Stegodyphus

{{Short description|Genus of spiders}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Stegodyphus

| image = S.lineatus.jpg

| image_caption = Stegodyphus lineatus

| authority = Simon, 1873

| type_species = S. lineatus

| type_species_authority = (Latreille, 1817)

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = 20, see text

| synonyms =

• Magunia Lehtinen, 1967{{cite journal| last1=Kraus| first1=O.| last2=Kraus| first2=M.| year=1989| title=The genus Stegodyphus (Arachnida, Araneae). Sibling species, species groups, and parallel origin of social living| journal=Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg| volume=30| page=167}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Stegodyphus is a genus of velvet spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1873.{{cite journal| last=Simon| first=E.| year=1873| title=Etudes arachnologiques. 2e Mémoire. III. Note sur les espèces européennes de la famille des Eresidae.| journal=Annales de la Société Entomologique de France| pages=335–358| volume=3| issue=5}} They are distributed from Africa to Europe and Asia, with one species (S. manaus) found in Brazil. The name is derived from Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|στέγω}} (stegos), meaning "covered".

At least three species are social spiders,{{cite journal| last=Majer| first=M.| display-authors=etal| year=2013| title=Habitat productivity constrains the distribution of social spiders across continents – case study of the genus Stegodyphus| journal=Frontiers in Zoology| volume=10| issue=9| page=9| doi=10.1186/1742-9994-10-9| pmid=23433065| pmc=3599804| doi-access=free}} and several are known to use ballooning as a method of dispersal.{{cite journal| last=Schneider| first=J. M.| display-authors=etal| year=2001| url=http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v29_n1/arac_29_01_0114.pdf| title=Dispersal of Stegodyphus dumicola (Araneae, Eresidae): They do balloon after all!| journal=The Journal of Arachnology| volume=29| pages=114–16| doi=10.1636/0161-8202(2001)029[0114:DOSDAE]2.0.CO;2| s2cid=4707752}}