Diaea is a genus of crab spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869. Most species are found in specific locations except for D. livens, which occurs in the United States and D. dorsata, which has a palearctic distribution. Adults are to and tend to hide in and around vegetation, especially flowers, where their color allows them to blend in to their surroundings.
Life style
They are found on trees, shrubs and grasses and very commonly sampled beating and sweeping vegetation.
Description
Females and males are 4 to 5 mm in total length, with males more slender than females and their legs longer.
The carapace can be white, yellow or green, sometimes darker around the eye region, with smooth integument bearing simple, isolated setae. The carapace is moderately convex above and armed with long setae. The lateral eyes are on tubercles. Both eye rows are recurved and almost the same length. The posterior median eyes are closer to each other than to posterior lateral eyes.
The abdomen is round in females and oval in males, white, yellow or green, and usually decorated with darker spots or markings. The legs are thin and slender, usually the same colour as the carapace, and sometimes banded.
Species
, this genus includes 46 species:
- Diaea albicincta <small>, 1883</small> â Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa
- Diaea albolimbata <small>L. Koch, 1875</small> â New Zealand
- Diaea ambara <small>(Urquhart, 1885)</small> â New Zealand
- Diaea bengalensis <small>Biswas & Mazumder, 1981</small> â India
- Diaea bipunctata <small>Rainbow, 1902</small> â Vanuatu
- Diaea carangali <small>Barrion & , 1995</small> â Philippines
- Diaea delata <small>Karsch, 1880</small> â Angola
- Diaea doleschalli <small>Hogg, 1915</small> â Indonesia (New Guinea)
- Diaea dorsata <small>(Fabricius, 1777)</small> â Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Middle Siberia), Iran (type species)
- Diaea erji <small>Chen, Liu & Hu, 2025</small> â China
- Diaea giltayi <small>Roewer, 1938</small> â Indonesia (New Guinea)
- Diaea graphica <small>Simon, 1882</small> â Yemen
- Diaea gyoja <small>Ono, 1985</small> â Russia (Far East), Japan
- Diaea implicata <small>, 1966</small> â Ivory Coast
- Diaea insignis <small>Thorell, 1877</small> â Indonesia (Sulawesi)
- Diaea limbata <small>KulczyÃ
Âski, 1911</small> â Indonesia (New Guinea)
- Diaea livens <small>Simon, 1876</small> â Southern and Central Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Iran. Introduced to United States
- Diaea longisetosa <small>Roewer, 1961</small> â Senegal, South Africa
- Diaea mikhailovi <small>Zhang, Song & Zhu, 2004</small> â China
- Diaea mutabilis <small>KulczyÃ
Âski, 1901</small> â Ethiopia
- Diaea nakajimai <small>Ono, 1993</small> â Madagascar
- Diaea ocellata <small>Rainbow, 1898</small> â Papua New Guinea
- Diaea osmanii <small>Zamani & Marusik, 2017</small> â Iran
- Diaea papuana <small>KulczyÃ
Âski, 1911</small> â Indonesia (New Guinea)
- Diaea placata <small>O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899</small> â Sri Lanka
- Diaea pougneti <small>Simon, 1886</small> â India
- Diaea proclivis <small>Simon, 1903</small> â Equatorial Guinea
- Diaea puncta <small>Karsch, 1884</small> â Sub-Saharan Africa
- Diaea rohani <small>Fage, 1923</small> â Angola, South Africa
- Diaea rufoannulata <small>Simon, 1880</small> â New Caledonia
- Diaea semilutea <small>Simon, 1903</small> â Equatorial Guinea
- Diaea seminola <small>Gertsch, 1939</small> â United States
- Diaea septempunctata <small>L. Koch, 1874</small> â Tonga, Papua New Guinea?
- Diaea shirleyi <small>Hogg, 1922</small> â Vietnam
- Diaea sphaeroides <small>(Urquhart, 1885)</small> â New Zealand
- Diaea spiniformis <small>(Yang, Zhu & Song, 2006)</small> â China
- Diaea spinosa <small>Keyserling, 1880</small> â Colombia
- Diaea subdola <small>O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885</small> â Pakistan, India, China, Russia (Far East), Korea, Japan
- Diaea suspiciosa <small>O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885</small> â Central Asia, Mongolia, China, India?
- Diaea tadtadtinika <small>Barrion & Litsinger, 1995</small> â Philippines
- Diaea taibeli <small>Caporiacco, 1949</small> â Kenya
- Diaea terrena <small>Dyal, 1935</small> â Pakistan
- Diaea tianpingensis <small>Liu, Zhang & Chen, 2021</small> â China
- Diaea tongatabuensis <small>Strand, 1913</small> â Polynesia
- Diaea viridipes <small>Strand, 1909</small> â South Africa
- Diaea zonura <small>Thorell, 1892</small> â Indonesia (Sumatra, Java)
References