Pasilobus

Pasilobus is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.[3]

Pasilobus
Female Pasilobus hupingensis[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Subfamily: Cyrtarachninae s.l.
Genus: Pasilobus
Simon, 1895[2]
Type species
P. bufoninus
(Simon, 1867)
Species

13, see text

Species

As of April 2019 it contains thirteen species from Asia and Africa:[2]

  • Pasilobus antongilensis Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar
  • Pasilobus bufoninus (Simon, 1867) (type) – Taiwan, Indonesia (Java, Moluccas)
  • Pasilobus capuroni Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar
  • Pasilobus conohumeralis (Hasselt, 1894) – Indonesia (Sumatra, Java)
  • Pasilobus dippenaarae Roff & Haddad, 2015 – South Africa
  • Pasilobus hupingensis Yin, Bao & Kim, 2001 – China, Japan
  • Pasilobus insignis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1908 – West Africa
  • Pasilobus kotigeharus Tikader, 1963 – India
  • Pasilobus laevis Lessert, 1930 – Congo
  • Pasilobus lunatus Simon, 1897 – Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi)
  • Pasilobus mammatus Pocock, 1898 – Solomon Is.
  • Pasilobus mammosus (Pocock, 1900) – West Africa
  • Pasilobus nigrohumeralis (Hasselt, 1882) – Indonesia (Sumatra)

Prey capture

Females of the genus Pasilobus construct "triangular spanning-thread webs". The webs have only two sectors, making them appear triangular. Widely spaced threads with sticky drops span the three radii of these webs. One end is attached in such a way that it readily breaks free. When a prey item is caught on one of these threads, the line parts at this end and the prey hangs from the web until it is hauled up by the spider.[4]

Cartoon showing Pasilobus web with prey swinging (dashed line)

The prey caught are almost entirely moths. Normal araneid orb webs are not effective at capturing moths, since their loose scales detach, allowing the moth to escape. Like other genera in the subfamily Cyrtarachninae s.l., Pasilobus species produce special sticky drops that adhere to moths. Some members of the subfamily have been shown to produce mimics of the sex pheromones that female moths emit to attract males, and it has been speculated that Pasilobus may do this as well.[5]

References
  1. Tanikawa, A.; Chang, Y.H. & Tso, I.M. (2006). "Identity of a Japanese spider species recorded as "Pasilobus bufoninus" (Araneae: Araneidae), with a description of the male considering the sequence of mtDNA". Acta Arachnologica. 55 (1): 45–49. doi:10.2476/asjaa.55.45.
  2. "Gen. Pasilobus Simon, 1895". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  3. Simon, E (1895). Histoire naturelle des araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
  4. Tanikawa, Akio; Shinkai, Akira & Miyashita, Tadashi (2014). "Molecular Phylogeny of Moth-Specialized Spider Sub-Family Cyrtarachninae, which Includes Bolas Spiders". Zoological Science. 31 (11): 716–720. doi:10.2108/zs140034.
  5. Eberhard, W.G. (1980), "The natural history and behaviour of the bolas spider Mastophora dizzydeani sp.n. (Araneidae)" (PDF), Psyche, 89 (3–4): 143–169, retrieved 2021-01-20


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