---
title: "Cape Rainspider"
description: "Palystes castaneus — Insetti e ragni. Palystes castaneus is a species of huntsman spider found in parts of South Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/cape-rainspider
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Cape Rainspider

> Palystes castaneus — Insetti e ragni. Palystes castaneus is a species of huntsman spider found in parts of South Africa.

- Scientific name: *Palystes castaneus*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 828
- Wikidata: [Q2395890](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2395890)
- iNaturalist taxon: [625228](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/625228)

## Names

- en: Cape Rainspider

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (409)

## Summary

Palystes castaneus is a species of huntsman spider found in parts of South Africa. It is common from Cape Town to Heidelberg, Western Cape, especially in forested areas. In scrub outside forested areas, it is replaced by Palystes superciliosus. It occurs mainly on plants, where it hunts insects. It has a body length of 17–22 mm. P. castaneus is the type species for the genus Palystes, and was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1819.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palystes_castaneus

## Photo

![Cape Rainspider](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/cape-rainspider/medium.jpg)

Photo: David Rosenthal · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173646035

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/cape-rainspider?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).