Spartaeus
| Spartaeus | |
|---|---|
| S. zhangi from Hong Kong | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Spartaeinae |
| Genus: | Spartaeus Thorell, 1891 |
| Type species | |
| S. spinimanus (Thorell, 1878)
| |
| Species | |
|
19, see text | |
Spartaeus is a genus of Asian jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1891. These spiders build large sheet webs on tree trunks to capture prey, mostly moths. When walking, they wave their palps and legs in an unusual way.
The genus was renamed from Boethus in 1984 because the name was found to be preoccupied. It is named after the son of the Rhodian nymph Himalia and Zeus in Greek mythology.