Parawixia

Parawaixia
Parawixia dehaani in Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Parawixia F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904
Species
Parawixia Acapulco Levi, 1992 Parawixia audax (Blackwall, 1863) Parawixia barbacoas Levi, 1992 Parawixia bistriata (Rengger, 1836) Parawixia casa Levi, 1992 Parawixia Chubut Levi, 2001 Parawixia dehaani (Doleschall, 1859) Parawixia destricta (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) Parawixia divisoria Levi, 1992 Parawixia guatemalensis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) Parawixia honesta (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899) Parawixia hoxaea (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) Parawixia hypocrite (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) Parawixia inopinata Camargo, 1950 Parawixia kochi (Taczanowski, 1873) Parawixia Maldonado Levi, 1992 Parawixia matiapa Levi, 1992 Parawixia monticola Keyserling, 1892) Parawixia nesophila Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 Parawixia ouro Levi, 1992 Parawixia porvenir Levi, 1992 Parawixia rigida (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) Parawixia rimosa (Keyserling, 1892) Parawixia tarapoa Levi, 1992 Parawixia tomba Levi, 1992 Parawixia tredecimnotata F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 Parawixia undulate (Keyserling, 1892) Parawixia velutina (Taczanowski, 1878)

Parawixia is a genus of orb web weaving spiders from the family Araneidae. Most species of Parawixia are found in the Neotropics but one species, Parawixia dehaani is found in Australasia and tropical Asia as far west as India.

Natural History

Parawixia audax is one of the better known species and it makes a loose, large web placing itself in the hub, head down, or in a retreat creasted from a rolled-leaf. These are places 1-2 m above the ground but most species probably live in the canopy and so are rarely collected. Parawixia bistriata is known to be social and makes its webs fairly high up, frequently on telephone poles. All the individuals in a colony are of the same age and size and during the day they share a retreat in which they cluster together.