The Tent-web spiders (genus Cyrtophora), although technically orb-web spiders (family Araneidae), do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometimes considered a precursor of the simplified orb-web. These webs are aligned horizontally, with a network of supporting threads above them. These spiders often live in colonies. Females have a body length of mostly about 10 mm. Diversity 166 genera, 2840 species Genera Aculepeira Arachnura Araneus Araniella Argiope (St Andrews Cross spider) Austracantha Bertrana Celaenia Cladomelea Cyclosa Cyrtophora Dicrostichus Eriophora Gasteracantha (Spiny orb-weavers) Kaira Larinia Larinioides Lewisepeira Mangora Mastophora Melychiopharis Metepiera Micrathena Neoscona Nuctenea Ordgarius Perilla Zygiella many others The orb-weaver spiders (family Araneidae...

• Cyrtophora acrobalia (Thorell, 1895) (Myanmar)
• Cyrtophora admiralia Strand, 1913 (Admiralty Is.)
• Cyrtophora beccarii (Thorell, 1878) (Malaysia to New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora bicauda (Saito, 1933) (Taiwan)
• Cyrtophora bidenta Tikader, 1970 (India)
• Cyrtophora caudata Bösenberg & Lenz, 1895 (East Africa)
• Cyrtophora cephalotes Simon, 1877 (Philippines)
• Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka, 1869) (Pakistan to New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora citricola (Forskål, 1775) (Old World, Hispaniola, Colombia)
  • Cyrtophora citricola abessinensis Strand, 1906 (Ethiopia)
  • Cyrtophora citricola lurida Karsch, 1879 (West Africa)
  • Cyrtophora citricola minahassae Merian, 1911 (Sulawesi)
• Cyrtophora cordiformis (L. Koch, 1871) (New Guinea, Queensland, Lord Howe Is.)
• Cyrtophora cylindroides (Walckenaer, 1842) (China to Australia)
  • Cyrtophora cylindroides scalaris Strand, 1915 (New Britain)
• Cyrtophora diazoma (Thorell, 1890) (Sumatra)
• Cyrtophora doriae (Thorell, 1881) (New Guinea, Bismarck Arch.)
• Cyrtophora eczematica (Thorell, 1892) (Malaysia, Java, Sulawesi, New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora exanthematica (Doleschall, 1859) (Myanmar to Philippines, New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora feai (Thorell, 1887) (India to Myanmar)
• Cyrtophora forbesi (Thorell, 1890) (Sumatra)
• Cyrtophora gemmosa Thorell, 1899 (Cameroon)
• Cyrtophora guangxiensis Yin et al., 1990 (China)
• Cyrtophora hainanensis Yin et al., 1990 (China)
• Cyrtophora hirta L. Koch, 1872 (Queensland)
• Cyrtophora jabalpurensis Gajbe & Gajbe, 1999 (India)
• Cyrtophora koronadalensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 (Philippines)
• Cyrtophora ksudra Sherriffs, 1928 (India)
• Cyrtophora lacunaris Yin et al., 1990 (China)
• Cyrtophora lahirii Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 (Bangladesh)
• Cyrtophora larinioides Simon, 1895 (Cameroon)
• Cyrtophora leucopicta (Urquhart, 1890) (Fiji)
• Cyrtophora limbata (Thorell, 1898) (Myanmar)
• Cyrtophora lineata Kulczynski, 1910 (Solomon Is., Bismarck Arch.)
• Cyrtophora moluccensis (Doleschall, 1857) (India to Japan, Australia)
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis albidinota Strand, 1911 (Caroline Is., Palau, Yap)
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis bukae Strand, 1911 (Solomon Is.)
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis cupidinea Thorell, 1875 (New Caledonia)
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis margaritacea (Doleschall, 1859) (Java)
  • Cyrtophora moluccensis rubicundinota Strand, 1911 (Keule Is., near New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora monulfi Chrysanthus, 1960 (New Guinea)
• Cyrtophora nareshi Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2004 (Bangladesh)
• Cyrtophora parangexanthematica Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 (Philippines)
• Cyrtophora parnasia L. Koch, 1872 (Australia, Tasmania)
• Cyrtophora petersi Karsch, 1878 (Mozambique)
• Cyrtophora subacalypha (Simon, 1882) (Yemen)
• Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857) (Sri Lanka to Philippines, Australia)

Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (May 3, 1830 - December 22, 1901) was a Swedish arachnologist. ... Embrik Strand Embrik Strand (1876 – 1947) was an arachnologist who classified many spider species, including the greenbottle blue tarantula. ... Ferdinand Stoliczka (May 1838 - June 19, 1874) was an Austrian/Czech palaeontologist born at Hochwald in Moravia. ... Peter ForsskÃ¥l (sometimes also Pehr ForsskÃ¥l, Peter Forskaol, Petrus ForskÃ¥l or Pehr ForsskÃ¥hl) (born in Helsinki, 11 January 1732, died in Yemen, 11 July 1763), Swedish explorer, orientalist and naturalist. ... Ludwig Carl Christian Koch (November 8, 1825 - November 1, 1908) was a German entomologist specializing in arachnology. ... Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer (1771–1852) was a French civil servant and scientist. ... Carl Ludwig Doleschall (July 15, 1827- February 26, 1859) was born in Vag-Ujhely, Hungary (then Austria, and died in Ambon Island, Moluccas, only 31 years old. ...

References

• Tso, I.M. & Severinghaus, L.L. (2000). Argyrodes fissifrons inhabiting webs of Cyrtophora hosts: Prey size distribution and population characteristics. Zoological Studies. 39:236–242. PDF
• Álvares, É.S.S. & De Maria, M. (2004). First record of Cyrtophora citricola (Forskål) in Brazil (Araneae, Araneidae). Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 21(1):155-156 PDF DOI:10.1590/S0101-81752004000100026

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

• Pictures of several Cyrtophora species
• Russian Tent Spider C. hirta (illustrations of web construction)
• Pictures of C. citricola
• Beccari's Tent Spider (C. beccarii)