Damastes (spider)

This article is about the genus of spiders. For the character in Greek mythology, see Procrustes.

Damastes is a genus of East African huntsman spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1880.^[2] It is classified under the family Sparassidae, though its subfamilial classification remains unclear.^[3][4] The subspecies Damastes coquereli affinis is a nomen dubium.^[5]

Damastes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Sparassidae
Genus:	Damastes Simon, 1880[1]
Type species
D. grandidieri Simon, 1880
Species
16, see text

Species

As of September 2019^[update] it contains sixteen species, found on the Seychelles, in Mozambique, and on Madagascar:^[1]

• Damastes atrignathus Strand, 1908 – Madagascar
• Damastes coquereli Simon, 1880 – Madagascar
• Damastes decoratus (Simon, 1897) – Madagascar
• Damastes fasciolatus (Simon, 1903) – Madagascar
• Damastes flavomaculatus Simon, 1880 – Madagascar
• Damastes grandidieri Simon, 1880 (type) – Madagascar
• Damastes majungensis Strand, 1907 – Madagascar
• Damastes malagassus (Fage, 1926) – Madagascar
• Damastes malagasus (Karsch, 1881) – Madagascar
• Damastes masculinus Strand, 1908 – Madagascar
• Damastes nigrichelis (Strand, 1907) – Mozambique
• Damastes nossibeensis Strand, 1907 – Madagascar
• Damastes oswaldi Lenz, 1891 – Madagascar
• Damastes pallidus (Schenkel, 1937) – Madagascar
• Damastes sikoranus Strand, 1906 – Madagascar
• Damastes validus (Blackwall, 1877) – Seychelles

Trapping prey

An unspecified Damastes species has been observed in the Sava Region of northeast Madagascar predating on vertebrates (frogs, Heterixalus andrakata).^[6][7][8] The same spider - and others of the same species - also build structures of leaves and silk and hide in the back of them.^[6][7][8] It is speculated that these are traps for catching these frogs.^[6][7][8]

See also

• List of Sparassidae species