pygmaeus Han, Zhang & Zhu, 2010 – China
• Poltys raphanus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
• Poltys rehmanii Bastawade & Khandal, 2006 – India
• Poltys reuteri Lenz, 1886 – Madagascar
• Poltys squarrosus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
• Poltys stygius Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar to Australia (Queensland)
• Poltys timmeh Smith, 2006 – New Caledonia, Loyalty Is.
• Poltys turriger Simon, 1897 – Vietnam
• Poltys turritus Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
• Poltys unguifer Simon, 1909 – Vietnam
• Poltys vesicularis Simon, 1889 – Madagascar

References

1. Gloor, Daniel; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Blick, Theo; Kropf, Christian (2019). "Gen. Poltys C. L. Koch, 1843". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
2. Koch, C. L. (1843). Die Arachniden.
3. Kuntner, Matjaž; Gregorič, Matjaž; Cheng, Ren-Chung; Li, Daiqin (2016). "Leaf masquerade in an orb web spider" (PDF). Journal of Arachnology. 44 (3): 397. doi:10.1636/JoA-S-16-027.1. S2CID 52997204.
4. Smith, Helen M. (2003). "Shape variation in Australian Poltys species (Araneae: Araneidae)" (PDF). Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 12 (8): 355–360.
5. Smith, Helen M (2009). "The costs of moving for a diurnally cryptic araneid spider". Journal of Arachnology. 37: 84–91. doi:10.1636/ST07-62.1. S2CID 85938546.