Malabar Hermit Spider
In this species, mature females are more massive and at least 3.5 times longer than the males. The differences in the patterns and colourations between the juveniles and adults, and between mature males and females, are pictured on this page. Particularly noteworthy are the black patch on the male dorsum and the red patches on the female sternum and venter.
| Length | ♀ 16–20 mm; ♂ 4 mm. |
| Habitat | Neglected buildings, secondary forests and mangrove swamps. |
| Biology | Females build a modified orb web near the surfaces of tree trunks or old walls. Incorporated in each web is a tubular retreat into which the spider will escape when disturbed, inspiring the common name "hermit spider". |
| Type Locality | Malabar Coast, India. |
| Distribution | Widespread, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, India, China, Japan. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Holotype
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart (SMNS), Germany; type material of Nephilengys hofmanni L. Koch, 1872 destroyed 1944 (Renner, 1988b)
Epeira anama (Original description ♀)
Walckenaer, 1841 Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Tome deuxième: 102 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61095
Epeira malabarica (Original description ♀)
Doleschall, 1857 Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 420 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.66068
Epeira rhodosternon (Original description ♀)
Doleschall, 1859 Tweede Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 40, pl. 12, f. 6
Nephila rivulata (Original description ♂♀)
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871d Notes on some Arachnida collected by Cuthbert Collingwood, Esq: 618, pl. 49, f. 1-2
Nephilengys hofmanni (Original description ♀)
L. Koch, 1872a Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet [Erster Theil, Lieferung 3-7]: 145, pl. 11, f. 8 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.121660
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂)
Nephila urna (Original description ♂, provisional name)
van Hasselt, 1882 Araneae: 28, pl. 4, f. 12-14 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.119451
Nephilengys malabarensis (Synonym of Nephila urna)
Nephila malabarensis (♂)
Simon, 1894a Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome premier: 745, f. 827 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973
Nephila malabarensis (♀)
Bösenberg & Strand, 1906 Japanische Spinnen: 192, pl. 11, f. 216
Nephila malabarensis
Dahl, 1912a Seidenspinne und Spinneseide: 46, 49 doi:10.1002/mmnz.19120060101
Nephila malabarensis (♂)
Wiehle, 1967b Meta, – eine semientelegyne Gattung der Araneae (Arach: 195, f. 48
Metepeira andamanensis (Original description ♀)
Tikader, 1977a Studies on spider fauna of Andaman and Nicobar islands, Indian Ocean: 181, f. 12A-C
Nephila malabarensis (♀, Synonym of Metepeira andamanensis)
Tikader, 1982a Part 1: 95, f. 183-186
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂♀)
Davies, 1988b An illustrated guide to the genera of orb-weaving spiders in Australia: 296, f. 20
Nephila malabarensis (♂)
Millidge, 1988c The relatives of the Linyphiidae: phylogenetic problems at the family level (Araneae): 258, f. 24
Nephilengys niahensis (Original description ♀)
Deeleman-Reinhold, 1989a Spiders from Niah Cave, Sarawak, East Malaysia, collected by P: 626, f. 15-16 doi:10.5962/bhl.part.82051
Nephila malabarensis (♂♀)
Yin et al., 1990 New and newly recorded species of the spiders of family Araneidae from China (Arachnida, Araneae): 3, f. 6-9
Nephilengys malabarensis (♀)
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia: 565, f. 350a-c
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂♀)
Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999 The spiders of China: 217, f. 125F-I
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂♀)
Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 Fauna Sinica: Invertebrata Vol. 35: Arachnida: Araneae: Tetragnathidae: 85, f. 36A-H, 37A-D, pl. VE-H
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂♀, Synonym of Nephilengys niahensis)
Kuntner, 2007 A monograph of Nephilengys, the pantropical 'hermit spiders' (Araneae, Nephilidae, Nephilinae): 119, f. 22A-C, 23A-E, 24A-B doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2006.00348.x
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂)
Kuntner, Coddington & Hormiga, 2008 Phylogeny of extant nephilid orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae): testing morphological and ethological homologies: 167, f. 8H-I doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00176.x
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂)
Kuntner, Coddington & Schneider, 2009 Intersexual arms race? Genital coevolution in nephilid spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae): 1452, f. 1B doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00634.x
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂)
Kuntner et al., 2009 Mate plugging via genital mutilation in nephilid spiders: an evolutionary hypothesis: 258, f. 1d doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00533.x
Nephilengys malabarensis (♂♀)
Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga, 2011a Morphological and phylogenetic atlas of the orb-weaving spider family Tetragnathidae (Araneae: Araneoidea): 848, f. 135B, 136F, 138D, 139C, 140C doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00692.x
Widespread, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, India, China, Japan.