Prodidomus is a genus of long-spinneret ground spiders that was first described by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz in 1847.
Distribution Spiders in this genus are found in Africa, Europe, Oceania, Asia, South America, the United States, on the Greater Antilles, and Saint Helena.
Description
Prodidomus are small spiders with a total length of males 1.9–4.3 mm and females 1.8–5.0 mm.
Carapace broadly oval, frontally straight, weakly covered with grey setae or bare. Longitudinal fovea absent or weak. Eight eyes with anterior row straight or weakly recurved and posterior row strongly procurved. Four eyes of each side virtually contiguous, forming triangle with posterior lateral eyes largest. Anterior median eyes circular and dark, while posterior median eyes are separated by their long diameter or less. Clypeus low, shorter than anterior lateral eyes diameter, curved downwards. Chelicerae widely divergent.
Abdomen pale, with or without scattered, short, recumbent, grey setae. Anterior lateral spinnerets 10–20% of abdominal length, contiguous or slightly separated, with long piriform gland spigots. Posterior median eyes small while posterior lateral eyes are greatly enlarged and canoe-shaped. Legs laterigrade with leg formula 4123 and sparse setae with few weak spines.
Species it contains 54 species:
Prodidomus amaranthinus (Lucas, 1846) – Mediterranean Prodidomus aurantiacus Simon, 1890 – Yemen Prodidomus beattyi Platnick, 1977 – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory) Prodidomus bendee Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Queensland) Prodidomus bicolor Denis, 1957 – Sudan Prodidomus birmanicus Thorell, 1897 – Myanmar Prodidomus bryantae Alayón, 1995 – Cuba Prodidomus capensis Purcell, 1904 – South Africa Prodidomus chaperi (Simon, 1884) – India Prodidomus dalmasi Berland, 1920 – Kenya Prodidomus djibutensis Dalmas, 1919 – Somalia Prodidomus domesticus Lessert, 1938 – DR Congo Prodidomus duffeyi Cooke, 1964 – Ascension Island Prodidomus flavidus (Simon, 1884) – Algeria Prodidomus flavipes Lawrence, 1952 – South Africa Prodidomus flavus Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Queensland) Prodidomus geniculosus Dalmas, 1919 – Tunisia Prodidomus granulosus Cooke, 1964 – Rwanda Prodidomus inexpectatus Zamani, Chatzaki, Esyunin & Marusik, 2021 – Iran Prodidomus kimberley Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory) Prodidomus lampeli Cooke, 1964 – Ethiopia Prodidomus latebricola Cooke, 1964 – Tanzania Prodidomus longiventris (Dalmas, 1919) – Philippines Prodidomus margala Platnick, 1976 – Pakistan Prodidomus maximus Lessert, 1936 – Mozambique Prodidomus nigellus Simon, 1890 – Yemen Prodidomus nigricaudus Simon, 1893 – Venezuela Prodidomus opacithorax Simon, 1893 – Venezuela Prodidomus palkai Cooke, 1972 – India Prodidomus papavanasanemensis Cooke, 1972 – India Prodidomus purpurascens Purcell, 1904 – South Africa Prodidomus purpureus Simon, 1907 – Guinea-Bissau Prodidomus redikorzevi Spassky, 1940 – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan Prodidomus reticulatus Lawrence, 1927 – Namibia Prodidomus revocatus Cooke, 1964 – Mauritius Prodidomus robustus Dalmas, 1919 – Ethiopia Prodidomus rodolphianus Dalmas, 1919 – Kenya Prodidomus rollasoni Cooke, 1964 – Libya Prodidomus rufus Hentz, 1847 – Native probably to Africa, Mediterranean, Israel, Iraq. Introduced to USA, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, St. Helena, China, Japan, New Caledonia (type species) Prodidomus saharanpurensis (Tikader, 1982) – India Prodidomus sampeyae Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Western Australia) Prodidomus seemani Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Queensland) Prodidomus simoni Dalmas, 1919 – South Africa Prodidomus singulus Suman, 1967 – Hawaii Prodidomus sirohi Platnick, 1976 – India Prodidomus stella (Saaristo, 2002) – Seychelles Prodidomus tigrinus Dalmas, 1919 – Sierra Leone Prodidomus tirumalai Cooke, 1972 – India Prodidomus trihelicoides Seropian, Bulbulashvili, Makharadze & Baznikin, 2024 – Georgia Prodidomus venkateswarai Cooke, 1972 – India Prodidomus watongwensis Cooke, 1964 – Tanzania Prodidomus woodleigh Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Western Australia) Prodidomus wunderlichi Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 – Thailand Prodidomus yorke Platnick & Baehr, 2006 – Australia (Queensland)
References