{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Speciesbox | name = Crowned Crab Spider | image = Parasmodix quadrituberculata - Cecile Roux - 245268071.jpeg | image_caption = | image2 = Parasmodix quadrituberculata - Cecile Roux - 236037848.jpeg | image2_caption = | taxon = Parasmodix quadrituberculata | authority = Jézéquel, 1966<ref name="jezequel1966" /> | parent_authority = }}
'''''Parasmodix quadrituberculata''''' is a species of spider in the family Thomisidae, the sole described species of the monotypic genus '''''Parasmodix'''''.<ref name="wsc" /> It is found in several African countries and is commonly known as the '''crowned crab spider'''.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==Distribution== ''Parasmodix quadrituberculata'' is found in Cameroon, DR Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.<ref name="wsc" />
In South Africa, it is known from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, and Western Cape provinces.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==Habitat and ecology== These are plant dwellers and have been sampled with sweep nets from Grassland, Forest, and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 10 to 1415 m.<ref name="dippenaar2020" /> The species has also been sampled from maize fields.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==Description== {{see also|Glossary of spider terms}}
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''Parasmodix'' includes spiders characterized by a high anteriorly sloping cephalothorax that is longer than wide. Both sexes have a body length of 4-5 mm. The eyes are arranged in two rows with the median eyes closer to the lateral eyes than to each other.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
The abdomen is decorated with white patches. The carapace is as wide as long with scattered short setae and a few longer setae on the truncated posterior edge of the carapace, on the clypeal edge, and between and behind the lateral eyes. The cephalic region is high, slightly convex, and sloping anteriorly. The thoracic region is truncated posteriorly.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
The eyes occupy most of the carapace width in two recurved rows. The anterior eye row is slightly wider than the posterior eye row. The chelicerae have a slightly flattened dorsal surface. The cheliceral ridge has an upper edge that is rounded and slightly protruding with seven to nine inwardly curved spiniform setae.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
The abdomen is oval and bluntly truncated anteriorly, about a third longer than wide. The legs are pale yellow with anterior pairs having dark brown femora and patellae. Other legs bear brown spots and lines.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==Conservation== ''Parasmodix quadrituberculata'' is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. There are no significant threats to the species. The species is recorded from eight reserves such as Roodeplaatdam Nature Reserve, Ophathe Game Reserve, Tembe Elephant Park, and Nylsvley Nature Reserve. No conservation actions are recommended.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==Taxonomy== ''Parasmodix quadrituberculata'' was described by Jézéquel in 1966 from the Ivory Coast.<ref name="jezequel1966" /> The species has not been revised but is known from both sexes.<ref name="dippenaar2020" />
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="wsc">{{cite web |url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/41346 |title=Parasmodix quadrituberculata Jézéquel, 1966 |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |access-date=2025-10-01 |doi=10.24436/2}}</ref> <ref name="dippenaar2020">{{cite book |last1=Dippenaar-Schoeman |first1=A.S. |last2=Haddad |first2=C.R. |last3=Foord |first3=S.H. |last4=Lotz |first4=L.N. |year=2020 |title=The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 2 My-R. Version 1 |publisher=South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide |page=32 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.7513276}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4}}</ref> <ref name="jezequel1966">{{cite journal |last=Jézéquel |first=J.-F. |title=Araignées de la savane de Singrobo (Côte d'Ivoire). V. – Note complémentaire sur les Thomisidae |journal=Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris |series=2 |volume=37 |issue=4 |year=1965 |pages=613-630}}</ref> }}
==External links== * {{inaturalist taxon}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2409402}}
Category:Thomisidae Category:Spiders of South Africa Category:Spiders described in 1966