Orchestina
TaxonOrchestina
AuthoritySimon, 1882[1]
Subdivision ranksSpecies
Subdivision181, see text

Orchestina is a genus of spider belonging to the family Oonopidae (goblin spiders). They can be found nearly worldwide in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. Members of this genus are tiny having body lengths of around 1.0 to 3.0 mm.[2] They are also capable of jumping due to their fourth femur being enlarged.[3]

It was first described by Eugène Simon in 1882.[4]

Distribution

Orchestina has a nearly globally distribution however there are found mostly from Central to South America, Africa and Asia. There are a few species appearing in North America, Europe, and Australia.[4]

China has more than 20 species with Xishuangbanna, Yunnan containing eight species being part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.[2][5] The northernmost species in China is Orchestina zhiwui.[6]

Ecology

They are a dominate group of spiders in the canopies as seen from many of their specimens being collected through canopy fogging.[7] However they are occasionally found under bark, grasses, in litter and suspended litter. They can even be found inside of buildings.[2]

Species

Orchestina is species-rich genus including more than 180 species as of October 2025 making is one of the most speciose genera in Oonopidae.[2][4][5][6]

These species listed below have articles on Wikipedia:

References

  1. ^ Simon, Eugène (1882). "Etudes Arachnologiques. 13e Mémoire. XX. Descriptions d'espèces et de genres nouveaux de la famille des Dysderidae". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 2 (6): 201–240.
  2. ^ Song, Chenxue; Bian, Dongju; Tong, Yanfeng; Li, Shuqiang (2025-08-25). "A survey of Orchestina Simon, 1882 (Araneae, Oonopidae) from Xishuangbanna, China, with descriptions of eight new species". ZooKeys. 1249: 247–288. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1249.163886. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 12402817
  3. ^ Taxonomic Revision of the Jumping Goblin Spiders of the Genus Orchestina Simon, 1882, in the Americas (Araneae: Oonopidae)
  4. ^ "Gen. Orchestina Simon, 1882". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
  5. ^ Zhou, Yang; Tong, Yanfeng; Bian, Dongju; Li, Shuqiang (2025-05-30). "Three new species of Orchestina Simon, 1882 (Araneae, Oonopidae) from Xizang, China". ZooKeys. 1239: 333–347. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1239.147523. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 12144556
  6. ^ Wang, Ying; Wan, Na; Tong, Yanfeng; Marusik, Yuri M. (2021-03-08). "On the northernmost Orchestina species in China, with a first description of the female of O. zhiwui (Araneae, Oonopidae)". ZooKeys. 1022: 1–11. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1022.62387. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7960686
  7. ^ Tong, Yanfeng & Li, Shuqiang (2011-10-18). "Six new Orchestina species from Hainan Island, China (Araneae, Oonopidae)". Zootaxa. 3061 (1): 36–52. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3061.1.2. ISSN 1175-5334