Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Anyphops caledonicus

Anyphops caledonicus is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae. It is endemic to South Africa.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
308 w
Citations
14
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Anyphops caledonicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Selenopidae
Genus: Anyphops
Species:
A. caledonicus
Binomial name
Anyphops caledonicus
(Lawrence, 1940)1

Anyphops caledonicus is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae.2 It is endemic to South Africa.3

Distribution

Anyphops caledonicus is found in South Africa.2 The species is endemic to the Western Cape, known from Caledon and Bontebok National Park at 237 m above sea level.3

Habitat and ecology

The species inhabits the Fynbos biome.3 Little is known about their behaviour.3

Description

The species is known only from females.3 The carapace is light yellow-brown with a Y-shaped darker marking formed by the thoracic striae and posterior boundaries of the cephalic area, with a few small dark spots halfway between the striae and lateral margins.3

The opisthosoma above has 3 pairs of short curved blackish bars. There are well-defined brown bands on femora and tibiae of all legs. Tibia I and II have 5, metatarsus I and II have 3 pairs of inferior spines. Total length is 7-8 mm.3

Conservation

Anyphops caledonicus is listed as Data Deficient for taxonomic reasons.3 The status of the species remains obscure. More sampling is needed to collect males and determine the species' range. It is protected in Bontebok National Park.3

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by R. F. Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops caledonicus from Caledon.1 It was transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968.3

References

References

  1. Lawrence, R.F. (1940). "The genus Selenops (Araneae) in South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 32: 574.
  2. "Anyphops caledonicus (Lawrence, 1940)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  3. Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Selenopidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 16. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.