Caerostris
| Caerostris | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Caerostris sexcuspidata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: |
Caerostris Thorell, 1868 |
| Synonyms | |
|
Trichocharis Simon, 1895 |
|
Trichocharis Simon, 1895
Caerostris is a genus of spiders in the Araneidae family. They are sometimes called bark spiders. The genus Caerostris was created by the noted Swedish arachnologist Tamerlan Thorell (1830-1901) in 1868. Most species are found in south eastern Africa and neighbouring Madagascar.
The genus Caerostris was erected in 1868 by Tamerlan Thorell with the type species being Epeira mitralis Vinson, 1863, which Thorell transferred to Caerostris mitralis. Up to 2009, only 11 species had been described. A further species, C. darwini, was described in 2010, and six more species in 2015. Two of the "species", C. sexcuspidata and C. sumatrana, will probably need to be divided further to produce genetically uniform species.
A molecular phylogenetic study of 12 of the species of Caerostris produced the phylogenetic tree shown below, showing that the African and Madagascan species form a monophyletic group.
As of March 2016[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:
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