Kikimora palustris

Kikimora is a monotypic genus of dwarf spiders containing the single species, Kikimora palustris. It was first described by K. Y. Eskov in 1988,[2] and has only been found in Finland, Norway, and Russia.[1]

Kikimora palustris
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Linyphiidae
Genus: Kikimora
Eskov, 1988[1]
Species:
K. palustris
Binomial name
Kikimora palustris
Eskov, 1988

Derivation of name

When Eskov discovered this genus of sheetweaver spiders he used for it the name of the Russian bogeywoman (and personification of nightmare and sleep paralysis) Kikimora - specifically the type of Kikimora imagined to inhabit swamps (in further reference to the specific name palustris "of the marsh") and to be married to the forest-spirit Leshy.[3]

See also

References

  1. "Gen. Kikimora Eskov, 1988". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  2. Eskov, K. Y. (1988). "Seven new monotypic genera of spiders of the family Linyphiidae (Aranei) from Siberia". Zoologicheskiĭ Zhurnal. 67: 678–690.
  3. Sokolov, Yuriy M. (1971) [1950]. Russian Folklore. Translated by Smith, Catherine R. Detroit: Folklore Associates. pp. 26–404. ISBN 978-0-8103-5020-5.


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