Linothele

Linothele is a genus of curtain web spiders that was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879.[3] All but one of the described species are from South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). The exception is L. septentrionalis from the far-away Bahamas, although it has certain features that suggest it may belong in another genus.[4] Additionally, an undescribed species of Linothele is known from Panama.[5]

Linothele
L. fallax
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Dipluridae
Genus:	Linothele Karsch, 1879[1]
Type species
L. curvitarsis Karsch, 1879
Species
63, see text
Synonyms[1][2]
Uruchus Simon, 1889

Linothele females are stouter and tend to be more conspicuously colored than males.[4] They make relatively complex webs that in most species are on or near the ground, mudbanks or rock walls (a few are arboreal), with females spending most of their life in a tunnel-like retreat. The male may wander and often inhabits a smaller web near a female's.[4] The webs of Linothele are commonly co-inhabited by tiny kleptoparasitic spiders of the genus Mysmenopsis.[4]