{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Scoloderus | authority = Simon, 1887<ref name=NMBE /> | type_species = ''S. cordatus'' | type_species_authority = (Taczanowski, 1879) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 5, see text }}
'''''Scoloderus''''' is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1887.<ref name=Simo1887>{{cite journal| last=Simon| first=E.| year=1887| title=Observation sur divers arachnides: synonymies et descriptions| journal=Annales de la Société Entomologique de France| volume=7| issue=6}}</ref> They primarily feed on nocturnal moths using a ladder-type nest, featuring vertical extensions of sticky orbs above and below the circumference of the primary orb. When a moth strikes the web, it slides down the ladder, leaving behind scales on the sticky silk until it is completely ensnared.<ref>{{cite book |title=Insect defenses: adaptive mechanisms and strategies of prey and predators| last1=Evans| first1=David L.| last2=Schmidt| first2=Justin O.| year=1990| series=SUNY series in animal behavior| publisher=SUNY Press| isbn=978-0-88706-896-6| page=116| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpxkhS7O0p0C| accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref>
==Species== {{as of|2019|04}} it contains five species:<ref name=NMBE>{{cite journal| title=Gen. Scoloderus Simon, 1887| website=World Spider Catalog Version 20.0| accessdate=2019-05-15| year=2019| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern| url=https://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/399| doi=10.24436/2| last1=Gloor| first1=Daniel| last2=Nentwig| first2=Wolfgang| last3=Blick| first3=Theo| last4=Kropf| first4=Christian}}</ref> *''Scoloderus ackerlyi'' <small>Traw, 1996</small> – Belize *''Scoloderus cordatus'' <small>(Taczanowski, 1879)</small> (type) – Mexico to Argentina *''Scoloderus gibber'' <small>(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898)</small> – Mexico to Argentina *''Scoloderus nigriceps'' <small>(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1895)</small> – USA, Mexico, Bahama Is., Cuba, Jamaica *''Scoloderus tuberculifer'' <small>(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889)</small> – USA to Argentina
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://bugguide.net/node/view/514505 Scoloderus] at BugGuide
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1116038}}
Category:Araneidae Category:Araneomorphae genera Category:Spiders of North America Category:Spiders of South America Category:Taxa named by Eugène Simon
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