Kingdom Animalia Class Arachnida Family Caponiidae | Phylum Arthropoda Order Araneae Rank Genus | |
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Similar Tarsonops, Nops guanabacoae, Caponiidae, Caponia, Calponia harrisonfordi | ||
Nops is a genus of medium-sized caponiid spider native to South America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. The genus currently counts 27 extant species plus one fossil in Dominican amber, but probably the real number of extant species is greater. Nops have a great richness on the Caribbean islands (14 species). Even species of Central America (4) and South America (15) are located in high proportion toward the area of the Caribbean Sea. Most species of South America are known only from the coast of Colombia and Venezuela, including the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Trinidad. The genus is not revised yet, but apparently have a Neotropical distribution.
Contents
Species
Nops MacLeay, 1839
Monophyly
Nops is a nopinae genus (i.e., have subsegmeted tarsi). These caponiids spiders show two other unusual leg characters that are often found in nopine genera: the ventral translucent keel on the anterior metatarsi, and the translucent extension of the membrane between the anterior metatarsi and tarsi. However, these species differ from the other nopines with these leg modifications in having an elongated unpaired claw on anterior legs, extending dorsally between the paired claws (see and