Nops is a genus of medium-sized South American, Central American, and Caribbean spiders in the family Caponiidae, first described by Alexander Macleay in 1839.[2] It has a great richness on the Caribbean islands, and most mainland species are located in high proportion toward the Caribbean coast. It likely has a neotropical distribution, though most species of South America are known only from the coast of Colombia and Venezuela, including the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Trinidad.[1]
Nops have subsegmeted tarsi, as well as two other leg characters often found in nopine genera: a ventral translucent keel on the anterior metatarsi and a translucent membrane between the anterior metatarsi and tarsi. These spiders can be distinguished from similar genera with these modifications by their elongated unpaired claw on the anterior legs, extending dorsally between the paired claws.[3][4][5][6]
As of April 2019 it contains thirty-eight species plus one fossil in Dominican amber:[7][1]
Nops craneae Chickering, carapace
Nops enae Sánchez-Ruiz
Nops guanabacoae MacLeay, female with egg sac
Nops guanabacoae MacLeay, male
Nops guanabacoae MacLeay, claws on leg I
Nops guanabacoae MacLeay, tarso of leg I
Nops siboney Sánchez-Ruiz, ventral view
Nops is a genus of medium-sized South American, Central American, and Caribbean spiders in the family Caponiidae, first described by Alexander Macleay in 1839. It has a great richness on the Caribbean islands, and most mainland species are located in high proportion toward the Caribbean coast. It likely has a neotropical distribution, though most species of South America are known only from the coast of Colombia and Venezuela, including the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Trinidad.
