identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03D987C6273DFFF5FDED07A4A17DF9AB.text	03D987C6273DFFF5FDED07A4A17DF9AB.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Caerostris Thorell 1868	<div><p>Genus  Caerostris Thorell, 1868</p><p>Caerostris Thorell, 1868: 4, 7–8.</p><p>Trichocharis Simon, 1895 by Grasshoff 1984: 727 (transfer of type species).</p><p>Type species</p><p>Epeira mitralis Vinson, 1863, designated by Thorell, 1868: 4.</p><p>Diagnosis</p><p>Caerostris spiders of both sexes differ from other araneids by the following combination of somatic characteristics: prosoma and opisthosoma wider than long, head region of the prosoma wide and elevated from the thoracic region, prosoma with a frontal rostrum, cheliceral furrow smooth rather than denticulated, females with two pairs of median prosomal projections (one pair or none in males), sternal tubercule adjacent to coxae IV, median and lateral eyes grouped on separate tubercules, presence of abdominal sigillae, legs I, II, and IV with flattened and hairy patellae, tibiae, and metatarsi, femur IV with spatulate setae, the ventro-lateral abdominal sclerotization in several rather than one line of small dots (Grasshoff 1984; Kuntner et al. 2008; Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson 2010; Gregorič et al. 2015b).  Caerostris differ from other araneids by the following genital features: female epigynum with paired epigynal hooks anteriorly (Figs 3–7), male palp with large subtegulum, cymbial ectal margin sclerotized as cymbium rather than transparent, absence of paracymbium (Figs 4, 7) (Kuntner et al. 2008; Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson 2010; Gregorič et al. 2015b).</p><p>Species composition (reestablished and newly described species in bold)</p><p>Caerostris almae Gregorič, 2015;  Caerostris bankana Strand, 1915;  Caerostris bojani Gregorič, 2015;  Caerostris corticosa Pocock, 1902;  Caerostris cowani Butler, 1882;  Caerostris darwini Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson, 2010;  Caerostris ecclesiigera Butler, 1882;  Caerostris extrusa Butler, 1882;  Caerostris hirsuta (Simon, 1895);  Caerostris indica Strand, 1915;  Caerostris kuntneri Gregorič sp. nov.;  Caerostris linnaeus Gregorič, 2015;  Caerostris mayottensis Grasshoff, 1984;  Caerostris mitralis (Vinson, 1863);  Caerostris pero Gregorič, 2015;  Caerostris sexcuspidata (Fabricius, 1793);  Caerostris sumatrana Strand, 1915;  Caerostris tinamaze Gregorič, 2015;  Caerostris vicina (Blackwall, 1866);  Caerostris wallacei Gregorič, 2015 .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D987C6273DFFF5FDED07A4A17DF9AB	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Gregorič, Matjaž;Yu, Kuang-Ping;Velez, Winny Rojas;Garb, Jessica E.	Gregorič, Matjaž, Yu, Kuang-Ping, Velez, Winny Rojas, Garb, Jessica E. (2025): Caerostris (Araneidae: Araneae) cryptic diversity highlights the need for taxonomic expertise in the genomic era. European Journal of Taxonomy 989: 1-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.989.2877, URL: https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2877/13061
03D987C6273DFFF7FDE6002AA01CFD7D.text	03D987C6273DFFF7FDE6002AA01CFD7D.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Caerostris bankana Strand 1915	<div><p>Caerostris bankana Strand, 1915</p><p>Fig. 3; Appendix 1</p><p>Caerostris bankana Strand, 1915: 225 (♀).</p><p>Diagnosis</p><p>As in  C. extrusa (Figs 4E, 6C),  C. darwini (Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson 2010: fig. 6e),  C. kuntneri (Figs 6I, 7E),  C. mitralis (Grasshoff 1984: figs 19–20, 29–30),  C. tinamaze (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 9c), and  C. wallacei (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 10c), and in contrast to other Afrotropical species of  Caerostris, the epigynal hooks in  C. bankana (Fig. 3E) are short rather than long, positioned medially on the epigynal plate rather than anteriorly and pointing laterally rather than posteriorly. As in  C. kuntneri but in contrast to the above mentioned species of  Caerostris,  C. bankana has short and stout epigynal hooks that are about as wide as long, while longer in other species of  Caerostris . In contrast to all species of  Caerostris, the anterior epigynal margin in  C. bankana is S-shaped and perpendicular to the longitudinal body axis (Fig. 3E).</p><p>Type material</p><p>Holotype</p><p>MADAGASCAR • ♀;  Nosy Be; SMF3618 SMF.</p><p>Description</p><p>Female (holotype, Fig. 3A–E)</p><p>MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 23.36. Prosoma 7.81 long, 8.05 wide, 6.97 high. Carapace and chelicerae reddish brown, covered with whitish to yellowish setae. Sternum 3.65 long, 3.46 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, brown with whitish setae. AME diameter 0.40, PME diameter 0.34, AME separation 0.52, PME separation 1.22, PME–PLE separation 3.00, ALE–PLE separation 0.07. Clypeus height 1.48. Appendages: palps brown. All leg segments uniformly reddish brown. Leg I femur 6.53, patella 3.71, tibia 5.51, metatarsus 6.55, tarsus 2.47. Opisthosoma 14.96 long, 14.58 wide, 10.22 high. Base color of dorsum light reddish brown, covered with dark reddishbrown spots, with several small, pointy tubercules on anterior half and pair of large posterior tubercules, pointing posteriorly and protruding past spinnerets. Anterior dorsum with broad, whitish speck. Venter light brown with several dark brown spots, two paler, grey, longitudinal bands. Epigynum as diagnosed (Fig. 3E).</p><p>Distribution</p><p>Strand (1915) described the female he believed to be collected in Bandar Kwala, North Sumatra, Indonesia. However, the specimen closely resembles Malagasy species in morphology, and at the SMF was kept together with two resembling specimens from Nosy Be, Madagascar. As a similar specimen was never again found in Indonesia, Grasshoff (1984) concluded a confusion of specimen locality the most likely. We agree with this assessment and find Nosy Be, Madagascar as the most likely type locality and known distribution of this species.</p><p>Remark</p><p>Caerostris bankana Strand, 1915 was synonymized with  C. extrusa Butler, 1882 by Grasshoff (1984). In epigynal morphology, the type of  C. bankana is clearly different from both  C. extrusa and  C. kuntneri, as well as all other described species of  Caerostris . Due to the lack of molecular data for this species, its phylogenetic position within the genus is unclear.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D987C6273DFFF7FDE6002AA01CFD7D	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Gregorič, Matjaž;Yu, Kuang-Ping;Velez, Winny Rojas;Garb, Jessica E.	Gregorič, Matjaž, Yu, Kuang-Ping, Velez, Winny Rojas, Garb, Jessica E. (2025): Caerostris (Araneidae: Araneae) cryptic diversity highlights the need for taxonomic expertise in the genomic era. European Journal of Taxonomy 989: 1-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.989.2877, URL: https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2877/13061
03D987C6273FFFFAFDED0578A76FFE31.text	03D987C6273FFFFAFDED0578A76FFE31.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Caerostris extrusa Butler 1882	<div><p>Caerostris extrusa Butler, 1882</p><p>Figs 1D, 4, 6A–C; Appendix 1</p><p>Caerostris extrusa Butler, 1882: 100 (♀), plate 6 fig. 3.</p><p>Caerostris extrusa – Grasshoff 1984: 752 (♀), figs 28–30.</p><p>Diagnosis</p><p>As in  C. kuntneri (Figs 6I, 7E),  C. darwini (Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson 2010: 6 e),  C. mitralis (Grasshoff 1984: figs 19–20, 29–30),  C. tinamaze (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 9c), and  C. wallacei (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 10c), and in contrast to other Afrotropical species of  Caerostris, the epigynal hooks in  C. extrusa (Figs 4E, 6C) are short rather than long, positioned medially on the epigynal plate rather than anteriorly and pointing laterally rather than posteriorly. Different to all other species and as in  C. darwini, the epigynal hooks in  C. extrusa have an anteriorly pointing base that is longer than the hook length, but the hooks are wide and heavily sclerotized in  C. extrusa but shorter and narrower in  C. darwini . Male  C. extrusa (Fig. 4K–M) differ from those of other Afrotropical  Caerostris, except  C. tinamaze (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 9j–k), by the relatively small palpal bulbus, and from all  Caerostris by the twisted conductor positioned at a perpendicular axis to the cymbium.</p><p>Type material</p><p>Holotype</p><p>MADAGASCAR • ♀; specimen photographs examined; BMNH, BMNH1882.26.</p><p>Other material examined</p><p>MADAGASCAR • 1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Mantadia National Park; lat. -18.783784, lon. 48.427617; 26. Feb. 2010; M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and M. Gregorič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; USNM, ARA4270  •   1♂; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.937172, lon. 48.4200538; Dec.2017; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403861; ARA1965; USNM  •   1 ♀; Antsiranana Province,  Marojejy National Park; lat. -14.437629, lon. 49.775602, 30. Mar. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; GenBank accession number PP403853; ARA7936; ZRC SAZU  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Andasibe-Mantadia National Park; lat. -18.8255 lon. 48.4349; 6. Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403854; CA2017067; ZRC SAZU  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.937172 lon. 48.420053; 10–16. Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403855; CA2017089; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403856; CA2017157; ZRC SAZU •  same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403857; CA2017207; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403858; CA2017221; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403859; CA2017335; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403860; CA2017379; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, and leg. data as for preceding; 9. Dec. 2017; GenBank accession number PP403862; ARA1974; ZRC SAZU •   1 ♂; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat: -18.932779, lon. 48.413215; 7; Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, I. Agnarsson, M. Kuntner and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403863; ARA1981; ZRC SAZU  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.786784, lon. 48.427617; 26. Feb. 2010; M. Gregorič, I. Agnarsson and M. Kuntner leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA5603; ZRC SAZU  .</p><p>Description</p><p>Female (ARA4270 from Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar, Fig. 4A–E) MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 20.11. Prosoma 7.84 long, 8.54 wide, 4.06 high. Carapace and chelicerae reddish brown, covered with whitish setae. Sternum 4.17 long, 3.76 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, dark brown with pale band in posterior half. AME diameter 0.36, PME diameter 0.32, AME separation 0.51, PME separation 1.07, PME–PLE separation 2.93, ALE–PLE separation 0.11. Clypeus height 1.22. Appendages: palps dark reddish brown.All leg segments uniformly dark reddish brown. Leg I femur 7.81, patella 4.21, tibia 6.15, metatarsus 7.55, tarsus 2.92. Opisthosoma 16.84 long, 14.94 wide, 5.08 high. Base color of dorsum light brown, with yellowish longitudinal band, covered with black spots, and with several small, pointy tubercules on anterior half and pair of large posterior tubercules, pointing posteriorly and protruding past spinnerets. Venter brown with several dark brown and black spots, two paler, grey, longitudinal bands. Epigynum as diagnosed (Fig. 4E).</p><p>Male (ARA1965 from Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar, Fig. 4 G-M)</p><p>MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 4.90. Prosoma 2.48 long, 2.37 wide, 2.12 high. Carapace and chelicerae dark reddish brown, covered with whitish to yellowish setae. Sternum 1.25 long, 1.14 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, orange, sparsely covered with white setae. AME diameter 0.23, PME diameter 0.21, AME separation 0.21, PME separation 0.49, PME–PLE separation 0.81, ALE–PLE separation 0.02. Clypeus height 0.42. Appendages: palps orange. Coxae, trochanters, and femurs orange, patellae, tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi greenish orange. Leg I femur 3.20, patella 1.41, tibia 2.93, metatarsus 3.44, tarsus 1.26. Opisthosoma 3.46 long, 3.07 wide, 1.36 high. Base color of dorsum greenish brown, covered with black spots and areas, without small, pointy tubercules on anterior half. Venter greyish with black middle area and pair of white spots. Palp as diagnosed (Fig. 4K–M).</p><p>Variation</p><p>Female total length 18.9–25.1, prosoma length 7.65–8.55. Base color of opisthosoma dorsum light brown to dark brown, with anterior tubercules from small to pronounced. Some individuals with light median band, others without or with light anterior speck (Figs 4A, 6A). Males with little variation in appearance.</p><p>Distribution</p><p>Eastern Madagascar, known from Andasibe-Mantadia National Park (Toamasina Province), Ranomafana National Park (Fianarantsoa Province), and Marojejy National Park (Antsiranana Province).</p><p>Natural history</p><p>This species occurs in montane rainforests of eastern Madagascar. The web is typical of  Caerostris (Gregorič et al. 2011a), suspended at day and night. Several individuals have embolic plugs in copulatory openings (Kuntner et al. 2015), but never more than one per copulatory opening.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D987C6273FFFFAFDED0578A76FFE31	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Gregorič, Matjaž;Yu, Kuang-Ping;Velez, Winny Rojas;Garb, Jessica E.	Gregorič, Matjaž, Yu, Kuang-Ping, Velez, Winny Rojas, Garb, Jessica E. (2025): Caerostris (Araneidae: Araneae) cryptic diversity highlights the need for taxonomic expertise in the genomic era. European Journal of Taxonomy 989: 1-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.989.2877, URL: https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2877/13061
03D987C62732FFFBFDE607B4A003F961.text	03D987C62732FFFBFDE607B4A003F961.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Caerostris hirsuta (Simon 1895)	<div><p>Caerostris hirsuta (Simon, 1895)</p><p>Figs 1E, 5, 6D–F; Appendix 1</p><p>Trichocharis hirsuta Simon, 1895: 835 (♀).</p><p>Caerostris hirsuta – Grasshoff 1984: 756 (♀), fig. 4.</p><p>Diagnosis</p><p>Caerostris hirsuta differs from all known species of  Caerostris by the lack of lateral prosomal projections (Figs 5A, E, 6D). The female copulatory openings in  C. hirsuta (Figs 5E, 6F) are elliptical in shape and relatively larger than in all other Afrotropical species of  Caerostris . The epigynal hooks in  C. hirsuta (Figs 5E, 6F) are positioned anteriorly on the epigynal plate, resembling  C. corticosa (Grasshoff 1984: fig. 26),  C. vicina (Grasshoff 1984: figs 23–24), and  C. linnaeus (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 7d) from mainland Africa. As in  C. corticosa and  C. vicina, these hooks point posteriorly, but are narrow and short in  C. hirsuta rather than narrow and long as in the other two species. In  C. linnaeus the hooks are narrow and short as in  C. hirsuta, but point laterally rather than posteriorly. In contrast to  C. hirsuta, all other known species of  Caerostris from Madagascar, as well as others from mainland Africa, have the epigynal hooks positioned medially on the epigynal plate rather than anteriorly, they are wide rather than narrow, and point laterally rather than posteriorly (Grasshoff 1984; Gregorič et al. 2015b).</p><p>Material examined</p><p>Material examined</p><p>MADAGASCAR • 1 ♀; Antsiranana Province,  Marojejy National Park; lat. -18.8255, lon. 48.4349; 29. Mar. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7894; USNM  •   1 ♀; Antsiranana Province,  Marojejy National Park; lat. -14.437629, lon. 49.775602; 24. Mar. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; GenBank accession number PP403864; ARA7933; ZRC  •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7987; ZRC •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 25. Mar. 2022; GenBank accession number PP403865; ARA7896; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403866; ARA7985; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 26. Mar. 2022; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7931; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg.data as for preceding; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7928; ZRC SAZU .</p><p>Description</p><p>Female (ARA7894 from Marojejy National Park, Madagascar, Fig. 5A–E)</p><p>MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 21.93. Prosoma 9.70 long, 9.09 wide, 5.36 high. Carapace and chelicerae dark reddish brown, covered with long and dense yellowish setae. Sternum 4.40 long, 3.86 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, dark brown and sparsely covered with yellowish setae. AME diameter 0.45, PME diameter 0.35, AME separation 0.57, PME separation 1.28, PME–PLE separation 3.54, ALE–PLE separation 0.12. Clypeus height 1.72. Appendages: palps dark reddish brown. All leg segments uniformly dark reddish brown. Leg I femur 8.41, patella 6.47, tibia 6.85, metatarsus 8.62, tarsus 3.19. Opisthosoma 18.11 long, 16.87 wide, 6.92 high. Base color of dorsum light brown, with a yellowish longitudinal band, covered with black spots, and with several small, pointy tubercules on anterior half and pair of large posterior tubercules, pointing posteriorly and protruding past the spinnerets. Venter brown with several dark brown and black spots, two paler, grey, longitudinal bands. Epigynum as diagnosed (Fig. 5E).</p><p>Variation</p><p>Female total length 21.93–23.30, prosoma length 8.71–9.70. Base color of opisthosoma dorsum light brown to dark brown, with anterior tubercules from small to pronounced. Some individuals with light median band, others without (Figs 5A, 6D).</p><p>Distribution</p><p>Toamasina (Tamatave), eastern Madagascar, is designated as the locality of the holotype. However, the species today does not occur in eastern Madagascar, and Toamasina as a major port-city was often designated as the locality in museum collections in the past. Therefore, the holotype might not have been collected there. This species is likely restricted to the northern wet montane forests of Madagascar.</p><p>Natural history</p><p>This species occurs in montane rainforests of northeastern Madagascar. The web is typical of  Caerostris (Gregorič et al. 2011a), suspended at day and night.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D987C62732FFFBFDE607B4A003F961	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Gregorič, Matjaž;Yu, Kuang-Ping;Velez, Winny Rojas;Garb, Jessica E.	Gregorič, Matjaž, Yu, Kuang-Ping, Velez, Winny Rojas, Garb, Jessica E. (2025): Caerostris (Araneidae: Araneae) cryptic diversity highlights the need for taxonomic expertise in the genomic era. European Journal of Taxonomy 989: 1-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.989.2877, URL: https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2877/13061
03D987C62735FFE0FDAB0768A1EAFC81.text	03D987C62735FFE0FDAB0768A1EAFC81.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Caerostris kuntneri Gregoric & Yu 2025	<div><p>Caerostris kuntneri Gregorič &amp; Yu sp. nov.</p><p>urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D5F8C1C5-41DF-477F-B01B-F93BD94593E6</p><p>Figs 1F, 6G–I, 7; Appendix 1</p><p>Diagnosis</p><p>As in  C. extrusa (Figs 4E, 6C),  C. darwini (Kuntner &amp; Agnarsson 2010: fig. 6e),  C. mitralis (Grasshoff 1984: figs 19–20, 29–30),  C. tinamaze (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 9c), and  C. wallacei (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 10c), and in contrast to other Afrotropical species of  Caerostris, the epigynal hooks in  C. kuntneri (Figs 6I, 7E) are short rather than long, positioned medially on the epigynal plate rather than anteriorly and pointing laterally rather than posteriorly.  Caerostris kuntneri is similar to  C. almae and  C. mitralis but different from the abovementioned species of  Caerostris by the anterior epigynal margin that circles around the copulatory openings; however, the hooks are small in  C. mitralis (Grasshoff 1984: figs 19–20), heavily sclerotized, relatively wide, and longer than wide in  C. almae (Gregorič et al. 2015b: figs 3d, 4d, f), and short, about as long as wide in  C. kuntneri (Figs 6I, 7E). Male  C. kuntneri (Fig. 7K–M) differ from those of other Afrotropical  Caerostris, except  C. almae (Gregorič et al. 2015b: fig. 3i–k), by the relatively large palpal bulbus with a large and blunt conductor. The conductor in  C. kuntneri is large, pointing anteriorly, while mesally in  C. almae .</p><p>Etymology</p><p>The species epithet, a noun in the genitive case, honors the arachnologist Matjaž Kuntner, whose discoveries initiated recent research efforts on the genus  Caerostris .</p><p>Type material</p><p>Holotype</p><p>MADAGASCAR • ♀, labeled “ARA5602,  Andasibe-Mantadia, Madagascar”; Toamasina Province,  Mantadia National Park; lat. -18.783784, lon. 48.427617; 28. Feb. 2010; M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and M. Gregorič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA5602; USNM.</p><p>Paratype</p><p>MADAGASCAR • 1 ♂, labeled “ARA1961,  Andasibe-Mantadia, Madagascar”; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.937172, lon. 48.420053; 8. Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner and I. Agnarsson leg.; GenBank accession number PP403877; ARA1961; USNM.</p><p>Other material examined</p><p>MADAGASCAR • 1 ♀; sequence obtained from Kono et al. (2021), sequence voucher 7421-W1_ S15; Toamasina Province,  Andasibe-Mantadia National Park; GenBank accession number PP403852  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.932779 lon. 48.413215; 6. Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, I. Agnarsson, M. Kuntner and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403867; CA2017025; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403869; CA2017141; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, and leg. data as for preceding; 7. Dec. 2017; GenBank accession number PP403881; ARA1977; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403882; ARA1978; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403883; ARA1979; ZRC SAZU •  ♂; same locality as for preceding; 11. Apr. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; GenBank accession number PP403872; ARA8078; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403873; ARA8079; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403874; ARA8080; ZRC SAZU •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.937172 lon. 48.420053; 8. Dec. 2017; M. Gregorič, I. Agnarsson, M. Kuntner and P. Babb leg.; GenBank accession number PP403868; CA2017327; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403876; ARA1960; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403877; ARA1961; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403878; ARA1962; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403879; ARA1963; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; GenBank accession number PP403880; ARA1964; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 10–16. Dec. 2017; GenBank accession number PP403870; CA2017181; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 4. Dec. 2017; GenBank accession number PP403871; CA2017211; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♂; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 3. Dec. 2017; GenBank accession number PP403875; ARA1934; ZRC SAZU •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.937703, lon. 48.371233; 5. Apr. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7923; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♀; same locality, date, and leg. data as for preceding; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7913; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 5. Apr. 2022; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7937; ZRC SAZU •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 8. Apr. 2022; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7874; ZRC SAZU •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.825368, lon. 48.434792; 6. Apr. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ZRC SAZU ARA7967  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.889361, lon. 48.433165; 10. Apr. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7884; ZRC SAZU  •   1 ♀; Toamasina Province,  Analamazoatra National Park; lat. -18.786784, lon. 48.427617; 28. Feb. 2010; M. Kuntner, I. Agnarsson and M. Gregorič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA5602; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 27. Feb. 2010; Cox1 not obtained; ARA5608; ZRC SAZU •   1 ♀; Antsiranana Province,  Marojejy National Park; lat. -14.437629, lon. 49.775602; 24. Mar. 2022; M. Gregorič, M. Kuntner, K.P. Yu and M. Bedjanič leg.; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7924; ZRC SAZU  •  1 ♀; same locality and leg. data as for preceding; 25. Mar. 2022; Cox1 not obtained; ARA7925; ZRC SAZU .</p><p>Description</p><p>Female (holotype, Fig. 7A–E)</p><p>MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 26.21. Prosoma 9.64 long, 9.67 wide, 7.91 high. Carapace and chelicerae dark reddish brown, covered with whitish to yellowish setae. Sternum 4.59 long, 4.22 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, dark brown with pale band in posterior half. AME diameter 0.39, PME diameter 0.40, AME separation 0.59, PME separation 1.21, PME–PLE separation 3.42, ALE–PLE separation 0.10. Clypeus height 1.70. Appendages: palps dark reddish brown. All leg segments uniformly dark reddish brown. Leg I femur 7.26, patella 4.38, tibia 6.63, metatarsus 7.69, tarsus 2.93. Opisthosoma 17.07 long, 19.24 wide, 10.24 high. Base color of dorsum light brown, covered with black spots, with several small, pointy tubercules on anterior half and pair of large posterior tubercules, pointing posteriorly and protruding past spinnerets. Venter brown with several dark brown and black spots, two paler, grey, longitudinal bands. Epigynum as diagnosed (Fig. 7E).</p><p>Male (paratype, Fig. 7G–M)</p><p>MEASUREMENTS AND COLORATION. Total body length 5.15. Prosoma 2.96 long, 2.48 wide, 2.28 high. Carapace and chelicerae dark reddish brown, covered with whitish to yellowish setae. Sternum 1.27 long, 1.24 wide, widest between coxae of second legs, orange brown, sparsely covered with white setae. AME diameter 0.24, PME diameter 0.25, AME separation 0.22, PME separation 0.53, PME–PLE separation 0.92, ALE–PLE separation 0.03. Clypeus height 0.52. Appendages: palps orange. All leg segments uniformly orange. Leg I femur 2.70, patella 1.35, tibia 2.30, metatarsus 2.81, tarsus 1.05. Opisthosoma 3.76 long, 3.61 wide, 1.83 high. Base color of dorsum greenish brown, covered with dark brown spots and black amorphous areas, with several small, pointy tubercules on anterior half. Venter black with white spots. Palp as diagnosed (Fig. 7K–M).</p><p>Variation</p><p>Female total length 19.6–26.2, prosoma length 7.85–9.64. Base color of opisthosoma dorsum light brown to dark brown, with anterior tubercules from small to pronounced. Some individuals with light median band, others without or with light anterior speck (Figs 6G, 7A).</p><p>Distribution</p><p>Eastern Madagascar, known from Andasibe-Mantadia National Park (Toamasina Province), Ranomafana National Park (Fianarantsoa Province), and Marojejy National Park (Antsiranana Province).</p><p>Natural history</p><p>This species occurs in montane rainforests of eastern Madagascar. The web is typical of  Caerostris (Gregorič et al. 2011a), suspended at day and night. Several individuals have embolic plugs in copulatory openings (Kuntner et al. 2015), but never more than one per copulatory opening. Of the here investigated material, we observed mating in nature, where a male engaged in opportunistic mating (Kuntner &amp; Coddington 2020) with a freshly molted female.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D987C62735FFE0FDAB0768A1EAFC81	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Gregorič, Matjaž;Yu, Kuang-Ping;Velez, Winny Rojas;Garb, Jessica E.	Gregorič, Matjaž, Yu, Kuang-Ping, Velez, Winny Rojas, Garb, Jessica E. (2025): Caerostris (Araneidae: Araneae) cryptic diversity highlights the need for taxonomic expertise in the genomic era. European Journal of Taxonomy 989: 1-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.989.2877, URL: https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2877/13061
