Litter Crab Spider
The body of a typical Borboropactus appears rough and warty, but a microscope will reveal that the body is covered by densely packed setae of different shapes and sizes, interspersed with bumps bearing many tiny peg- or blade-like outgrowths. In resting position, legs I and II are always directed forward. Legs I of Borboropactus are particularly long and robust, with some segments flat (rather than cylindrical), when viewed from above. Each femur I carries a couple of short spines on its side. From above this gives the impression that the spiders are knock-kneed. The tibiae and metatarsi of legs I and II are each armed with 3–5 pairs of strong spines ventrally. The cymbium (cover of the male palp) is covered with a dense and even layer of short hairs resembling a brush.
| Length | ♀ 9 mm; ♂ 6 mm |
| Distribution | Singapore, Malaysia (Johor, Perak), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java), Philippines, Papua New Guinea. |
| Habitat | Among the litter layer of primary or mature secondary forests but they are sometimes seen at higher levels in the vegetation. |
| Biology | In the evening, the spider moves from its hiding place in forest litter to station itself at the foot of a small tree with its front legs outstretched, to intercept arthropods (including crickets) moving from the ground to the forest canopy. It can also walk underwater in forest streams, staying submerged for as long as 10 minutes. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Holotype
British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK; ♂ of Regillus divergens (Benjamin, 2011)
Holotype
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS), Beijing, China; ♂ (Ar9362) of Borboropactus hainanus (Benjamin, 2011)
Holotype
Zoological Museum of Moscow University (ZMMU), Moscow, Russia; ♂ of Borboropactus semenchenkoi (Omelko & Marusik, 2022a)
Holotype
; ♀ (lost) (Lehtinen, 2016)
Syntype
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (MNHN), Paris, France; 2♀ (5460/1572) of Borboropactus bituberculatus (Benjamin, 2011)
Thomisus cinerascens (Original description ♀)
Doleschall, 1859 Tweede Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 58, pl. 12, f. 4
Borboropactus bituberculatus (Original description ♀)
Simon, 1884e Description d'une nouvelle famille de l'ordre des Araneae (Bradystichidae): 301
Regillus cinerascens
Thorell, 1890d Arachnidi di Pinang raccolti nel 1889 dai Signori L: 318
Regillus cinerascens (Original description ♀)
Regillus bituberculatus
Simon, 1895a Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome premier: 1049, f doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973
Regillus divergens (Original description ♀)
Hogg, 1914a Spiders collected by the Wollaston and British Ornithological Union Expeditions in Dutch New Guinea: 57
Regillus divergens (♀)
Hogg, 1915a Report on the spiders collected by the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea: 461, f. 29
Borboropactus cinerascens (Transferred from Regillulus)
Roewer, 1955c Katalog der Araneae von 1758 bis 1940, bzw. 1954. 2. Band, Abt. a (Lycosaeformia, Dionycha [excl. Salticiformia]). 2. Band, Abt. b (Salticiformia, Cribellata) (Synonyma-Verzeichnis, Gesamtindex): 753
Borboropactus divergens (♀)
Chrysanthus, 1964 Spiders from south New Guinea VI: 89, f. 12-14
Borboropactus hainanus (Original description ♂)
Song, 1993 A new species of Thomisidae from China (Araneae): 89, f. 1a-c
Borboropactus hainanus (Original description ♀, misidentified per Tang & Li, 2010a: 17)
Song, 1994b On three species of crab spiders from Hainan, China: 119, f. 1A-E
Borboropactus umaasaeus (Original description ♂)
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia: 203, f. 117a-i
Borboropactus hainanus (♂♀)
Song & Zhu, 1997 Fauna Sinica: Arachnida: Araneae: Thomisidae, Philodromidae: 21, f. 8A-E, 9A-C
Borboropactus hainanus (♂♀)
Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999 The spiders of China: 480, f. 274G, 276J, 277I
Borboropactus hainanus (♂)
Wunderlich, 2004m The new spider (Araneae) family Borboropactidae from the tropics and fossil in Baltic amber: 1744, f. 3
Borboropactus cinerascens (mf, Synonym of Borboropactus bangkongeus [revalidated by Benjamin, 2024b: 268], B. mindoroensis and B. umaasaeus)
Benjamin et al., 2008 Family ties: molecular phylogeny of crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae): 722, f. 8A-E doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00202.x
Borboropactus hainanus (♀)
Wunderlich, 2008c On extant and fossil spiders (Araneae) of the RTA-clade in Eocene European ambers of the families Borboropactidae, Corinnidae, Selenopidae, Sparassidae, Trochanteriidae, Zoridae sl: 483, f. 23
Borboropactus hainanus (♂, D♀)
Tang & Li, 2010a Crab spiders from Hainan Island, China (Araneae, Thomisidae): 16, f. 11A-B, 12A-D, 13A-D, 14A-D doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2369.1.1
Borboropactus cinerascens (♂♀)
Benjamin, 2011 Phylogenetics and comparative morphology of crab spiders (Araneae: Dionycha, Thomisidae): 12, f. 18A-E doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3080.1.1
Borboropactus cinerascens (♀)
Marusik, Omelko & Benjamin, 2013 The first description of adult female of Borboropactus asper (O: 198, f. 9-10 doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3737.2.8
Borboropactus cinerascens (♀; ♂ f. 5a-b, d-g see Borboropactus bangkongeus)
Lehtinen, 2016 Significance of oriental taxa in phylogeny of crab spiders (Thomisidae s: 160, f. 5c
Borboropactus cinerascens (♀)
Machado & Teixeira, 2021 Phylogenetic relationships in Stephanopinae: systematics of Stephanopis and Sidymella based on morphological characters (Araneae: Thomisidae): 302, f. 12a, f, 13e, 18f doi:10.1007/s13127-020-00472-x
Borboropactus bituberculatus (♀)
Dash & Sivaperuman, 2021b New distributional report of Borboropactus bituberculatus Simon 1884 from Nicobar Islands, India: 5, f. 3a-f
Borboropactus semenchenkoi (Original description ♂)
Omelko & Marusik, 2022a A new species of the genus Borboropactus Simon, 1884 (Aranei: Thomisidae) from Borneo island, Malaysia: 28, f. 1-15 doi:10.25221/fee.459.2
Borboropactus cinerascens (♂♀, Synonym of Borboropactus bituberculatus and B. semenchenko)
Benjamin, 2024b A review of some crab spider species of the genus Borboropactus Simon, 1884 (Araneae: Thomisidae) with descriptions of two new species: 268, f. 1A-B, E, I-J, 2A-E, 3A-F, 4G-I, 5A-C, F doi:10.35929/RSZ.0125
* Retrieved from the World Spider Catalog.
Singapore, Malaysia (Johor, Perak), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java), Philippines, Papua New Guinea.