Thomisidae Pharta

Pharta sp. "Decorated Carapace"

Decorated Carapace Crab Spider

The genus Pharta was established in 1891 by the Swedish arachnologist Tord Thorell to accommodate a juvenile female specimen collected in Singapore by an Irish businessman Thomas Workman in the 19th century. Thorell noted that unlike most other thomisids, the margins of the chelicerae are toothed. Only a few clusters of thomisids have such teeth on their chelicerae.

Since then, several other species of Pharta have been recorded tropical Asia, including an additional species (probably new to science) in Singapore. Apart from having a palpal structure different from that of P. bimaculata, the male of this species has a more elaborate pattern of specks and streaks on the carapace. and a pair of more distinct transverse bars on the abdomen.