Levi's Orb-weavers

Leviaraneus Tanikawa & Petcharad, 2023

Type species: Araneus viridiventris Yaginuma in Ohno & Yaginuma 1969

Fauna Portal Genus Number: 3341

(after Tanikawa & Petcharad 2023): Leviaraneus differs from Aoaraneus and Bijoaraneus in the following characteristics: (1) female abdomen is as long as wide or is slightly wider than long vs. longer than wide; (2) male palpal patella with one macroseta vs. two macrosetae; (3) embolus filiform, long, and S-shaped vs. short and
stout; (4) without ventral hook of male coxa I and dorsal groove of femur II vs. both exist. Leviaraneus differs from Eriovixia in the following characteristics: (1) male palpal patella with one macroseta vs. none; (2) embolus filiform and long vs. spiniform and short; (3) median fovea of male carapace I-shaped longitudinal line vs. T- or Y-shaped; (4) median
ocular area wider in front than behind vs. almost as wide as long.

Within an Australian context, species in this genus superficially resemble those in Cyrtarachne due to the triangular, shiny abdomen, but there is not extreme sexual size dimorphism in Leviaraneus and the pedipalp has a morphology more similar to traditional Araneinae. Representatives of this genus, that also occurs in South-east Asia, were not included in Scharff et al.'s (2020) araneid phylogenetic study and therefore systematic relationships remain unresolved.