Anyphops

Anyphops
	Anyphops sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Selenopidae
Genus:	Anyphops; Benoit, 1968
Type species
	A. atomarius; (Simon, 1887)
Species
	64, see text

Anyphops is an African genus of wall spiders that was first described by Benoit in 1968.^[2]

Distribution

Most species are endemic to southern Africa.

Life style

Members of this genus are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal spiders.^[3]

Description

Small to large (6-23 mm) spiders. Anyphops differs from other selenopid genera in the arrangement of the eyes, the number of ventral spines on tibiae I – II, the shape of the median apophysis of the male palp, the general structure of the female epigynum and the leg formulae.^[3]

Carapace flattened; subcircular; usually brown to reddish brown, with lateral dark bands or spots; chelicerae brown to orange, normally with black or grey bands; labium and sternum usually paler in colour; anterior median eyes and posterior median eyes are in a strongly recurved line; posterior median eyes larger than anterior median eyes; posterior lateral eyes the largest, anterior lateral eyes the smallest.^[3]

Abdomen flattened, round to oval; clothed in dense setae; normally grey or yellowish with brown or black dorsal defined patterns; venter yellowish, without markings.^[3]

Leg two claws with claw tufts and scopulae; laterigrade; anterior legs provided with strong, four to seven pairs of ventral spines on tibiae and metatarsi I and II; tarsal claws smooth; formulae normally 4321. Male palp with a retrolateral tibial apophysis with two branches similar in size or the dorsal longer than the ventral.^[3]

Female epigynum with a middle field reduced or well developed, represented by a depression or a septum, the lateral lobes of the epigynum well distinguished or not and, in very few cases, with slight secondary epigyneal pockets.^[3]

Taxonomy

The genus Anyphops was established by Benoit in 1968 when he reclassified African members of the family Selenopidae. The type species is Anyphops atomarius (Simon, 1887), originally described as Selenops atomarius. Most species in the genus were originally described in the genus Selenops by various authors including Lawrence (1940), Pocock (1900, 1901), and Simon (1887), before being transferred to Anyphops by Benoit in 1968. The genus is part of a broader reclassification of African selenopid spiders north of the 17th parallel south.^[3]

Species

As of September 2025^[update], this genus includes 64 species:^[1]

Anyphops alticola (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops amatolae (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops atomarius (Simon, 1887) – South Africa (type species)
Anyphops barbertonensis (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa, Eswatini
Anyphops barnardi (Lawrence, 1940) – Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa
Anyphops basutus (Pocock, 1901) – South Africa, Lesotho
Anyphops bechuanicus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops benoiti Corronca, 1998 – Madagascar
Anyphops braunsi (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops broomi (Pocock, 1900) – South Africa
Anyphops caledonicus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops capensis (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops civicus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops decoratus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops dubiosus (Lawrence, 1952) – South Africa
Anyphops dulacen Corronca, 2000 – Namibia
Anyphops fitzsimonsi (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops gilli (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops helenae (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops hessei (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops hewitti (Lawrence, 1940) – Namibia, South Africa
Anyphops immaculatus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops karrooicus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops kivuensis Benoit, 1968 – DR Congo
Anyphops kraussi (Pocock, 1898) – South Africa
Anyphops lawrencei (Roewer, 1951) – Zimbabwe, South Africa
Anyphops leleupi Benoit, 1972 – South Africa
Anyphops lesserti (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops lignicola (Lawrence, 1937) – South Africa
Anyphops lochiel Corronca, 2000 – South Africa
Anyphops longipedatus (Roewer, 1955) – South Africa
Anyphops lucia Corronca, 2005 – South Africa
Anyphops lycosiformis (Lawrence, 1937) – South Africa
Anyphops maculosus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops marshalli (Pocock, 1902) – South Africa
Anyphops minor (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops montanus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops mumai (Corronca, 1996) – South Africa
Anyphops namaquensis (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops narcissi Benoit, 1972 – South Africa, Eswatini
Anyphops natalensis (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops ngome Corronca, 2005 – South Africa
Anyphops parvulus (Pocock, 1900) – South Africa
Anyphops phallus (Lawrence, 1952) – South Africa
Anyphops pococki (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops purcelli (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops regalis (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops reservatus (Lawrence, 1937) – South Africa
Anyphops rubicundus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops schoenlandi (Pocock, 1902) – South Africa
Anyphops septemspinatus (Lawrence, 1937) – Mozambique, South Africa
Anyphops septentrionalis Benoit, 1975 – Cameroon
Anyphops sexspinatus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops silvicolellus (Strand, 1913) – DR Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa
Anyphops smithersi (Lawrence, 1940) – Lesotho
Anyphops spenceri (Pocock, 1896) – South Africa
Anyphops sponsae (Lessert, 1933) – Congo, Angola
Anyphops stauntoni (Pocock, 1902) – St. Helena, South Africa
Anyphops stridulans (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops thornei (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops transvaalicus (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops tuckeri (Lawrence, 1940) – South Africa
Anyphops tugelanus (Lawrence, 1942) – South Africa
Anyphops whiteae (Pocock, 1902) – South Africa

References

^ ^a ^b "Genus Anyphops". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ Benoit, P. L. G. (1968). "Les Selenopidae africains au Nord du 17e parallèle Sud et reclassement des espèces africaines de la famille (Araneae)". Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines. 77: 113–141.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Selenopidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 7. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

This article related to araneomorph spiders is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[wsc-1] "Genus Anyphops". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

[Beno1968-2] Benoit, P. L. G. (1968). "Les Selenopidae africains au Nord du 17e parallèle Sud et reclassement des espèces africaines de la famille (Araneae)". Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines. 77: 113–141.

[dippenaar2020-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Selenopidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 7. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

[1]

[2]

[3]