Simorcus cotti

Simorcus cotti is a species of spider in the family Thomisidae. It is commonly known as Cotti's Simorcus crab spider and occurs in several African countries.

Distribution

Simorcus cotti is known from Tanzania, Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa.
In South Africa, the species has been documented from Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.

Habitat and ecology

Simorcus cotti was collected by beating and sweeping grass, trees, shrubs, and herbs in Forest, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, and Savanna biomes, at altitudes ranging from 4 to 1,758 m.
The species has been collected from various tree species, including:

several Acacia speciesAloe marlothiiBurkea africanaCroton sylvaticusHelichrysum speciesPanicum species
fever treesPappea capensisPhilenoptera violaceaPterocarpus rotundifoliusSclerocarya birreaSpigumnosporia speciesSpirostachus africanaTerminalia sericea woodland.

Adult males were sampled from November to March and females from December to March. The species has also been sampled from citrus orchards.

Conservation

Simorcus cotti is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. The species is recorded in more than ten protected areas throughout South Africa.

Etymology

The species is named after B.-B. Cott, who collected specimens during the expedition to Portuguese East Africa.

Taxonomy

Simorcus cotti was described by Roger de Lessert in 1936 from Mozambique. Van Niekerk and Dippenaar-Schoeman synonymized Simorcus zuluanus with this species in 2010. The species was revised by Van Niekerk and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 2010 and is known from both sexes.