Nephilingis cruentata

Nephilingis cruentata is an nephilid spider with a strikingly red sternum.

Nephilingis cruentata
Female in Mozambique
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Nephilidae
Genus:	Nephilingis
Species:	N. cruentata
Binomial name
Nephilingis cruentata (Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
List Aranea cruentata Epeira diadela Epeira brasiliensis Epeira azzara Nephila genualis Nephila borbonica mossambicensis Nephila brasiliensis Araneus diadelus Nephila cruentata chiloangensis Nephilengys cruentata

Females reach a length of about 24 mm. The legs can be uniformly dark red or brown, or annulated. Males are about 4 mm long.^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1775 by Johan Fabricius, as Araneus cruentata. In 1887, Eugène Simon transferred it to the genus Nephilengys. In 2013, Matjaž Kuntner et al. decided that four species of Nephilengys were sufficiently different to require an alternative generic placement. Accordingly, they erected the genus Nephilingis with Nephilingis cruentata as the type species.^[1][3]

Distribution

N. cruentata is found in tropical and subtropical Africa and several limited areas of South America (Brazil, northern Colombia and Paraguay), where it has probably been introduced by humans in the late 19th century at the latest.^[2]

Name

The species name cruentata is derived from Latin cruentus "bloody", probably referring to the female red sternum.^[2]