Diaea
Diaea is a genus of crab spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869. Most species are found in specific locations except for D. livens, which occurs in the United States and D. dorsata, which has a palearctic distribution. Adults are to and tend to hide in and around vegetation, especially flowers, where their color allows them to blend in to their surroundings.
Life style
They are found on trees, shrubs and grasses and very commonly sampled beating and sweeping vegetation.
Description
Females and males are 4 to 5 mm in total length, with males more slender than females and their legs longer.
The carapace can be white, yellow or green, sometimes darker around the eye region, with smooth integument bearing simple, isolated setae. The carapace is moderately convex above and armed with long setae. The lateral eyes are on tubercles. Both eye rows are recurved and almost the same length. The posterior median eyes are closer to each other than to posterior lateral eyes.
The abdomen is round in females and oval in males, white, yellow or green, and usually decorated with darker spots or markings. The legs are thin and slender, usually the same colour as the carapace, and sometimes banded.
Species
, this genus includes 46 species:Diaea albicincta Pavesi, 1883 – Ethiopia, Tanzania, South AfricaDiaea albolimbata L. Koch, 1875 – New ZealandDiaea ambara – New ZealandDiaea bengalensis Biswas & Mazumder, 1981 – IndiaDiaea bipunctata Rainbow, 1902 – VanuatuDiaea carangali Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – PhilippinesDiaea delata Karsch, 1880 – AngolaDiaea doleschalli Hogg, 1915 – Indonesia Diaea dorsata – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia, Iran Diaea erji Chen, Liu & Hu, 2025 – ChinaDiaea giltayi Roewer, 1938 – Indonesia Diaea graphica Simon, 1882 – YemenDiaea gyoja Ono, 1985 – Russia, JapanDiaea implicata Jézéquel, 1966 – Ivory CoastDiaea insignis Thorell, 1877 – Indonesia Diaea limbata Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia Diaea livens Simon, 1876 – Southern and Central Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Iran. Introduced to United StatesDiaea longisetosa Roewer, 1961 – Senegal, South AfricaDiaea mikhailovi Zhang, Song & Zhu, 2004 – ChinaDiaea mutabilis Kulczyński, 1901 – EthiopiaDiaea nakajimai Ono, 1993 – MadagascarDiaea ocellata Rainbow, 1898 – Papua New GuineaDiaea osmanii Zamani & Marusik, 2017 – IranDiaea papuana Kulczyński, 1911 – Indonesia Diaea placata O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – Sri LankaDiaea pougneti Simon, 1886 – IndiaDiaea proclivis Simon, 1903 – Equatorial GuineaDiaea puncta Karsch, 1884 – Sub-Saharan AfricaDiaea rohani Fage, 1923 – Angola, South AfricaDiaea rufoannulata Simon, 1880 – New CaledoniaDiaea semilutea Simon, 1903 – Equatorial GuineaDiaea seminola Gertsch, 1939 – United StatesDiaea septempunctata L. Koch, 1874 – Tonga, Papua New Guinea?Diaea shirleyi Hogg, 1922 – VietnamDiaea sphaeroides – New ZealandDiaea spiniformis – ChinaDiaea spinosa Keyserling, 1880 – ColombiaDiaea subdola O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885 – Pakistan, India, China, Russia, Korea, JapanDiaea suspiciosa O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885 – Central Asia, Mongolia, China, India?Diaea tadtadtinika Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – PhilippinesDiaea taibeli Caporiacco, 1949 – KenyaDiaea terrena Dyal, 1935 – PakistanDiaea tianpingensis Liu, Zhang & Chen, 2021 – ChinaDiaea tongatabuensis Strand, 1913 – PolynesiaDiaea viridipes Strand, 1909 – South AfricaDiaea zonura Thorell, 1892 – Indonesia