Diaea puncta

Spotted Diaea crab spider
	female
	male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Thomisidae
Genus:	Diaea
Species:	D. puncta
Binomial name
	Diaea puncta; Karsch, 1884
Synonyms
	Diaea pluripuncta Mello-Leitão, 1929 ;

Species of spider

Diaea puncta is a species of spider in the family Thomisidae.^[2] It is found throughout Africa and is commonly known as spotted Diaea crab spider.^[3]

Distribution

Diaea puncta is found widely throughout Africa. In southern Africa it is known from Lesotho, Eswatini and South Africa.^[2]

In South Africa, it is known from all the provinces.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

Diaea puncta inhabits all the floral biomes except the Desert Biome at altitudes ranging from 4 to 2020 m above sea level.^[3]

These free-living plant dwellers very commonly found on vegetation. The species was also sampled from crops including avocado, cotton, pistachio and strawberries.^[3]

Description

female
female
male

Conservation

Diaea puncta is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. It is protected in more than ten protected areas.^[3]

Taxonomy

Diaea puncta was described by Karsch in 1884 from Ilhéu das Rolas, an island in São Tomé. Mello-Leitão created the superfluous replacement name Diaea pluripuncta in 1929.^[2]

References

^ Karsch, F. (1884). "Arachnoidea". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Gesamten Naturwissenschaften zu Marburg. 2: 60–68.
^ a b c "Diaea puncta Karsch, 1884". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
^ a b c d e Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-Mo. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 22. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513274. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

External links

Citizen science observations for Diaea puncta at iNaturalist

[karsch1884-1] Karsch, F. (1884). "Arachnoidea". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Gesamten Naturwissenschaften zu Marburg. 2: 60–68.

[wsc-2] "Diaea puncta Karsch, 1884". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-10-01.

[dippenaar2020-3] Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-Mo. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 22. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513274. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.