{{Short description|Species of spider}} {{Speciesbox | name = Forest Spitting Spider | image = | image_caption = | image2 = | image2_caption = | status = LC | status_system = SANBI | taxon = Scytodes silvatica | authority = Purcell, 1904<ref name="purcell1904" /> | synonyms = }}
'''''Scytodes silvatica''''' is a species of spider in the family Scytodidae.<ref name="wsc" /> It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as the '''forest spitting spider'''.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==Distribution== ''Scytodes silvatica'' is found in two South African provinces, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==Habitat and ecology== The species inhabits the Forest, Savanna and Thicket biomes at altitudes ranging from 1 to 1479 m above sea level. It is a wandering spider commonly collected from under stones and dark places on the soil surface.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==Description== {{see also|Glossary of spider terms}}
''Scytodes silvatica'' has a deep brown or purplish-black colour, mottled with yellow. The carapace has a well-developed median stripe lying between a pair of broader yellow stripes, on each side of which is a very broad, curved, black band. The latter bears a small yellow spot just before the middle of the carapace. The sides of the carapace are broadly blackened inferiorly, with a row of four yellow spots on each side and a row of larger or smaller, more irregular yellow marks above these. The posterior part of the carapace has a median yellow spot.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==Conservation== ''Scytodes silvatica'' is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in Mkambathi Nature Reserve, Asante Sana Private Game Reserve, and Tsitsikamma National Park.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==Etymology== The species name is from Latin ''silvaticus'' "of the woods".
==Taxonomy== The species has not been revised and is known from both sexes, but has not been illustrated.<ref name="dippenaar2021" />
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="wsc">{{cite web | url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/33767 | title=Scytodes silvatica Purcell, 1904 | publisher=World Spider Catalog | accessdate=2025-09-27}}</ref> <ref name="dippenaar2021">{{cite book | last1=Dippenaar-Schoeman | first1=A.S. | last2=Haddad | first2=C.R. | last3=Booysen | first3=R. | last4=Foord | first4=S.H. | last5=Lotz | first5=L.N. | year=2021 | title=The Scytodidae of South Africa. Version 1 | publisher=South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide | pages=31 | doi=10.5281/zenodo.7157802}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4}}</ref> <ref name="purcell1904">{{cite journal | last=Purcell | first=W.F. | year=1904 | title=Descriptions of new genera and species of South African spiders | journal=Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society | volume=15 | pages=148 | doi=10.5962/bhl.part.18693}}</ref> }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2799590}}
Category:Scytodidae Category:Endemic spiders of South Africa Category:Spiders described in 1904