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Anelosimus
Anelosimus is a cosmopolitan genus of cobweb spiders (Theridiidae), currently containing 74 species. Anelosimus is a key group in the study of sociality and its evolution in spiders (Aviles 1997). It contains species spanning the spectrum from solitary to highly social (quasisocial), with eight quasisocial species, far more than any other spider genus. Among these is the South American social species Anelosimus eximius, among the best studied social spider species.
The web of a colony of A. eximius can reach cover entire tree canopies and contain tens of thousands of individuals. Most of the highly social species live in lowland tropical forests, and all occur in the Americas. Other species, particularly those at higher altitudes in northern latitudes in the Americas and all non-American species appear to be solitary or sub-social. Social Anelosimus species are generally highly inbred and have female-biased sex ratios, with up to 10 females per male.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Banded Comb-Footed Spider
speciesAnelosimus vittatus
Anelosimus studiosus
speciesAnelosimus studiosus
Anelosimus eximius
speciesAnelosimus eximius
Anelosimus crassipes
speciesAnelosimus crassipes
Terry Pratchett's Anelosimus
speciesAnelosimus pratchetti
Anelosimus chonganicus
speciesAnelosimus chonganicus
Anelosimus taiwanicus
speciesAnelosimus taiwanicus
Anelosimus nelsoni
speciesAnelosimus nelsoni
Anelosimus analyticus
speciesAnelosimus analyticus
Anelosimus kohi
speciesAnelosimus kohi
Anelosimus pulchellus
speciesAnelosimus pulchellus
Anelosimus baeza
speciesAnelosimus baeza
Anelosimus jucundus
speciesAnelosimus jucundus
Anelosimus jabaquara
speciesAnelosimus jabaquara
Anelosimus bali
speciesAnelosimus bali
Anelosimus pantanal
speciesAnelosimus pantanal
Anelosimus domingo
speciesAnelosimus domingo
Anelosimus vierae
speciesAnelosimus vierae
Anelosimus chickeringi
speciesAnelosimus chickeringi
Anelosimus pacificus
speciesAnelosimus pacificus
Anelosimus iwawakiensis
speciesAnelosimus iwawakiensis
Anelosimus dubiosus
speciesAnelosimus dubiosus
Anelosimus rabus
speciesAnelosimus rabus
Anelosimus sumisolena
speciesAnelosimus sumisolena
Anelosimus sulawesi
speciesAnelosimus sulawesi
Anelosimus arizona
speciesAnelosimus arizona
Anelosimus membranaceus
speciesAnelosimus membranaceus
Anelosimus seximaculatus
speciesAnelosimus seximaculatus
Anelosimus subcrassipes
speciesAnelosimus subcrassipes
Anelosimus nigrescens
speciesAnelosimus nigrescens
Anelosimus rupununi
speciesAnelosimus rupununi
Anelosimus eidur
speciesAnelosimus eidur
Anelosimus luckyi
speciesAnelosimus luckyi
Anelosimus potmosbi
speciesAnelosimus potmosbi
Anelosimus terraincognita
speciesAnelosimus terraincognita
Anelosimus octavius
speciesAnelosimus octavius
Anelosimus puravida
speciesAnelosimus puravida
Anelosimus pomio
speciesAnelosimus pomio
Anelosimus agnar
speciesAnelosimus agnar
Anelosimus linda
speciesAnelosimus linda
Anelosimus exiguus
speciesAnelosimus exiguus
Anelosimus elegans
speciesAnelosimus elegans
Anelosimus tosus
speciesAnelosimus tosus
Anelosimus dubius
speciesAnelosimus dubius
Anelosimus lorenzo
speciesAnelosimus lorenzo
Anelosimus monskenyensis
speciesAnelosimus monskenyensis
Anelosimus decaryi
speciesAnelosimus decaryi
Anelosimus placens
speciesAnelosimus placens
Anelosimus amelie
speciesAnelosimus amelie
Anelosimus fraternus
speciesAnelosimus fraternus
Anelosimus andasibe
speciesAnelosimus andasibe
Anelosimus ata
speciesAnelosimus ata
Anelosimus buffoni
speciesAnelosimus buffoni
Anelosimus darwini
speciesAnelosimus darwini
Anelosimus hookeri
speciesAnelosimus hookeri
Anelosimus huxleyi
speciesAnelosimus huxleyi
Anelosimus lamarcki
speciesAnelosimus lamarcki
Anelosimus may
speciesAnelosimus may
Anelosimus moramora
speciesAnelosimus moramora
Anelosimus nazariani
speciesAnelosimus nazariani
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Anelosimus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 249289.