Pasilobus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Classis: Arachnida
Ordo: Araneae
Subordo: Opisthothelae
Infraordo: Araneomorphae
Taxon: Neocribellatae
Series: Entelegynae
Superfamilia: Araneoidea

Familia: Araneidae
Subfamilia: Cyrtarachninae
Tribus: Cyrtarachnini
Genus: Pasilobus
Species: P. antongilensis – P. bufoninus – P. capuroni – P. conohumeralis – P. hupingensis – P. insignis – P. kotigeharus – P. laevis – P. lunatus – P. mammatus – P. mammosus – P. nigrohumeralis
Name

Pasilobus Simon, 1895

Type species: Pasilobus bufoninus (Simon, 1867)
References

Platnick, N. I. 2008. The World Spider Catalog, version 9.0. American Museum of Natural History. [1]

Pasilobus is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.[3]
Species

As of April 2019 it contains thirteen species from Asia and Africa:[1]

Pasilobus antongilensis Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar
Pasilobus bufoninus (Simon, 1867) (type) – Taiwan, Indonesia (Java, Moluccas)
Pasilobus capuroni Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar
Pasilobus conohumeralis (Hasselt, 1894) – Indonesia (Sumatra, Java)
Pasilobus dippenaarae Roff & Haddad, 2015 – South Africa
Pasilobus hupingensis Yin, Bao & Kim, 2001 – China, Japan
Pasilobus insignis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1908 – West Africa
Pasilobus kotigeharus Tikader, 1963 – India
Pasilobus laevis Lessert, 1930 – Congo
Pasilobus lunatus Simon, 1897 – Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi)
Pasilobus mammatus Pocock, 1898 – Solomon Is.
Pasilobus mammosus (Pocock, 1900) – West Africa
Pasilobus nigrohumeralis (Hasselt, 1882) – Indonesia (Sumatra)

Prey capture

Females of the genus Pasilobus construct "triangular spanning-thread webs". The webs have only two sectors, making them appear triangular. Widely spaced threads with sticky drops span the three radii of these webs. One end is attached in such a way that it readily breaks free. When a prey item is caught on one of these threads, the line parts at this end and the prey hangs from the web until it is hauled up by the spider.[4]
Cartoon showing Pasilobus web with prey swinging (dashed line)

The prey caught are almost entirely moths. Normal araneid orb webs are not effective at capturing moths, since their loose scales detach, allowing the moth to escape. Like other genera in the subfamily Cyrtarachninae s.l., Pasilobus species produce special sticky drops that adhere to moths. Some members of the subfamily have been shown to produce mimics of the sex pheromones that female moths emit to attract males, and it has been speculated that Pasilobus may do this as well.[5]
References

"Gen. Pasilobus Simon, 1895". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
Tanikawa, A.; Chang, Y.H. & Tso, I.M. (2006). "Identity of a Japanese spider species recorded as "Pasilobus bufoninus" (Araneae: Araneidae), with a description of the male considering the sequence of mtDNA". Acta Arachnologica. 55 (1): 45–49. doi:10.2476/asjaa.55.45.
Simon, E (1895). Histoire naturelle des araignées. Paris, Librairie encyclopédique de Roret. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
Tanikawa, Akio; Shinkai, Akira & Miyashita, Tadashi (2014). "Molecular Phylogeny of Moth-Specialized Spider Sub-Family Cyrtarachninae, which Includes Bolas Spiders". Zoological Science. 31 (11): 716–720. doi:10.2108/zs140034. PMID 25366153. S2CID 20031154.
Eberhard, W.G. (1980), "The natural history and behaviour of the bolas spider Mastophora dizzydeani sp.n. (Araneidae)" (PDF), Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 89 (3–4): 143–169, doi:10.1155/1980/81062, retrieved 2021-01-20