Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Explanation of Names
Kaira altiventer O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889
Identification
"The epigynum of the female, unlike that of K. alba, has a flat, triangular, curved scape, the tip projecting anteriorly and, like K . alba but unlike others, no humps or tubercles on the posterior of the abdomen. The tiny male can be separated fro m others by having a palpus with only three or four long, black teeth on the distal end of the median apophysis and by the shape of the conductor, pointed and longest on the side of the dark terminal apophysis"
Range
southernmost TX (Hidalgo & Cameron Co.)
(1) to southern Brazil and northern Argentina.
Habitat
Both Texas specimens were found in low woody vegetation (shrubs or small trees). South American specimens have been collected from the forest canopy.
Remarks
One of the specimens examined by Levi, a female from Costa Rica, had been captured by a wasp of the species Trypargilum nitidum.
At least two individuals from Hidalgo County TX - one examined by Levi, the other photographed and posted here - have posterior tubercles on the abdomen that are apparently absent in specimens from further south
Print References
Levi, H.W. 1993.
The Orb-weaver genus Kaira (Araneae: Araneidae). The Journal of Arachnology 21: 209–225.
