Spintharus

{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{distinguish|Spintharus of Corinth}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Neogene|present}} | image = Cobweb Spider - Spintharus flavidus, Catoctin Mountains, Maryland.jpg | image_caption = ''S. flavidus'' from Maryland. | taxon = Spintharus | authority = Hentz, 1850<ref name="WSC_g3541" /><ref name="Hentz, 1850" /> | diversity_link = | diversity = c. 18 extant species; 1 fossil species | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text. | type_species=''Spintharus flavidus'' | type_species_authority=Hentz, 1850<ref name="WSC_g3541" /> }}

The spider genus '''''Spintharus''''' occurs from the northeastern United States to Brazil. Nicholas Marcellus Hentz circumscribed the genus in 1850, initially as a monospecific genus containing his newly described species ''S. flavidus''.<ref name="Hentz, 1850" />

It is very similar to the genus ''Thwaitesia'', and both are similar to ''Episinus''. Unlike ''Argyrodes'', they have two setae in place of a colulus.

Specimens of ''S. flavidus'' are variable in structure. Only some have an elevated eye region or humps on the anterior of the abdomen.

Females of ''S. gracilis'' are 3.7mm long, males 2.3mm.

A revision of the genus by Ingi Agnarsson and colleagues printed in 2018 included the description of fifteen new species, as well as the removal of ''S. argenteus''.<ref name="Agnarsson et al., 2018" /> Some of the new specific names were named in honor of political figures, artists, and celebrities.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Guarino|first1=Ben|title=Meet Bernie Sanders's new namesake: A spider from Cuba|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/09/26/meet-bernie-sanderss-new-namesake-a-spider-from-cuba/|newspaper=Washington Post|date=26 September 2017}}</ref> As of 2017, when the electronic pre-print was published, ''Spintharus'' was the spider genus with the most species named after celebrities.<ref name="Mammola et al., 2018" />

An earlier revision of the genus was by Herbert Walter Levi; his taxonomy recognized two species: ''S. flavidus'' and ''S. gracilis''.<ref name="Levi, 1954" /><ref name="Levi, 1963" />

==Species== thumb|Female ''S. flavidus'' (w/o legs). {{As of|2020}}, the World Spider Catalog (WSC), largely following Agnarsson and colleagues, accepts the following extant species:<ref name="Agnarsson et al., 2018" /><ref name="WSC_g3541" /> * ''Spintharus barackobamai'' {{small|Agnarsson & Van Patten, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus berniesandersi'' {{small|Agnarsson & Sargeant, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus davidattenboroughi'' {{small|Agnarsson & Van Patten, 2018}} – Jamaica * ''Spintharus davidbowiei'' {{small|Agnarsson & Chomitz, 2018}} – Mexico * ''Spintharus dayleae'' {{small|Sargeant & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Saint Lucia, Grenada * ''Spintharus flavidus'' {{small|Hentz, 1850}} (type species) – USA, Central and South America * ''Spintharus frosti'' {{small|Van Patten & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Dominican Republic * ''Spintharus giraldoalayoni'' {{small|Agnarsson & Chomitz, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus goodbreadae'' {{small|Chomitz & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus gracilis'' {{small|Keyserling, 1886}} – Brazil * ''Spintharus greerae'' {{small|Sargeant & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Mexico * ''Spintharus jesselaueri'' {{small|Sargeant & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Dominica * ''Spintharus leonardodicaprioi'' {{small|Van Patten & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Dominican Republic *''Spintharus leverger'' {{small|LeMay & Agnarsson, 2020}} – Brazil * ''Spintharus manrayi'' {{small|Chomitz & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus michelleobamaae'' {{small|Agnarsson & Sargeant, 2018}} – Cuba * ''Spintharus rallorum'' {{small|Chomitz & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis * ''Spintharus skelly'' {{small|Van Patten & Agnarsson, 2018}} – Dominican Republic

The WSC also recognizes one fossil species in the genus:<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dunlop|first1=J. A.|last2=Penny|first2=D.|last3=Jekel|first3=D.|title=A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives|url=https://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/resources/fossils/Fossils18.0.pdf#page=162|website=World Spider Catalog|publisher=Natural History Museum Bern|accessdate=28 September 2017|date=2017|version=18.5|page=161}}</ref> * {{extinct}} ''Spintharus longisoma'' {{small|Wunderlich, 1988}} — Dominican amber

Formerly accepted species in ''Spintharus'' include:<ref name="WSC_g3541" /> * ''Spintharus minutus'' {{small|Petrunkevitch, 1926}} (= ''Theridion antillanum'' {{small|Simon, 1894}})<ref name="Bryant, 1942" /><ref name="Levi, 1959" /> * ''Spintharus hentzi'' {{small|Levi, 1955}} (= ''Spintharus flavidus'' {{small|Hentz, 1850}})<ref name="Levi, 1963" /> * ''Spintharus argenteus'' {{small|Dyal, 1935}} (nomen dubium)<ref name="Agnarsson et al., 2018" />

==References== <references>

<ref name="Agnarsson et al., 2018">{{cite journal|last1=Agnarsson|first1=Ingi|last2=Van Patten|first2=Chloe|last3=Sargeant|first3=Lily|last4=Chomitz|first4=Ben|last5=Dziki|first5=Austin|last6=Binford|first6=Greta J.|title=A radiation of the ornate Caribbean 'smiley-faced spiders', with descriptions of 15 new species (Araneae: Theridiidae, ''Spintharus'')|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|date=2018|volume=182|issue=4|pages=758–790|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx056}}</ref> <ref name="Hentz, 1850">{{cite journal|last1=Hentz|first1=Nicholas Marcellus|title=Descriptions and Figures of the Araneides of the United States|journal=Boston Journal of Natural History|date=1850|volume=6|issue=2|pages=283–284; [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32406987 Pl. 10], Fig. 8|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32406970}}</ref> <ref name="Levi, 1954">{{cite journal|last1=Levi|first1=Herbert W.|title=The Spider Genera ''Episinus'' and ''Spintharus'' from North America, Central America and the West Indies (Araneæ: Theridiidæ)|journal=Journal of the New York Entomological Society|date=1954|volume=62|issue=2|pages=65–90|jstor=25005540|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50769821}}</ref> <ref name="Levi, 1963">{{cite journal|last1=Levi|first1=Herbert W.|title=The American Spider Genera ''Spintharus'' and ''Thwaitesia'' (Araneae Theridiidae)|journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology|date=1963|volume=70|issue=4|pages=223–234|doi=10.1155/1963/54690|doi-access=free|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50905459}}</ref> <ref name="Bryant, 1942">{{cite journal|last1=Bryant|first1=Elizabeth B.|title=Notes on the Spiders of the Virgin Islands|journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College|date=1942|volume=89|issue=7|pages=343–344|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2792357}}</ref> <ref name="Levi, 1959">{{cite journal|last1=Levi|first1=Herbert W.|title=The spider genera ''Achaearanea'', ''Theridion'' and ''Sphyrotinus'' from Mexico, Central America and the West Indies (Araneae, Theridiidae)|journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College|date=1959|volume=121|issue=3|page=116|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4778761}}</ref> <ref name="WSC_g3541">{{cite web |title=Gen. ''Spintharus'' Hentz, 1850 |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |url=https://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/3541 |accessdate=2 May 2018}}</ref> <ref name="Mammola et al., 2018">{{cite journal|last1=Mammola|first1=Stefano|last2=Michalik|first2=Peter|last3=Hebets|first3=Eileen A.|last4=Isaia|first4=Marco|title=Record breaking achievements by spiders and the scientists who study them|journal=PeerJ|date=2017|volume=5|issue=e3972|pages=12–13|doi=10.7717/peerj.3972|pmid=29104823|pmc=5668680 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

</references>

Category:Theridiidae Category:Theridiidae genera Category:Spiders of North America Category:Spiders of South America Category:Taxa named by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz