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Cocalus (spider)

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Cocalus
Adult male Cocalus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Spartaeinae
Genus: Cocalus
C. L. Koch, 1846[1]
Type species
C. concolor
C. L. Koch, 1846
Species

6, see text

Cocalus is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846, and is named after Cocalus, a Sicilian king of Greek mythology.[2]

At least one species, Cocalus gibbosus, does not adhere to spider silk and will sometimes invade the webs of other spiders and stalk across the webs to feed on them,[3] preferring spiders over insects in its diet.[4] However, unlike other araneophagic jumping spiders like Portia, Cocalus gibbosus does not pluck on the webs of other spiders.[3]

Species

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As of June 2019 it contains six species, found only in Asia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea:[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Gen. Cocalus C. L. Koch, 1846". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  2. ^ Koch, C. L. (1846). Die Arachniden.
  3. ^ a b Jackson, Robert R. (1990-10-01). "Predatory and nesting behaviour of Cocalus gibbosus, a spartaeine jumping spider (Araneae: Salticidae) from Queensland". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 17 (4): 483–490. doi:10.1080/03014223.1990.10422947. ISSN 0301-4223.
  4. ^ Jackson, Robert R. (2000-01-01). "Prey preferences and visual discrimination ability of Brettus, Cocalus and Cyrba, araneophagic jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from Australia, Kenya and Sri Lanka". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 27 (1): 29–39. doi:10.1080/03014223.2000.9518206. ISSN 0301-4223.