{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = | image = | image_caption = | image2 = | image2_caption = | taxon = Lepthercus | authority = Purcell, 1902<ref name=wsc /> | type_species = ''L. dregei'' | type_species_authority = Purcell, 1902 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 11, see text }}

'''''Lepthercus''''' is a genus of South African mygalomorph spiders in the family Entypesidae. It was first described by William Frederick Purcell in 1902.<ref name=Purc1902 /> Originally placed with the Ctenizidae,<ref name=Purc1902 /> it was transferred to the Nemesiidae in 1985,<ref name=Rave1985 /> then to the Entypesidae in 2020.<ref name=Opat2020 />

All described species are endemic to South Africa.<ref name="wsc" />

==Species== {{as of|2025|10}}, this genus includes eleven species:<ref name="wsc" /> {{Div col}} * ''Lepthercus confusus'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus dippenaarae'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus dregei'' <small>Purcell, 1902</small> (type species) * ''Lepthercus engelbrechti'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus filmeri'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus haddadi'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus kwazuluensis'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus lawrencei'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus mandelai'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> * ''Lepthercus rattrayi'' <small>Hewitt, 1917</small> * ''Lepthercus sofiae'' <small>Ríos-Tamayo & Lyle, 2020</small> {{Div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="wsc">{{cite web | url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/2017 | title=Gen. ''Lepthercus'' Purcell, 1902 | publisher=World Spider Catalog | doi=10.24436/2 | accessdate=2025-10-18}}</ref> <ref name="Opat2020">{{cite journal| last=Opatova| first=V.| display-authors=etal| year=2020| title=Phylogenetic systematics and evolution of the spider infraorder Mygalomorphae using genomic scale data| journal=Systematic Biology| volume=69| issue=4| pages=701–702| doi=10.1093/sysbio/syz064| pmid=31841157| doi-access=free}}</ref> <ref name="Purc1902">{{cite journal| last=Purcell| first=W. F.| year=1902| title=New South African trap-door spiders of the family Ctenizidae in the collection of the South African Museum| journal=Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society| pages=348–382| volume=11| doi=10.1080/21560382.1900.9525972| url=https://zenodo.org/record/1642179| author-link=William_Frederick_Purcell}}</ref> <ref name="Rave1985">{{cite journal| last=Raven| first=R. J.| year=1985| title=The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematics| journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History| volume=182| page=86| author-link=Robert_Raven}}</ref> }}

==Further reading== *{{cite journal| last1=Ríos-Tamayo| first1=D.| last2=Lyle| first2=R.| year=2020| title=The South African genus ''Lepthercus'' Purcell, 1902 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae): phylogeny and taxonomy| journal=Zootaxa| pages=261–305| volume=4766| issue=2| doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4766.2.2| pmid=33056597| s2cid=216050193| hdl=11336/142115| hdl-access=free}} *{{cite journal| last=Hewitt| first=J.| year=1917| title=Descriptions of new South African Arachnida| journal=Annals of the Natal Museum| pages=687–711| volume=3}}

==External links== * {{inaturalist taxon}}

{{Taxonbar| from=Q590721}}

Category:Endemic spiders of South Africa Category:Mygalomorphae genera Category:Entypesidae {{Entypesidae-stub}}