Carparachne

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Arthropoda > Arachnomorpha > Cheliceriformes > Chelicerata > Euchelicerata > Arachnida > Araneae > Araneomorpha > Family: Sparassidae (huntsman spiders)

Two species, endemic to dunes of the southern Namib Desert in Namibia.

Species native to southern Africa

Carparachne alba Bigger than Carparachne aureoflava (body length 24 mm) and white in colour.
Carparachne aureoflava (Wheeling spider) Smaller than Carparachne alba (body length 18 mm). Known as the Wheeling spider due to its habit of folding its legs and cart wheeling down sand dunes to escape predatory spider-hunting wasps.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to dunes of the southern Namib Desert.

Derivation of name

In honour of Bernard Carp, who according to www.britishmuseum.org, was a South African scientist/naturalist who financed ornithological expeditions in southern Africa in the 1950's (born 1901, died 1966). The Greek arachne means spider.

Text by Norman Larsen ©