Scotophaeus

Scotophaeus
Scotophaeus blackwalli
female S. natalensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Gnaphosidae
Genus:	Scotophaeus Simon, 1893[1]
Type species
S. quadripunctatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Species
61, see text

Scotophaeus is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.^[2]

Species

• 
  female S. quadripunctatus
• 
  S. relegatus
• 
  male S. scutulatus

As of September 2025^[update], this genus includes 61 species and two subspecies:^[1]

• Scotophaeus aculeatus Simon, 1914 – France
• Scotophaeus affinis Caporiacco, 1949 – Kenya
• Scotophaeus afghanicus Roewer, 1961 – Afghanistan
• Scotophaeus anahita Zamani, Chatzaki, Esyunin & Marusik, 2021 – Iran
• Scotophaeus arboricola Jézéquel, 1965 – Ivory Coast
• Scotophaeus bharatae Gajbe, 1989 – India
• Scotophaeus bifidus Schmidt & Krause, 1994 – Cape Verde
• Scotophaeus blackwalli (Thorell, 1871) – Europe, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran. Introduced to North America, Peru, Hawaii
  • Scotophaeus blackwalli isabellinus (Simon, 1873) – France (Corsica), Italy, Croatia
  • Scotophaeus blackwalli politus (Simon, 1878) – France
• Scotophaeus brolemanni Simon, 1914 – France
• Scotophaeus cecileae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
• Scotophaeus correntinus Mello-Leitão, 1945 – Argentina
• Scotophaeus crinitus Jézéquel, 1965 – Ivory Coast
• Scotophaeus dolanskyi Lissner, 2017 – Portugal, Spain, Morocco
• Scotophaeus domesticus Tikader, 1962 – India
• Scotophaeus elburzensis Zamani, Chatzaki, Esyunin & Marusik, 2021 – Iran
• Scotophaeus fabrisae Caporiacco, 1950 – Italy
• Scotophaeus faisalabadiensis Ghafoor & Beg, 2002 – Pakistan
• Scotophaeus goaensis (Tikader, 1982) – India
• Scotophaeus gridellii Caporiacco, 1928 – Canary Islands
• Scotophaeus hierro Schmidt, 1977 – Canary Islands
• Scotophaeus hunan Zhang, Song & Zhu, 2003 – China, Japan
• Scotophaeus insularis Berland, 1936 – Cape Verde, Greece
• Scotophaeus jacksoni Berland, 1936 – Cape Verde
• Scotophaeus jinlin Song, Zhu & Zhang, 2004 – China
• Scotophaeus kalimpongensis Gajbe, 1992 – India
• Scotophaeus lamperti Strand, 1906 – Namibia
• Scotophaeus lindbergi Roewer, 1961 – Afghanistan
• Scotophaeus madalasae Tikader & Gajbe, 1977 – India
• Scotophaeus marleyi Tucker, 1923 – South Africa
• Scotophaeus mauckneri Schmidt, 1956 – Canary Islands
• Scotophaeus merkaricola Strand, 1907 – India
• Scotophaeus meruensis Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa
• Scotophaeus microdon Caporiacco, 1933 – Libya
• Scotophaeus musculus (Simon, 1878) – Salvages, Madeira, France
• Scotophaeus nanoides Wunderlich, 2011 – Portugal, Spain, Morocco
• Scotophaeus nanus Wunderlich, 1995 – Switzerland, Austria
• Scotophaeus natalensis Lawrence, 1938 – Zimbabwe, South Africa
• Scotophaeus nigrosegmentatus (Simon, 1895) – Pakistan (Karakorum), Mongolia
• Scotophaeus nyrensis Simon, 1909 – East Africa
• Scotophaeus peninsularis Roewer, 1928 – Bulgaria, Greece (incl. Crete), Cyprus, Israel
• Scotophaeus poonaensis Tikader, 1982 – India
• Scotophaeus pregoensis Wunderlich, 2023 – Portugal
• Scotophaeus pretiosus (L. Koch, 1873) – New Zealand
• Scotophaeus purcelli Tucker, 1923 – South Africa
• Scotophaeus quadripunctatus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe, Russia (Caucasus) (type species)
• Scotophaeus rajasthanus Tikader, 1966 – India
• Scotophaeus rebellatus (Simon, 1880) – China
• Scotophaeus regularis Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa
• Scotophaeus relegatus Purcell, 1907 – Namibia, South Africa
• Scotophaeus retusus (Simon, 1878) – France
• Scotophaeus rufescens (Kroneberg, 1875) – Central Asia
• Scotophaeus schenkeli Caporiacco, 1949 – Kenya
• Scotophaeus scutulatus (L. Koch, 1866) – Europe, Algeria, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Iran, Central Asia
• Scotophaeus semitectus (Simon, 1886) – Senegal
• Scotophaeus simlaensis Tikader, 1982 – India, China
• Scotophaeus strandi Caporiacco, 1940 – Ethiopia
• Scotophaeus tubicola Schmidt, 1990 – Canary Islands
• Scotophaeus typhlus Schmidt & Piepho, 1994 – Cape Verde Is.
• Scotophaeus validus (Lucas, 1846) – Southern Europe, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
• Scotophaeus westringi Simon, 1914 – France
• Scotophaeus xizang Zhang, Song & Zhu, 2003 – India, China

References

1. "Genus Scotophaeus". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
2. Simon, E. (1893). Histoire naturelle das araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.

External links

• Citizen science observations for Scotophaeus at iNaturalist