SPIDER BITES
Most spider bites cause only minor injury.
Bites from a few spider species can be dangerous.
Seek medical care immediately if :
Bites from a few spider species can be dangerous.
Seek medical care immediately if :
- You were bitten by a dangerous spider, such as a black widow or a brown recluse..
- If you're unsure whether the bite was from a dangerous spider..
- Seek medical care immediately if :
- You have severe pain, abdominal cramping or a growing wound at the bite site.
- You're having problems breathing or swallowing.
- The area of the sore has spreading redness or red streaks.
- To take care of a spider bite:
- Clean the wound with mild soap and water. Then apply an antibiotic ointment three times a day to help prevent infection.
- Apply a cool compress over the bite for 15 minutes each hour. Use a clean cloth dampened with water or filled with ice. This helps reduce pain and swelling.If possible, elevate the affected area.
- Take an over-the-counter pain reliever as needed.
- If the wound is itchy, an antihistamine, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or certirizine (Zyrtec) might help.
- For pain and muscle spasms, your doctor might prescribe pain medicine, muscle relaxants or both. You might also need a tetanus shot.
Spider webs.
The guardian.com
A cape made from the silk of 1.2m Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian.
A cape made from the silk of 1.2m Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian.
Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years. Many spiders build webs specifically to trap and catch insects to eat. However, not all spiders catch their prey in webs, and some do not build webs at all.
The term "spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e., clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to a seemingly abandoned (i.e., dusty) web.
Spiders make their webs from silk, a natural fibre made of protein, not only does spider silk combine the useful properties of high tensile strength and extensibility, it can be beautiful in its own right.
There are seven different silk glands, which produce silk with different characteristics and uses. For example cribellate silk is very woolly, cribellate silk acts like Velcro, sticking to the legs and bristles of captured insects.
Each type of silk gland is associated with a particular spinneret. No species has all seven, but orb-web weavers have five.
Spiders have structures called spinnerets on their abdomen, usually on the underside to the rear. These are the silk-spinning organs. Different species have different numbers of spinnerets, but most have a cluster.
At the end of each spinneret is a collection of spigots, nozzle-like structures. A single silk thread comes out of each.
A spider web or cobweb is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.
However, the word "cobweb" is also used by biologists to describe the tangled three-dimensional web of some spiders of the family Theridiidae. While this large family is known as the cobweb spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures, other names for this spider family include tangle-web spiders and comb-footed spiders.
Spiders produce silk from their spinneret glands located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose, for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey or fine silk for wrapping it.
Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to eight different silks during their lifetime.
Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down, making it an efficient method of gathering food but the fact that constructing the web is in itself energetically costly, due to the large amount of protein required in the form of silk.
In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and thus become inefficient at capturing prey. It is common for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. Through ingestion and digestion, the silk proteins are thus recycled.
Some spiders use their webs for hearing, where the giant webs function as extended and reconfigurable auditory sensors.
Some species of spider do not use webs for capturing prey directly, instead pouncing from concealment (e.g. trapdoor spiders) or running them down in open chase (e.g. wolf spiders).
The net-casting spider balances the two methods of running and web spinning in its feeding habits. This spider weaves a small net which it attaches to its front legs. It then lurks in wait for potential prey, when such prey arrives the spider lunges forward to wrap its victim in the net, bite and paralyze it, hence this spider expends less energy catching prey than a primitive hunter such as the wolf spider. It also avoids the energy loss of weaving a large orb web.
Some spiders spin threads of silk to catch the wind and then sail on the wind to a new location and some spiders manage to use the signaling-snare technique of a web without spinning a web at all.
Several types of water-dwelling spiders rest their feet on the water's surface in much the same manner as an orb-web user. When an insect falls onto the water and is ensnared by surface tension, the spider can detect the vibrations and run out to capture the prey.
The stickiness of spiders' webs is due to droplets of glue suspended on the silk threads.
Orb-weaver spiders, e.g. Larinioides cornutus, coat their threads with a hygroscopic aggregate. The glue's moisture absorbing properties use environmental humidity to keep the capture silk soft and tacky. The glue balls are multifunctional, that is, their behavior depends on how quickly something touching a glue ball attempts to withdraw.
Neurotoxins have been detected in the glue balls of some spider webs. Presumably these toxins help immobilize prey, but their function could also be antimicrobial, or protection from ants or other animals that steal from the webs or might attack the spider.
At high velocities, they function as an elastic solid, resembling rubber, at lower velocities, they simply act as a sticky glue. This allows them to retain a grip on attached food particles.
Spider web is electrically conductive which causes the silk threads to spring out to trap their quarry, as flying insects tend to gain a static charge which attracts the silk.
Silk is an amazing material. Golden silk orb-weavers, which are found in warm regions around the world but not the UK spin webs with a lovely golden sheen. Their silk has even been used to create a shimmering golden cape that was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2012.
The term "spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e., clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to a seemingly abandoned (i.e., dusty) web.
Spiders make their webs from silk, a natural fibre made of protein, not only does spider silk combine the useful properties of high tensile strength and extensibility, it can be beautiful in its own right.
There are seven different silk glands, which produce silk with different characteristics and uses. For example cribellate silk is very woolly, cribellate silk acts like Velcro, sticking to the legs and bristles of captured insects.
Each type of silk gland is associated with a particular spinneret. No species has all seven, but orb-web weavers have five.
Spiders have structures called spinnerets on their abdomen, usually on the underside to the rear. These are the silk-spinning organs. Different species have different numbers of spinnerets, but most have a cluster.
At the end of each spinneret is a collection of spigots, nozzle-like structures. A single silk thread comes out of each.
A spider web or cobweb is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.
However, the word "cobweb" is also used by biologists to describe the tangled three-dimensional web of some spiders of the family Theridiidae. While this large family is known as the cobweb spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures, other names for this spider family include tangle-web spiders and comb-footed spiders.
Spiders produce silk from their spinneret glands located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose, for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey or fine silk for wrapping it.
Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to eight different silks during their lifetime.
Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down, making it an efficient method of gathering food but the fact that constructing the web is in itself energetically costly, due to the large amount of protein required in the form of silk.
In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and thus become inefficient at capturing prey. It is common for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. Through ingestion and digestion, the silk proteins are thus recycled.
Some spiders use their webs for hearing, where the giant webs function as extended and reconfigurable auditory sensors.
Some species of spider do not use webs for capturing prey directly, instead pouncing from concealment (e.g. trapdoor spiders) or running them down in open chase (e.g. wolf spiders).
The net-casting spider balances the two methods of running and web spinning in its feeding habits. This spider weaves a small net which it attaches to its front legs. It then lurks in wait for potential prey, when such prey arrives the spider lunges forward to wrap its victim in the net, bite and paralyze it, hence this spider expends less energy catching prey than a primitive hunter such as the wolf spider. It also avoids the energy loss of weaving a large orb web.
Some spiders spin threads of silk to catch the wind and then sail on the wind to a new location and some spiders manage to use the signaling-snare technique of a web without spinning a web at all.
Several types of water-dwelling spiders rest their feet on the water's surface in much the same manner as an orb-web user. When an insect falls onto the water and is ensnared by surface tension, the spider can detect the vibrations and run out to capture the prey.
The stickiness of spiders' webs is due to droplets of glue suspended on the silk threads.
Orb-weaver spiders, e.g. Larinioides cornutus, coat their threads with a hygroscopic aggregate. The glue's moisture absorbing properties use environmental humidity to keep the capture silk soft and tacky. The glue balls are multifunctional, that is, their behavior depends on how quickly something touching a glue ball attempts to withdraw.
Neurotoxins have been detected in the glue balls of some spider webs. Presumably these toxins help immobilize prey, but their function could also be antimicrobial, or protection from ants or other animals that steal from the webs or might attack the spider.
At high velocities, they function as an elastic solid, resembling rubber, at lower velocities, they simply act as a sticky glue. This allows them to retain a grip on attached food particles.
Spider web is electrically conductive which causes the silk threads to spring out to trap their quarry, as flying insects tend to gain a static charge which attracts the silk.
Silk is an amazing material. Golden silk orb-weavers, which are found in warm regions around the world but not the UK spin webs with a lovely golden sheen. Their silk has even been used to create a shimmering golden cape that was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2012.
The guardian.com
A cape made from the silk of 1.2m Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian.
A cape made from the silk of 1.2m Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian.
A models displays the golden cape, made from the silk of more than a million female Golden Orb Weaver spiders collected in the highlands of Madagascar.
The hand-woven textiles are naturally golden in colour and took eight years to create. The cape was made by Simon Peers, an Englishman who has lived in Madagascar for more than 20 years and Nicholas Godley, an American who has also worked for many years in Madagascar.
Inspired by 19th-century accounts and illustrations, Peers and Godley started experimenting with spider silk in 2004 to see if they could revive this forgotten art.
To create the textiles, spiders are collected each morning and harnessed in specially conceived silking contraptions. Trained handlers extract the silk from 24 spiders at a time. The spiders are returned to the wild at the end of each day.
It has taken 1.2m spiders to provide the silk for the brocaded textile and 80 people to collect them.
After silking, the silk was taken on cones to a silk weaving workshop where skilled weavers have mastered the special tensile properties of the silk.
In the cape, the main weave is of 96 strands, the lining 48 strands and a large part of the embroidery is made using unspun 24 strand silk.
On average, 23,000 spiders yield around one ounce of silk. It is a highly labour-intensive undertaking, making these textiles extraordinarily rare and precious objects.
The hand-woven textiles are naturally golden in colour and took eight years to create. The cape was made by Simon Peers, an Englishman who has lived in Madagascar for more than 20 years and Nicholas Godley, an American who has also worked for many years in Madagascar.
Inspired by 19th-century accounts and illustrations, Peers and Godley started experimenting with spider silk in 2004 to see if they could revive this forgotten art.
To create the textiles, spiders are collected each morning and harnessed in specially conceived silking contraptions. Trained handlers extract the silk from 24 spiders at a time. The spiders are returned to the wild at the end of each day.
It has taken 1.2m spiders to provide the silk for the brocaded textile and 80 people to collect them.
After silking, the silk was taken on cones to a silk weaving workshop where skilled weavers have mastered the special tensile properties of the silk.
In the cape, the main weave is of 96 strands, the lining 48 strands and a large part of the embroidery is made using unspun 24 strand silk.
On average, 23,000 spiders yield around one ounce of silk. It is a highly labour-intensive undertaking, making these textiles extraordinarily rare and precious objects.
Liocheles australasiae
dwarf wood scorpion
dwarf wood scorpion
Scorpions are arthropods that are related to spiders. Scorpions are not considered poisonous, however, all species are venomous to some extent.
This means that they contain venom in their tail which they inject when they sting someone.
The venom of a scorpion is a toxic substance that directly affects the nerves or blood cells. The exact type and potency of the venom vary depending on the specific species of scorpion.
Scorpions can be deadly but not all species are dangerous to humans. In many cases, the venom may not be dangerous for people.
The most dangerous scorpions are in the two scorpion families: Scorpionidae and Buthidae. They are responsible for almost all cases of human injury.
Although Scorpionidae looks more intimidating since they have larger pincers, it is actually the Buthidae that are more venomous, even deadly at times.
The Buthidae have smaller pincers and a thicker tail than the Scorpionidae but the venom they produce is much stronger.
Many scorpions do not kill humans when they sting them but the sting can cause pain and swelling. Another concern is the possibility of an allergic reaction that can even lead to anaphylaxis.
The sting of any scorpion could cause anaphylaxis in vulnerable individuals. Anaphylaxis can quickly cause death, so it is best to rather avoid direct contact with scorpions. Even if you have never before had a dangerous allergic reaction it can still happen with any type of sting.
Scorpions are basically shy creatures, aggressive only towards their prey. They will not sting humans unless they are handled, stepped on, or otherwise bothered.
For most people, a scorpion sting is slightly more painful than a bee or wasp sting. The venom can produce considerable pain around the area of the sting, but swelling is generally limited.
In some people, sensations of numbness and tingling may develop in the area of the sting for four to six hours. After this time, the symptoms start to regress and will normally disappear within 24 hours.
A scorpion sting can be treated at home without having to go to a hospital or physician. However, in the case of young children or hypersensitive individuals, medical attention should be sought immediately.
When a scorpion stings, the area of the sting will hurt and may get swollen or red, depending on the type of scorpion. More severe reactions from the venom involving other parts of the body also can happen.
Anyone who is stung by a scorpion should get medical care right away. That’s because it’s hard to tell a dangerous scorpion from a harmless one.
Most people will not get any serious symptoms. If they do occur, they will start in the first 2-3 hours after the sting.
First signs of a serious sting can be muscle twitching or rapid eye movements. Pain, tingling and numbness can also spread to all the arms and legs.
Management and Treatment
• Clean the site of the sting with soap and water.
• Apply ice or a cold compress to the area.
• Elevate the area so it's at the same level as your heart.
• Use an antihistamine or corticosteroid on the affected area.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen to reduce the pain.
Hormuridae is a family of scorpions in the order Scorpiones. There are about 10 genera and more than 90 described species in Hormuridae.
Liocheles is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Hormuridae.
Liocheles australasiae, the dwarf wood scorpion, is a species of scorpion belonging to the family
Hormuridae.
This species is present in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Yaeyama Islands (Japan), China,
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Mariana Islands, Indonesia, Australia,
Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and French Polynesia.
This small scorpion has the total length of 22 to 36 mm. Patella of pedipalps with 3 ventral trichobothria.
Body uniformly reddish to yellowish brown. Telson yellow. Median and three lateral pigmented eyes present, which are not troglobitic.
Chelicerae are yellowish brown, and reticulated. Carapace without carinae. but punctate and bears a straight median longitudinal groove. There are 4 to 8 pectinal teeth.
Metasomal segments are sparsely setose and finely punctate. Pedipalps also covered by granules. Ventrum of pedipalp is punctate. In males, the fingers of chela are conspicuously flexed.
Most of the populations are parthenogenetic, where they can produce young without males. In Sri Lanka, three females were discovered from Bentota, Galle, without a male, but all specimens were females or juveniles. Specimens are observed inside a stone wall and under old bark of branches and also in dry leaves and under the flower pots in home garden.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Scorpiones
Family : Hormuridae
Genus : Liocheles
Species : L. australasiae
Binomial name Liocheles australasiae
(Fabricius, 1775)
This means that they contain venom in their tail which they inject when they sting someone.
The venom of a scorpion is a toxic substance that directly affects the nerves or blood cells. The exact type and potency of the venom vary depending on the specific species of scorpion.
Scorpions can be deadly but not all species are dangerous to humans. In many cases, the venom may not be dangerous for people.
The most dangerous scorpions are in the two scorpion families: Scorpionidae and Buthidae. They are responsible for almost all cases of human injury.
Although Scorpionidae looks more intimidating since they have larger pincers, it is actually the Buthidae that are more venomous, even deadly at times.
The Buthidae have smaller pincers and a thicker tail than the Scorpionidae but the venom they produce is much stronger.
Many scorpions do not kill humans when they sting them but the sting can cause pain and swelling. Another concern is the possibility of an allergic reaction that can even lead to anaphylaxis.
The sting of any scorpion could cause anaphylaxis in vulnerable individuals. Anaphylaxis can quickly cause death, so it is best to rather avoid direct contact with scorpions. Even if you have never before had a dangerous allergic reaction it can still happen with any type of sting.
Scorpions are basically shy creatures, aggressive only towards their prey. They will not sting humans unless they are handled, stepped on, or otherwise bothered.
For most people, a scorpion sting is slightly more painful than a bee or wasp sting. The venom can produce considerable pain around the area of the sting, but swelling is generally limited.
In some people, sensations of numbness and tingling may develop in the area of the sting for four to six hours. After this time, the symptoms start to regress and will normally disappear within 24 hours.
A scorpion sting can be treated at home without having to go to a hospital or physician. However, in the case of young children or hypersensitive individuals, medical attention should be sought immediately.
When a scorpion stings, the area of the sting will hurt and may get swollen or red, depending on the type of scorpion. More severe reactions from the venom involving other parts of the body also can happen.
Anyone who is stung by a scorpion should get medical care right away. That’s because it’s hard to tell a dangerous scorpion from a harmless one.
Most people will not get any serious symptoms. If they do occur, they will start in the first 2-3 hours after the sting.
First signs of a serious sting can be muscle twitching or rapid eye movements. Pain, tingling and numbness can also spread to all the arms and legs.
Management and Treatment
• Clean the site of the sting with soap and water.
• Apply ice or a cold compress to the area.
• Elevate the area so it's at the same level as your heart.
• Use an antihistamine or corticosteroid on the affected area.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen to reduce the pain.
Hormuridae is a family of scorpions in the order Scorpiones. There are about 10 genera and more than 90 described species in Hormuridae.
Liocheles is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Hormuridae.
Liocheles australasiae, the dwarf wood scorpion, is a species of scorpion belonging to the family
Hormuridae.
This species is present in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Yaeyama Islands (Japan), China,
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Mariana Islands, Indonesia, Australia,
Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and French Polynesia.
This small scorpion has the total length of 22 to 36 mm. Patella of pedipalps with 3 ventral trichobothria.
Body uniformly reddish to yellowish brown. Telson yellow. Median and three lateral pigmented eyes present, which are not troglobitic.
Chelicerae are yellowish brown, and reticulated. Carapace without carinae. but punctate and bears a straight median longitudinal groove. There are 4 to 8 pectinal teeth.
Metasomal segments are sparsely setose and finely punctate. Pedipalps also covered by granules. Ventrum of pedipalp is punctate. In males, the fingers of chela are conspicuously flexed.
Most of the populations are parthenogenetic, where they can produce young without males. In Sri Lanka, three females were discovered from Bentota, Galle, without a male, but all specimens were females or juveniles. Specimens are observed inside a stone wall and under old bark of branches and also in dry leaves and under the flower pots in home garden.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Scorpiones
Family : Hormuridae
Genus : Liocheles
Species : L. australasiae
Binomial name Liocheles australasiae
(Fabricius, 1775)
Heterometrus spinifer
Asian forest scorpion, giant blue scorpion, or giant forest scorpion
Asian forest scorpion, giant blue scorpion, or giant forest scorpion
OUTR : 24-2-24
Heterometrus, whose members are also known by the collective vernacular name Asian Forest Scorpion,
is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family
Scorpionidae.
It is distributed widely across tropical and subtropical
southeastern Asia, including Indonesia, Brunei,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India (Nicobar Islands, Andaman Islands), and China (Hainan). It is notable for containing some of the largest living species of scorpions.
Members of Heterometrus are generally large-sized scorpions (100–200 mm or about 4-8 in total length).
Coloration is dark in most species, often uniformly brown or black, sometimes with a greenish shine, with brighter-colored telson, walking legs, and or pedipalp pincers in some species.
The scorpions are heavily built with especially powerful and globose pedipalp pionkes, broad mesosomal tergites and a proportionally slender and thin metasoma.
The telson is proportionally small and the stinger is often shorter than the vesicle. The cephalothorax and mesosoma are largely devoid of carinae and granulation and the median eyes are situated in a small, lenticular depression on the cephalothorax. Some species are parthenogenic.
Orthobothriotaxy type C. Pedipalp femur with three trichobothria and pedipalp patella consists with 19 trichobothria. Pedipalp chela with 26 trichobothria. Retrolateral pedal spurs are absent. Stridulatory organ is located on the opposing surfaces of pedipalp coxa and first leg.
As in other genera of the Scorpionidae, the symptoms from Heterometrus envenomations are rather mild and no human fatalities are known.
The sting causes local pain, inflammation, oedema, swelling, and redness of the skin, lasting for hours to a few days.
Plant extracts known in the traditional Thai medicine as natural scorpion venom antidotes are effective as symptomatic treatment of H. laoticus stings.
The protein heteroscorpine-1 was found the major component of the venom in H. laoticus.
Species of Heterometrus live in vegetated, often forested, humid regions with subtropical to tropical climates. As most scorpions, they are predominantly nocturnal and hide in burrows, below logs, and in leaf litter.
Heterometrus spinifer, the Asian forest scorpion, giant blue scorpion, or giant forest scorpion, is a species of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae.
H. spinifer can reach a length around 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in). The body is shiny black with gray-green reflections. The pincers are highly developed.
In captivity it feeds primarily on insects, mainly cockroaches, crickets, and locusts. Its venom can cause severe pain, and mild numbness in the affected area, but it is not typically lethal to humans.
These scorpions tend to be skittish and defensive, using their large pedipalps (pincers) to attack, more than their tails.
This species can be found in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and other Southeast Asian countries.
Generally, these terrestrial scorpions live in moist forests in the dark undergrowth under logs or other debris, and they burrow into the ground where they hide during the day.
The Asian Forest Scorpion is commonly kept in the pet trade due to its low venom toxicity and large size.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Scorpiones
Family : Scorpionidae
Genus : Heterometrus
Species : H. spinifer
Binomial name Heterometrus spinifer
(Ehrenberg in Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828)
Synonyms
• Buthus spinifer Ehrenberg in Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828
• Palamnaeus laevigatus Thorell, 1876
• Palamnaeus oatesii Pocock, 1900
is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family
Scorpionidae.
It is distributed widely across tropical and subtropical
southeastern Asia, including Indonesia, Brunei,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India (Nicobar Islands, Andaman Islands), and China (Hainan). It is notable for containing some of the largest living species of scorpions.
Members of Heterometrus are generally large-sized scorpions (100–200 mm or about 4-8 in total length).
Coloration is dark in most species, often uniformly brown or black, sometimes with a greenish shine, with brighter-colored telson, walking legs, and or pedipalp pincers in some species.
The scorpions are heavily built with especially powerful and globose pedipalp pionkes, broad mesosomal tergites and a proportionally slender and thin metasoma.
The telson is proportionally small and the stinger is often shorter than the vesicle. The cephalothorax and mesosoma are largely devoid of carinae and granulation and the median eyes are situated in a small, lenticular depression on the cephalothorax. Some species are parthenogenic.
Orthobothriotaxy type C. Pedipalp femur with three trichobothria and pedipalp patella consists with 19 trichobothria. Pedipalp chela with 26 trichobothria. Retrolateral pedal spurs are absent. Stridulatory organ is located on the opposing surfaces of pedipalp coxa and first leg.
As in other genera of the Scorpionidae, the symptoms from Heterometrus envenomations are rather mild and no human fatalities are known.
The sting causes local pain, inflammation, oedema, swelling, and redness of the skin, lasting for hours to a few days.
Plant extracts known in the traditional Thai medicine as natural scorpion venom antidotes are effective as symptomatic treatment of H. laoticus stings.
The protein heteroscorpine-1 was found the major component of the venom in H. laoticus.
Species of Heterometrus live in vegetated, often forested, humid regions with subtropical to tropical climates. As most scorpions, they are predominantly nocturnal and hide in burrows, below logs, and in leaf litter.
Heterometrus spinifer, the Asian forest scorpion, giant blue scorpion, or giant forest scorpion, is a species of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae.
H. spinifer can reach a length around 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in). The body is shiny black with gray-green reflections. The pincers are highly developed.
In captivity it feeds primarily on insects, mainly cockroaches, crickets, and locusts. Its venom can cause severe pain, and mild numbness in the affected area, but it is not typically lethal to humans.
These scorpions tend to be skittish and defensive, using their large pedipalps (pincers) to attack, more than their tails.
This species can be found in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and other Southeast Asian countries.
Generally, these terrestrial scorpions live in moist forests in the dark undergrowth under logs or other debris, and they burrow into the ground where they hide during the day.
The Asian Forest Scorpion is commonly kept in the pet trade due to its low venom toxicity and large size.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Scorpiones
Family : Scorpionidae
Genus : Heterometrus
Species : H. spinifer
Binomial name Heterometrus spinifer
(Ehrenberg in Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828)
Synonyms
• Buthus spinifer Ehrenberg in Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828
• Palamnaeus laevigatus Thorell, 1876
• Palamnaeus oatesii Pocock, 1900
Talthybia depressa
wrap around spider
wrap around spider
T15 : 7-8-23
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests.
The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,108 species in 186 genera worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the Salticidae and Linyphiidae).
Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae, they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea.
The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae. The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Talthybia is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Talthybia depressa. It was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1898, and has only been found in China and Myanmar.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Araneae
Infraorder : Araneomorphae
Family : Araneidae
Genus :Talthybia
Thorell, 1898
Species : T. depressa
Binomial nameTalthybia depressa
Thorell, 1898
The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,108 species in 186 genera worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the Salticidae and Linyphiidae).
Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae, they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea.
The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae. The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Talthybia is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Talthybia depressa. It was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1898, and has only been found in China and Myanmar.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Araneae
Infraorder : Araneomorphae
Family : Araneidae
Genus :Talthybia
Thorell, 1898
Species : T. depressa
Binomial nameTalthybia depressa
Thorell, 1898
Olios sp
yellow huntsmen
yellow huntsmen
Olios is the largest genus of huntsman spiders, containing 166 species. They are found throughout the world, with most species occurring in hot countries. The genus was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1837.
They are small to large Sparassidae, that have eight eyes in two partially straight rows. For the smaller species of this genus, they are usually light brown to brown with darker areas. Most larger species are darker, and some members of this genus may also be green and yellow. They are nocturnal hunters.
As this genus is widespread, they are found in a large variety of habitats, from savannahs to rainforest. They are mainly found in vegetation, and rarely houses. They are sometimes shipped alongside fruit, but this is not a common occurrence.
Although Olios translates as “baleful and deadly,” it is not deadly or even particularly dangerous but It does have a painful bite.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Olios
Walckenaer, 1837
They are small to large Sparassidae, that have eight eyes in two partially straight rows. For the smaller species of this genus, they are usually light brown to brown with darker areas. Most larger species are darker, and some members of this genus may also be green and yellow. They are nocturnal hunters.
As this genus is widespread, they are found in a large variety of habitats, from savannahs to rainforest. They are mainly found in vegetation, and rarely houses. They are sometimes shipped alongside fruit, but this is not a common occurrence.
Although Olios translates as “baleful and deadly,” it is not deadly or even particularly dangerous but It does have a painful bite.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Olios
Walckenaer, 1837
Gnathopalystes sp.
Poltys elevatus
tree stump orb weaver spider
tree stump orb weaver spider
T15 : 26-05-23
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group.
The family araneidae has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,108 species in 186 genera worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the Salticidae and Linyphiidae).
Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Poltys is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1843. Many species are cryptic and are known to masquerade as leaves and twigs during the day, and build an orb web at night to capture prey. The shape of the abdomen which often gives the impression of a rough and broken branch can vary among individuals within a species. The web is eaten up before dawn and reconstructed after dusk.
Poltys elevatus is a species of Spider from the family of Araneidae. This Orb-Weaver Spider - Poltys elevatus is also known as Twig Spider or Tree stump orb weaver spider.
The Twig Spider (Poltys elevatus) rests by day tucking in its legs and remaining completely motionless
and attending to its web only at night. Its bizarre elongated abdomen gives it the amazing mimicry of a shriveled petiole, allowing the spider to remain undetected by predators.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Poltys
C. L. Koch, 1843
Species: Poltys elevatus Thorell, 1890
They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group.
The family araneidae has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,108 species in 186 genera worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the Salticidae and Linyphiidae).
Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Poltys is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1843. Many species are cryptic and are known to masquerade as leaves and twigs during the day, and build an orb web at night to capture prey. The shape of the abdomen which often gives the impression of a rough and broken branch can vary among individuals within a species. The web is eaten up before dawn and reconstructed after dusk.
Poltys elevatus is a species of Spider from the family of Araneidae. This Orb-Weaver Spider - Poltys elevatus is also known as Twig Spider or Tree stump orb weaver spider.
The Twig Spider (Poltys elevatus) rests by day tucking in its legs and remaining completely motionless
and attending to its web only at night. Its bizarre elongated abdomen gives it the amazing mimicry of a shriveled petiole, allowing the spider to remain undetected by predators.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Poltys
C. L. Koch, 1843
Species: Poltys elevatus Thorell, 1890
Thelcticopis severa
huntsman spider
huntsman spider
Thelcticopis is a genus of huntsman spiders that occurs almost exclusively in the area India to Japan to New Guinea and Fiji. However, one species (T. pestai) occurs in Costa Rica, and another (T. humilithorax) in Congo basin, although the latter species is probably misplaced in this genus.
This genus is distinguished by the abdomen narrowing behind and ending in terminal spinnerets which are borne on a tubular stalk separated at the base by a membranous ring.
They are often brownish-red, the abdomen is either of uniform color or shows paired spots. However, some species are black, yellow or green.
Thelcticopis severa is a species of huntsman spider found in China, Laos, Korea, and Japan. It is the type species for the genus Thelcticopis, and was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1875.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Thelcticopis
Species: T. severa
Binomial name Thelcticopis severa
L. Koch, 1875
This genus is distinguished by the abdomen narrowing behind and ending in terminal spinnerets which are borne on a tubular stalk separated at the base by a membranous ring.
They are often brownish-red, the abdomen is either of uniform color or shows paired spots. However, some species are black, yellow or green.
Thelcticopis severa is a species of huntsman spider found in China, Laos, Korea, and Japan. It is the type species for the genus Thelcticopis, and was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1875.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Thelcticopis
Species: T. severa
Binomial name Thelcticopis severa
L. Koch, 1875
Ctenus crulsi
wandering spider
wandering spider
Ctenus is a genus of wandering spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805.
It is widely distributed, from South America through Africa to East Asia. Little is known about the toxic potential of the genus Ctenus.
Wandering spiders (Ctenidae) are a family of spiders that includes the Brazilian wandering spiders.
These spiders have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace similar to those of the Amaurobiidae. They are highly defensive and venomous nocturnal hunters.
Wandering spiders are known to hunt large prey, for example hylid species Dendropsophus branneri.
Despite their notoriety for being dangerous, only a few members of Phoneutria have venom known to be hazardous to humans, but the venoms of this family are poorly known, so all larger ctenids should be treated with caution.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Ctenidae
Genus: Ctenus
Walckenaer, 1805
Type species Ctenus crulsi
It is widely distributed, from South America through Africa to East Asia. Little is known about the toxic potential of the genus Ctenus.
Wandering spiders (Ctenidae) are a family of spiders that includes the Brazilian wandering spiders.
These spiders have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace similar to those of the Amaurobiidae. They are highly defensive and venomous nocturnal hunters.
Wandering spiders are known to hunt large prey, for example hylid species Dendropsophus branneri.
Despite their notoriety for being dangerous, only a few members of Phoneutria have venom known to be hazardous to humans, but the venoms of this family are poorly known, so all larger ctenids should be treated with caution.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Ctenidae
Genus: Ctenus
Walckenaer, 1805
Type species Ctenus crulsi
Gnathopalystes kochi
green huntsman
green huntsman
Huntsman spiders, members of the family
Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting.
They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks).
More than a thousand Sparassidae species occur in most warm temperate to tropical regions of the world, including much of Australasia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Americas.
Several species of huntsman spider can use an unusual form of locomotion.
Examples: The wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava) from the Namib uses a cartwheeling
motion which gives it its name, while Cebrennus rechenbergi uses a handspring motion.
Sparassids are eight-eyed spiders. The eyes appear in two largely forward-facing rows of four on the anterior aspect of the prosoma. Many species grow very large, in Laos, male giant huntsman spiders (Heteropoda maxima) attain a legspan of 25–30 centimetres (9.8–11.8 in).
Huntsman spiders can generally be identified by their legs, which, rather than being jointed vertically relative to the body, are twisted in such a way that in some attitudes the legs extend forward in a crab-like fashion.
On their upper surfaces the main colours of huntsman spiders are inconspicuous shades of brown or grey, but many species have undersides more or less aposematically marked in black-and-white, with reddish patches over the mouthparts. Their legs bear fairly prominent spines, but the rest of their bodies are smoothly furry. They tend to live under rocks, bark and similar shelters, but human encounters are common in sheds, garages and other infrequently-disturbed places.
On average, a huntsman spider's leg-span can reach up to 15 cm (5.9 in), while their bodies measure about approx 1.8 cm (0.7 in) long.
Like most spiders, Sparassidae use venom to immobilize prey. They have been known to inflict serious defensive bites on humans.
There have been reports of members of various genera such as Palystes, Neosparassus and several others, inflicting severe bites. The effects vary, including local swelling and pain, nausea, headache, vomiting, irregular pulse rate, and heart palpitations, indicating some systemic neurological toxin effects, especially when the bites were severe or repeated.
However, the formal study of spider bites is fraught with complications, including unpredictable infections, dry bites, shock, nocebo effects, and even bite misdiagnosis by medical professionals and specimen misidentification by the general public.
It is not always clear what provokes Sparassidae to attack and bite humans and animals, but it is known that female members of this family will aggressively defend their egg-sacs and young against perceived threats. Bites from sparassids usually do not require hospital treatment.
Gnathopalystes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by William Joseph Rainbow in 1899.
Gnathopalystes kochi, a green huntsman spider, is a species of huntsman spiders belonging to the family Sparassidae, other name include jade huntsman.
This species G.kochi is widespread in India,
Myanmar, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Singapore.
As adults, huntsman spiders do not build webs, but hunt and forage for food, their diet consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates, and occasionally small skinks and geckos.
They live in the crevices of tree bark, but will frequently wander into homes and vehicles. They are able to travel extremely quickly, often using a springing jump while running, and walk on walls and even on ceilings. They also tend to exhibit a "cling" reflex if picked up, making them difficult to shake off and much more likely to bite.
The females are fierce defenders of their egg sacs and young. They will generally make a threat display if provoked, and if the warning is ignored they may attack and bite. The egg sacs differ fairly widely among the various genera.
For example, in Heteropoda spp. egg sacs are carried underneath the female's body, while in other species like Palystes and Pseudomicrommata spp, females generally attach egg sacs to vegetation.
Members of the Sparassidae are native to tropical and warm temperate regions worldwide. A few species are native to colder climates, like the green huntsman spider (Micrommata virescens) which is native to Northern and Central Europe.
The green coloration is due to the bilin
micromatabilin and its conjugates in haemolymph,
interstitial tissues and the yolk of oocytes.
These characteristic huntsman spiders can be found at the edges of forests, in dry meadows, in damp woodland clearings and rides, where they prefer grass and the lower branches of trees.
These spiders are mainly diurnal. Like many other spiders, they do not build a web, and hunt insects in green vegetation, where they rely on their camouflage. Their green color makes them very difficult to be detected by predators.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Araneae
Infraorder : Araneomorphae
Family : Sparassidae
Genus : Gnathopalystes
Rainbow, 1899
Type species : Gnathopalystes kochi
(Simon, 1880)
Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting.
They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks).
More than a thousand Sparassidae species occur in most warm temperate to tropical regions of the world, including much of Australasia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Americas.
Several species of huntsman spider can use an unusual form of locomotion.
Examples: The wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava) from the Namib uses a cartwheeling
motion which gives it its name, while Cebrennus rechenbergi uses a handspring motion.
Sparassids are eight-eyed spiders. The eyes appear in two largely forward-facing rows of four on the anterior aspect of the prosoma. Many species grow very large, in Laos, male giant huntsman spiders (Heteropoda maxima) attain a legspan of 25–30 centimetres (9.8–11.8 in).
Huntsman spiders can generally be identified by their legs, which, rather than being jointed vertically relative to the body, are twisted in such a way that in some attitudes the legs extend forward in a crab-like fashion.
On their upper surfaces the main colours of huntsman spiders are inconspicuous shades of brown or grey, but many species have undersides more or less aposematically marked in black-and-white, with reddish patches over the mouthparts. Their legs bear fairly prominent spines, but the rest of their bodies are smoothly furry. They tend to live under rocks, bark and similar shelters, but human encounters are common in sheds, garages and other infrequently-disturbed places.
On average, a huntsman spider's leg-span can reach up to 15 cm (5.9 in), while their bodies measure about approx 1.8 cm (0.7 in) long.
Like most spiders, Sparassidae use venom to immobilize prey. They have been known to inflict serious defensive bites on humans.
There have been reports of members of various genera such as Palystes, Neosparassus and several others, inflicting severe bites. The effects vary, including local swelling and pain, nausea, headache, vomiting, irregular pulse rate, and heart palpitations, indicating some systemic neurological toxin effects, especially when the bites were severe or repeated.
However, the formal study of spider bites is fraught with complications, including unpredictable infections, dry bites, shock, nocebo effects, and even bite misdiagnosis by medical professionals and specimen misidentification by the general public.
It is not always clear what provokes Sparassidae to attack and bite humans and animals, but it is known that female members of this family will aggressively defend their egg-sacs and young against perceived threats. Bites from sparassids usually do not require hospital treatment.
Gnathopalystes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by William Joseph Rainbow in 1899.
Gnathopalystes kochi, a green huntsman spider, is a species of huntsman spiders belonging to the family Sparassidae, other name include jade huntsman.
This species G.kochi is widespread in India,
Myanmar, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Singapore.
As adults, huntsman spiders do not build webs, but hunt and forage for food, their diet consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates, and occasionally small skinks and geckos.
They live in the crevices of tree bark, but will frequently wander into homes and vehicles. They are able to travel extremely quickly, often using a springing jump while running, and walk on walls and even on ceilings. They also tend to exhibit a "cling" reflex if picked up, making them difficult to shake off and much more likely to bite.
The females are fierce defenders of their egg sacs and young. They will generally make a threat display if provoked, and if the warning is ignored they may attack and bite. The egg sacs differ fairly widely among the various genera.
For example, in Heteropoda spp. egg sacs are carried underneath the female's body, while in other species like Palystes and Pseudomicrommata spp, females generally attach egg sacs to vegetation.
Members of the Sparassidae are native to tropical and warm temperate regions worldwide. A few species are native to colder climates, like the green huntsman spider (Micrommata virescens) which is native to Northern and Central Europe.
The green coloration is due to the bilin
micromatabilin and its conjugates in haemolymph,
interstitial tissues and the yolk of oocytes.
These characteristic huntsman spiders can be found at the edges of forests, in dry meadows, in damp woodland clearings and rides, where they prefer grass and the lower branches of trees.
These spiders are mainly diurnal. Like many other spiders, they do not build a web, and hunt insects in green vegetation, where they rely on their camouflage. Their green color makes them very difficult to be detected by predators.
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Araneae
Infraorder : Araneomorphae
Family : Sparassidae
Genus : Gnathopalystes
Rainbow, 1899
Type species : Gnathopalystes kochi
(Simon, 1880)
Thwaitesia argentiopunctata
Mirror spider
Mirror spider
The Thwaitesia genus occurs in the tropical regions throughout the world , comprising 22 species.
Thwaitesia is a genus of comb-footed spiders that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1881.
The colours vary from one species to another and different spider species show various features. For example T.argentiopunctata is silver with green,
cream, red and yellow abdomen and it has a mirror like scales on its back.
Thwaitesia argentiopunctata known as the sequined spider, mirror spider, or twin-peaked Thwaitesia is a species of spider found in all the states of Australia. Body length is around 3 mm (0.12 in) for males, 4 mm (0.16 in) for females. The abdomen is attractively patterned with cream, green, yellow and red.
These spiders, called mirror or sequined spiders, are all members of several different species of the genus Thwaitesia, which features spiders with reflective silvery patches on their abdomen. The scales look like solid pieces of mirror glued to the spider's back, but they can actually change size depending on how threatened the spider feels. The reflective scales are composed of reflective guanine, which these and other spiders use to give themselves color.
The eggs are small, and round, though specific information regarding their color remains unrecorded. Similar to most other spiders of their genus, they are likely to make tangled webs in undisturbed locations. Like other spiders of their family, their venom too is not harmful for humans.
The mirroring scales of the spider change in size when they feel threatened, it's lifespan is approximately a year and is distribution in tropical regions of the world.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Thwaitesia
Species: T. argentiopunctata
Binomial name Thwaitesia
argentiopunctata
Rainbow 1916
Thwaitesia is a genus of comb-footed spiders that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1881.
The colours vary from one species to another and different spider species show various features. For example T.argentiopunctata is silver with green,
cream, red and yellow abdomen and it has a mirror like scales on its back.
Thwaitesia argentiopunctata known as the sequined spider, mirror spider, or twin-peaked Thwaitesia is a species of spider found in all the states of Australia. Body length is around 3 mm (0.12 in) for males, 4 mm (0.16 in) for females. The abdomen is attractively patterned with cream, green, yellow and red.
These spiders, called mirror or sequined spiders, are all members of several different species of the genus Thwaitesia, which features spiders with reflective silvery patches on their abdomen. The scales look like solid pieces of mirror glued to the spider's back, but they can actually change size depending on how threatened the spider feels. The reflective scales are composed of reflective guanine, which these and other spiders use to give themselves color.
The eggs are small, and round, though specific information regarding their color remains unrecorded. Similar to most other spiders of their genus, they are likely to make tangled webs in undisturbed locations. Like other spiders of their family, their venom too is not harmful for humans.
The mirroring scales of the spider change in size when they feel threatened, it's lifespan is approximately a year and is distribution in tropical regions of the world.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Thwaitesia
Species: T. argentiopunctata
Binomial name Thwaitesia
argentiopunctata
Rainbow 1916
Pirata sp
Pirate wolf spider
Pirate wolf spider
Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae (from Ancient Greek λύκος (lúkos) 'wolf').
They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or chasing it over short distances; others wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.
Wolf spiders resemble nursery web spiders (family Pisauridae), but wolf spiders carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets, while the Pisauridae carry their egg sacs with their chelicerae and pedipalps. Two of the wolf spider's eight eyes are large and prominent; this distinguishes them from nursery web spiders, whose eyes are all of roughly equal size. This can also help distinguish them from the similar-looking grass spiders.
The many genera of wolf spiders range in body size (legs not included) from less than 10 to 35 mm (0.4 to 1.38 in). They have eight eyes arranged in three rows. The bottom row consists of four small eyes, the middle row has two very large eyes (which distinguishes them from the Pisauridae), and the top row has two medium-sized eyes. Unlike most other arachnids, which are generally blind or have poor vision, wolf spiders have excellent eyesight.
The tapetum lucidum is a retroreflective tissue found in eyes. This reflective tissue is only found in the four larger eyes ("secondary eyes") of the wolf spider. Flashing a beam of light over the spider produces eyeshine; this eyeshine can be seen when the lighting source is roughly coaxial with the viewer or sensor. The light from the light source (e.g., a flashlight or sunlight) has been reflected from the spider's eyes directly back toward its source, producing a "glow" that is easily noticed. Wolf spiders possess the third-best eyesight of all spider groups, bettered by jumping spiders of the family Salticidae (which can distinguish colors) and the huntsman spiders.
Wolf spiders are unique in the way that they carry their eggs. The egg sac, a round, silken globe, is attached to the spinnerets at the end of the abdomen, allowing the spider to carry her unhatched young with her. The abdomen must be held in a raised position to keep the egg case from dragging on the ground.
Despite this handicap, they are still capable of hunting. Another aspect unique to wolf spiders is their method of care of young. Immediately after the spiderlings emerge from their protective silken case, they clamber up their mother's legs and crowd onto the dorsal side of her abdomen.
The mother carries the spiderlings for several weeks before they are large enough to disperse and fend for themselves. No other spiders are currently known to carry their young on their backs for any period of time.
Because they depend on camouflage for protection, they do not have the flashy appearance of some other kinds of spiders. In general, their coloration is appropriate to their favorite habitat.
Some members of the Lycosidae, such as H. carolinensis, make deep, tubular burrows in which they lurk much of the time. Others, such as H. helluo, seek shelter under rocks and other shelters as nature may provide. As with spiders in general, males of almost any species can sometimes be found inside homes and buildings as they wander in search for females during the autumn.
Wolf spiders play an important role in natural population control of insects and are often considered "beneficial bugs" due to their predation of pest species within farms and gardens.
Wolf spiders inject venom if continually provoked. Symptoms of their bites include swelling, mild pain, and itching. In the past, necrotic bites have been attributed to some South American species, but further investigation has indicated that those problems that did occur were probably actually due to bites by members of other genera. Australian wolf spiders have also been associated with necrotic wounds, but careful study has likewise shown them not to produce such results.
Wolf spiders are found in a wide range of habitats both coastal and inland. These include shrublands, woodland, wet coastal forest, alpine meadows, suburban gardens, and homes. Spiderlings disperse aerially; consequently, wolf spiders have wide distributions. Although some species have very specific microhabitat needs (such as stream-side gravel beds or montane herb-fields), most are wanderers without permanent homes. Some build burrows which can be left open or have a trap door (depending on species). Arid-zone species construct turrets or plug their holes with leaves and pebbles during the rainy season to protect themselves from flood waters. Often, they are found in man-made locations such as sheds and other outdoor equipment.
The Lycosidae comprise mainly wandering spiders, and as such, population density and male-to-female sex ratio puts selective pressures on wolf spiders when finding mates. Female wolf spiders that have already mated are more likely to eat the next male that tries to mate with them than those that have not mated yet. Males that have already mated have a higher probability of successfully mating again, but females that have already mated have a lower probability of mating again.
Pirata is a genus of wolf spiders (family Lycosidae), commonly known as pirate wolf spiders.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Superfamily: Lycosoidea
Genus: Pirata
Sundevall, 1833
They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or chasing it over short distances; others wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.
Wolf spiders resemble nursery web spiders (family Pisauridae), but wolf spiders carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets, while the Pisauridae carry their egg sacs with their chelicerae and pedipalps. Two of the wolf spider's eight eyes are large and prominent; this distinguishes them from nursery web spiders, whose eyes are all of roughly equal size. This can also help distinguish them from the similar-looking grass spiders.
The many genera of wolf spiders range in body size (legs not included) from less than 10 to 35 mm (0.4 to 1.38 in). They have eight eyes arranged in three rows. The bottom row consists of four small eyes, the middle row has two very large eyes (which distinguishes them from the Pisauridae), and the top row has two medium-sized eyes. Unlike most other arachnids, which are generally blind or have poor vision, wolf spiders have excellent eyesight.
The tapetum lucidum is a retroreflective tissue found in eyes. This reflective tissue is only found in the four larger eyes ("secondary eyes") of the wolf spider. Flashing a beam of light over the spider produces eyeshine; this eyeshine can be seen when the lighting source is roughly coaxial with the viewer or sensor. The light from the light source (e.g., a flashlight or sunlight) has been reflected from the spider's eyes directly back toward its source, producing a "glow" that is easily noticed. Wolf spiders possess the third-best eyesight of all spider groups, bettered by jumping spiders of the family Salticidae (which can distinguish colors) and the huntsman spiders.
Wolf spiders are unique in the way that they carry their eggs. The egg sac, a round, silken globe, is attached to the spinnerets at the end of the abdomen, allowing the spider to carry her unhatched young with her. The abdomen must be held in a raised position to keep the egg case from dragging on the ground.
Despite this handicap, they are still capable of hunting. Another aspect unique to wolf spiders is their method of care of young. Immediately after the spiderlings emerge from their protective silken case, they clamber up their mother's legs and crowd onto the dorsal side of her abdomen.
The mother carries the spiderlings for several weeks before they are large enough to disperse and fend for themselves. No other spiders are currently known to carry their young on their backs for any period of time.
Because they depend on camouflage for protection, they do not have the flashy appearance of some other kinds of spiders. In general, their coloration is appropriate to their favorite habitat.
Some members of the Lycosidae, such as H. carolinensis, make deep, tubular burrows in which they lurk much of the time. Others, such as H. helluo, seek shelter under rocks and other shelters as nature may provide. As with spiders in general, males of almost any species can sometimes be found inside homes and buildings as they wander in search for females during the autumn.
Wolf spiders play an important role in natural population control of insects and are often considered "beneficial bugs" due to their predation of pest species within farms and gardens.
Wolf spiders inject venom if continually provoked. Symptoms of their bites include swelling, mild pain, and itching. In the past, necrotic bites have been attributed to some South American species, but further investigation has indicated that those problems that did occur were probably actually due to bites by members of other genera. Australian wolf spiders have also been associated with necrotic wounds, but careful study has likewise shown them not to produce such results.
Wolf spiders are found in a wide range of habitats both coastal and inland. These include shrublands, woodland, wet coastal forest, alpine meadows, suburban gardens, and homes. Spiderlings disperse aerially; consequently, wolf spiders have wide distributions. Although some species have very specific microhabitat needs (such as stream-side gravel beds or montane herb-fields), most are wanderers without permanent homes. Some build burrows which can be left open or have a trap door (depending on species). Arid-zone species construct turrets or plug their holes with leaves and pebbles during the rainy season to protect themselves from flood waters. Often, they are found in man-made locations such as sheds and other outdoor equipment.
The Lycosidae comprise mainly wandering spiders, and as such, population density and male-to-female sex ratio puts selective pressures on wolf spiders when finding mates. Female wolf spiders that have already mated are more likely to eat the next male that tries to mate with them than those that have not mated yet. Males that have already mated have a higher probability of successfully mating again, but females that have already mated have a lower probability of mating again.
Pirata is a genus of wolf spiders (family Lycosidae), commonly known as pirate wolf spiders.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Superfamily: Lycosoidea
Genus: Pirata
Sundevall, 1833
Pystira ephippigera
Jumping spider
Jumping spider
Jumping spiders or the Salticidae are a family of spiders. As of 2019, it contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species.
Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation.
Although they normally move unobtrusively and
fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats or crossing long gaps. Both their book lungs and tracheal system are well-developed, and they use both systems (bimodal breathing). Jumping spiders are generally recognized by their eye pattern.
Jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes; three secondary pairs that are fixed and a principal pair that is movable with the anterior median pair being particularly large.
Although jumping spiders are generally carnivorous, many species have been known to include nectar in their diets.
Pystira is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family Salticidae.
The genus Pystira was erected by Eugène Simon in 1901 with the type species Pystira ephippigera, which he had originally placed in a different genus (Hadrosoma, no longer in use) when he first described it in 1885.
In 2015, Junxia Zhang and Wayne Maddison synonymized Pystira with Omoedus, but this was rejected by Jerzy Prószyński in 2017, and the genus is accepted by the World Spider Catalog as of August 2020.
When synonymized with Omoedus, the genus was placed in the tribe Euophryini in Maddison's 2015 classification of the family Salticidae. Prószyński placed the separated genus in his informal group euophryines.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Tribe: Euophryini
Genus: Pystira
Simon, 1901
Species : Pystira ephippigera
(Simon, 1885)
Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation.
Although they normally move unobtrusively and
fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats or crossing long gaps. Both their book lungs and tracheal system are well-developed, and they use both systems (bimodal breathing). Jumping spiders are generally recognized by their eye pattern.
Jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes; three secondary pairs that are fixed and a principal pair that is movable with the anterior median pair being particularly large.
Although jumping spiders are generally carnivorous, many species have been known to include nectar in their diets.
Pystira is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family Salticidae.
The genus Pystira was erected by Eugène Simon in 1901 with the type species Pystira ephippigera, which he had originally placed in a different genus (Hadrosoma, no longer in use) when he first described it in 1885.
In 2015, Junxia Zhang and Wayne Maddison synonymized Pystira with Omoedus, but this was rejected by Jerzy Prószyński in 2017, and the genus is accepted by the World Spider Catalog as of August 2020.
When synonymized with Omoedus, the genus was placed in the tribe Euophryini in Maddison's 2015 classification of the family Salticidae. Prószyński placed the separated genus in his informal group euophryines.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Tribe: Euophryini
Genus: Pystira
Simon, 1901
Species : Pystira ephippigera
(Simon, 1885)
Camaricus formosus
crab spider
crab spider
Crab Spiders (Family: Thomisidae) usually have short, wide, flat bodies. The first two pairs of legs are larger than the back legs, and are usually held open so that the spider can easily grab its prey. They usually walk sideways or backwards, and use just their back legs. This is where they get their name.
All crab spiders have eight eyes, and the eyes on the edges of their cephalothorax are often raised up on bumps, so they can see in all directions. These spiders have small fangs compared to other spiders, but their venom acts quickly to paralyze their prey.
These spiders live and hunt alone. They are usually active during the day. Some species stay in the same place for a long time, attacking prey that comes by. Other species roam around looking for prey.
In some species males and females are different colors, and males are often much smaller than females. Crab spiders usually are colored to match their habitat. Some species can slowly (over a period of days) change color to match the color of the flowers they are hiding on.
Crab spiders eat lots of insects and mites that are pests. They are often a big help to farmers, because they hunt on plants and eat the invertebrates they find there.
These spiders can bite, but are not aggressive, and are not dangerous to people. They sometimes eat beneficial insects like honeybees that pollinate crops, but they eat enough pests that this is not usually a problem.
Camaricus is a genus of crab spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1887.
As of June 2020 it contains fifteen species, found in Africa, Asia, and on New Caledonia:
Camaricus bipunctatus Bastawade, 2002 – India
Camaricus castaneiceps Berland, 1924 – New Caledonia
Camaricus chayani Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2017 – Bangladesh
Camaricus cimex (Karsch, 1878) – East Africa
Camaricus florae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
Camaricus formosus Thorell, 1887 – India to Indonesia (Sumatra), China, Philippines
Camaricus hastifer (Percheron, 1833) – Unknown
Camaricus khandalaensis Tikader, 1980 – India
Camaricus maugei (Walckenaer, 1837) (type) – India to Vietnam, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Krakatau)
Camaricus mimus (Pavesi, 1895) – Ethiopia, East Africa
Camaricus nigrotesselatus Simon, 1895 – Central, East, South Africa
Camaricus parisukatus Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
Camaricus pulchellus Simon, 1903 – Vietnam
Camaricus rinkae Biswas & Roy, 2005 – India
Camaricus siltorsus Saha & Raychaudhuri, 2007 – India
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Camaricus
Species : C.formusus
Thorell, 1887
All crab spiders have eight eyes, and the eyes on the edges of their cephalothorax are often raised up on bumps, so they can see in all directions. These spiders have small fangs compared to other spiders, but their venom acts quickly to paralyze their prey.
These spiders live and hunt alone. They are usually active during the day. Some species stay in the same place for a long time, attacking prey that comes by. Other species roam around looking for prey.
In some species males and females are different colors, and males are often much smaller than females. Crab spiders usually are colored to match their habitat. Some species can slowly (over a period of days) change color to match the color of the flowers they are hiding on.
Crab spiders eat lots of insects and mites that are pests. They are often a big help to farmers, because they hunt on plants and eat the invertebrates they find there.
These spiders can bite, but are not aggressive, and are not dangerous to people. They sometimes eat beneficial insects like honeybees that pollinate crops, but they eat enough pests that this is not usually a problem.
Camaricus is a genus of crab spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1887.
As of June 2020 it contains fifteen species, found in Africa, Asia, and on New Caledonia:
Camaricus bipunctatus Bastawade, 2002 – India
Camaricus castaneiceps Berland, 1924 – New Caledonia
Camaricus chayani Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2017 – Bangladesh
Camaricus cimex (Karsch, 1878) – East Africa
Camaricus florae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
Camaricus formosus Thorell, 1887 – India to Indonesia (Sumatra), China, Philippines
Camaricus hastifer (Percheron, 1833) – Unknown
Camaricus khandalaensis Tikader, 1980 – India
Camaricus maugei (Walckenaer, 1837) (type) – India to Vietnam, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Krakatau)
Camaricus mimus (Pavesi, 1895) – Ethiopia, East Africa
Camaricus nigrotesselatus Simon, 1895 – Central, East, South Africa
Camaricus parisukatus Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
Camaricus pulchellus Simon, 1903 – Vietnam
Camaricus rinkae Biswas & Roy, 2005 – India
Camaricus siltorsus Saha & Raychaudhuri, 2007 – India
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Camaricus
Species : C.formusus
Thorell, 1887
Eustala sp
Eustala is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word orb can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,067 species in 177 genera worldwide.
Araneidae is the third-largest family of spiders (behind Salticidae and Linyphiidae). Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotyped fashion. A framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae; they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea. The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae. The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Generally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with many radii of nonsticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk.
The third claw is used to walk on the nonsticky part of the web. Characteristically, the prey insect that blunders into the sticky lines is stunned by a quick bite, and then wrapped in silk.
If the prey is a venomous insect, such as a wasp, wrapping may precede biting and/or stinging. Much of the orb-spinning spiders' success in capturing insects depends on the web not being visible to the prey, with the stickiness of the web increasing the visibility and so decreasing the chances of capturing prey. This leads to a trade-off between the visibility of the web and the web's prey retention ability.
Many orb-weavers build a new web each day. Most orb-weavers tend to be active during the evening hours; they hide for most of the day. Generally, towards evening, the spider will consume the old web, rest for approximately an hour, then spin a new web in the same general location. Thus, the webs of orb-weavers are generally free of the accumulation of detritus common to other species, such as black widow spiders.
Some orb-weavers do not build webs at all. Members of the genera Mastophora in the Americas, Cladomelea in Africa, and Ordgarius in Australia produce sticky globules, which contain a pheromone analog. The globule is hung from a silken thread dangled by the spider from its front legs.
The pheromone analog attracts male moths of only a few species. These get stuck on the globule and are reeled in to be eaten. Both genera of bolas spiders are highly camouflaged and difficult to locate.
One feature of the webs of some orb-weavers is the stabilimentum, a crisscross band of silk through the center of the web. It is found in several genera, but Argiope – the yellow and banded garden spiders of North America – is a prime example.
As orb-weavers age, they tend to have less production of their silk, many adult orb-weavers can then depend on their coloration to attract more of their prey.
The band may be a lure for prey, a marker to warn birds away from the web, and a camouflage for the spider when it sits in the web. The stabilimentum may decrease the visibility of the silk to insects, thus making it harder for prey to avoid the web.
The orb-web consists of a frame and supporting radii overlaid with a sticky capture spiral, and the silks used by orb-weaver spiders have exceptional mechanical properties to withstand the impact of flying prey.
The orb-weaving spider Zygiella x-notata produces a unique orb-web with a characteristic missing sector, similar to other species of the Zygiella genus in the Araneidae family.
During the Cretaceous, a radiation of angiosperm plants and their insect pollinators occurred. Fossil evidence shows that the orb web was in existence at this time, which permitted a concurrent radiation of the spider predators along with their insect prey.
The capacity of orb–webs to absorb the impact of flying prey led orbicularian spiders to become the dominant predators of aerial insects in many ecosystems.
Insects and spiders have comparable rates of diversification, suggesting they co-radiated, and the peak of this radiation occurred 100 Mya before the origin of angiosperms. Vollrath and Selden (2007) make the bold proposition that insect evolution was driven less by flowering plants than by spider predation – particularly through orb webs – as a major selective force.
Most arachnid webs are vertical and the spiders usually hang with their head downward. A few webs, such as those of orb-weavers in the genus Metepeira have the orb hidden within a tangled space of web.
Araneid species either mate at the central hub of the web, where the male slowly traverses the web, trying not to get eaten, and when reaching the hub, mounts the female; or the male constructs a mating thread inside or outside the web to attract the female via vibratory courtship, and if successful, mating occurs on the thread.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Eustala
Simon, 1895
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word orb can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,067 species in 177 genera worldwide.
Araneidae is the third-largest family of spiders (behind Salticidae and Linyphiidae). Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotyped fashion. A framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae; they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea. The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae. The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Generally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with many radii of nonsticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk.
The third claw is used to walk on the nonsticky part of the web. Characteristically, the prey insect that blunders into the sticky lines is stunned by a quick bite, and then wrapped in silk.
If the prey is a venomous insect, such as a wasp, wrapping may precede biting and/or stinging. Much of the orb-spinning spiders' success in capturing insects depends on the web not being visible to the prey, with the stickiness of the web increasing the visibility and so decreasing the chances of capturing prey. This leads to a trade-off between the visibility of the web and the web's prey retention ability.
Many orb-weavers build a new web each day. Most orb-weavers tend to be active during the evening hours; they hide for most of the day. Generally, towards evening, the spider will consume the old web, rest for approximately an hour, then spin a new web in the same general location. Thus, the webs of orb-weavers are generally free of the accumulation of detritus common to other species, such as black widow spiders.
Some orb-weavers do not build webs at all. Members of the genera Mastophora in the Americas, Cladomelea in Africa, and Ordgarius in Australia produce sticky globules, which contain a pheromone analog. The globule is hung from a silken thread dangled by the spider from its front legs.
The pheromone analog attracts male moths of only a few species. These get stuck on the globule and are reeled in to be eaten. Both genera of bolas spiders are highly camouflaged and difficult to locate.
One feature of the webs of some orb-weavers is the stabilimentum, a crisscross band of silk through the center of the web. It is found in several genera, but Argiope – the yellow and banded garden spiders of North America – is a prime example.
As orb-weavers age, they tend to have less production of their silk, many adult orb-weavers can then depend on their coloration to attract more of their prey.
The band may be a lure for prey, a marker to warn birds away from the web, and a camouflage for the spider when it sits in the web. The stabilimentum may decrease the visibility of the silk to insects, thus making it harder for prey to avoid the web.
The orb-web consists of a frame and supporting radii overlaid with a sticky capture spiral, and the silks used by orb-weaver spiders have exceptional mechanical properties to withstand the impact of flying prey.
The orb-weaving spider Zygiella x-notata produces a unique orb-web with a characteristic missing sector, similar to other species of the Zygiella genus in the Araneidae family.
During the Cretaceous, a radiation of angiosperm plants and their insect pollinators occurred. Fossil evidence shows that the orb web was in existence at this time, which permitted a concurrent radiation of the spider predators along with their insect prey.
The capacity of orb–webs to absorb the impact of flying prey led orbicularian spiders to become the dominant predators of aerial insects in many ecosystems.
Insects and spiders have comparable rates of diversification, suggesting they co-radiated, and the peak of this radiation occurred 100 Mya before the origin of angiosperms. Vollrath and Selden (2007) make the bold proposition that insect evolution was driven less by flowering plants than by spider predation – particularly through orb webs – as a major selective force.
Most arachnid webs are vertical and the spiders usually hang with their head downward. A few webs, such as those of orb-weavers in the genus Metepeira have the orb hidden within a tangled space of web.
Araneid species either mate at the central hub of the web, where the male slowly traverses the web, trying not to get eaten, and when reaching the hub, mounts the female; or the male constructs a mating thread inside or outside the web to attract the female via vibratory courtship, and if successful, mating occurs on the thread.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Eustala
Simon, 1895
Medmassa insignis
corinnid sac spider
corinnid sac spider
Tree corinnid spider Medmassa insignis. Medmassa is a genus of corinnid sac spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1887 under the name "Megaera", later renamed because "Megaera" was already in use as a synonym of the reptile genus Trimeresurus.
Corinnidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, sometimes called corinnid sac spiders. The family, like other "clubionoid" families, has a confusing taxonomic history. Once it was a part of the large catch-all taxon Clubionidae, now very much smaller.
The original members of the family are apparently similar only in that they have eight eyes arranged in two rows, conical anterior spinnerets that touch and are generally wandering predators that build silken retreats, or sacs, usually on plant terminals, between leaves, under bark or under rocks. These are now recognized to include several families, some of which are more closely related to the three-clawed spiders, like lynx and wolf spiders, than to Clubionidae and related families.
The remnant Clubionidae now consist of a few over 500 species in 15 genera worldwide.
In 2014, Martín Ramírez recognized the family in a restricted sense, including only the subfamilies Corinninae and Castianeirinae. Two former subfamilies of the Corinnidae are now treated as separate families, Phrurolithidae and Trachelidae. As now recognized, Corinnidae contains 71 genera and over 800 species worldwide.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Corinnidae
Genus: Medmassa
Simon, 1887
Species : Medmassa insignis (Thorell, 1890)
Corinnidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, sometimes called corinnid sac spiders. The family, like other "clubionoid" families, has a confusing taxonomic history. Once it was a part of the large catch-all taxon Clubionidae, now very much smaller.
The original members of the family are apparently similar only in that they have eight eyes arranged in two rows, conical anterior spinnerets that touch and are generally wandering predators that build silken retreats, or sacs, usually on plant terminals, between leaves, under bark or under rocks. These are now recognized to include several families, some of which are more closely related to the three-clawed spiders, like lynx and wolf spiders, than to Clubionidae and related families.
The remnant Clubionidae now consist of a few over 500 species in 15 genera worldwide.
In 2014, Martín Ramírez recognized the family in a restricted sense, including only the subfamilies Corinninae and Castianeirinae. Two former subfamilies of the Corinnidae are now treated as separate families, Phrurolithidae and Trachelidae. As now recognized, Corinnidae contains 71 genera and over 800 species worldwide.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Corinnidae
Genus: Medmassa
Simon, 1887
Species : Medmassa insignis (Thorell, 1890)
Colonus hesperus
jumping spider
jumping spider
Shot in Thomson Nature park on Sep 2021.
Colonus is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family, Salticidae. Colonus species are endemic to North and South America, ranging from New York to Argentina.
All members of the genus have two pairs of bulbous spines on the ventral side of the first tibiae. The function of these spines is unknown. Colonus was declared a junior synonym of Thiodina by Eugène Simon in 1903, but this was reversed by Bustamante, Maddison, and Ruiz in 2015.
Colonus hesperus is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. It is found in the United States and Mexico. Body length 7mm or less. This species is often associated with trees and is presumably arboreal.
Colonus hesperus does not have the two longitudinal white stripes on the abdomen. Instead, the abdomen is yellowish with scattered black setae and numerous black dots.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Colonus
F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901
Species: C. hesperus
Binomial name Colonus hesperus
(Richman & Vetter, 2004)
All members of the genus have two pairs of bulbous spines on the ventral side of the first tibiae. The function of these spines is unknown. Colonus was declared a junior synonym of Thiodina by Eugène Simon in 1903, but this was reversed by Bustamante, Maddison, and Ruiz in 2015.
Colonus hesperus is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. It is found in the United States and Mexico. Body length 7mm or less. This species is often associated with trees and is presumably arboreal.
Colonus hesperus does not have the two longitudinal white stripes on the abdomen. Instead, the abdomen is yellowish with scattered black setae and numerous black dots.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Colonus
F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901
Species: C. hesperus
Binomial name Colonus hesperus
(Richman & Vetter, 2004)
Araneus mitificus,
the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver
the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver
Shot at Segar road PCN
Araneus mitificus, commonly known as the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver, is a species of orb-weaver spider found in South, East, and Southeast Asia.
Araneus mitificus belongs to the genus Araneus. It is classified under the subfamily Araneinae of the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae. They are members of the superfamily of eight-eyed spiders Araneoidea of the suborder Araneomorphae. The species was originally described in 1886 as Epeira mitifica by the French arachnologist Eugène Simon.
Araneus mitificus are small spiders and exhibit sexual dimorphism. The females grow up to 6 to 9 mm (0.24 to 0.35 in). Males are smaller, reaching only 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in), and are generally less colorful than the females.
Their abdomens are globular and covered with fine hair. They slope abruptly from the mid-region to the posterior.
Two small but distinct tubercles are present at the rear end. The dorsal surface is covered with white and black patterns that can vary considerably. The front edge usually has a wide black band.
In the upper center is a characteristic large kidney-shaped marking (which can sometimes be a faint vertical line or V-shaped), from which it derives its common name. Immediately below it are two small but prominent black pits (fovea). At the posterior half is a series of faint transverse ridges. The markings on the back of the spider can resemble a human face if viewed from the front.
The ventral side of the abdomen is a uniform green. The epigynes of the females have unwrinkled, very short and thick scapes.
The cephalothorax is reddish, yellowish, or green in color. It is narrower at the front than at the back and also covered with fine pubescence.
The sternum is heart-shaped, narrowing towards the back. It is covered with long, black, spine-like hairs. They have eight eyes arranged in two recurved rows. The front row of eyes are larger and more recurved than the back row. Dark rings encircle the pair of central back eyes and the lateral eyes are close together and mounted on black tubercles.
The labium is wider than it is long and yellowish. The maxillae have almost square shapes and have distinct tufts of hair at the tips (scopulae). The chelicerae and pedipalps are also yellowish to brownish in color.
The legs are moderately strong and long. They are reddish, yellowish, pale green, to brownish in color. The distal ends of the leg segments have transverse bands dark brown in color. They are covered with long black spines and fine hairs. Its leg formula is 1-2-4-3, with the first pair the longest, and the third pair the shortest.
Araneus mitificus are found in South, East, and Southeast Asia; west from Pakistan and India, north towards China and Japan, and south towards the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
They are common in gardens and low vegetation. They often build their webs among bushes.
Araneus mitificus builds orb webs that are characteristically missing a section. The spider does not rest on the center of the web, but instead builds a silk-lined sanctuary in a leaf at the margins.
The leaf is bent at the edges and roofed with a mesh of silk. If a prey animal becomes entangled in the web, the vibrations from its struggle travel to the center of the web, then along a single long strand of silk (the signal line) positioned in the empty section. The strand is linked to the hidden spider. Once the spider feels the signal line vibrate, it will rush out to capture the prey.
Males also build orb webs, often near the webs of females. Their webs are usually smaller.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Araneus
Species: A. mitificus
Binomial name Araneus mitificus
(Simon, 1886)
Araneus mitificus belongs to the genus Araneus. It is classified under the subfamily Araneinae of the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae. They are members of the superfamily of eight-eyed spiders Araneoidea of the suborder Araneomorphae. The species was originally described in 1886 as Epeira mitifica by the French arachnologist Eugène Simon.
Araneus mitificus are small spiders and exhibit sexual dimorphism. The females grow up to 6 to 9 mm (0.24 to 0.35 in). Males are smaller, reaching only 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in), and are generally less colorful than the females.
Their abdomens are globular and covered with fine hair. They slope abruptly from the mid-region to the posterior.
Two small but distinct tubercles are present at the rear end. The dorsal surface is covered with white and black patterns that can vary considerably. The front edge usually has a wide black band.
In the upper center is a characteristic large kidney-shaped marking (which can sometimes be a faint vertical line or V-shaped), from which it derives its common name. Immediately below it are two small but prominent black pits (fovea). At the posterior half is a series of faint transverse ridges. The markings on the back of the spider can resemble a human face if viewed from the front.
The ventral side of the abdomen is a uniform green. The epigynes of the females have unwrinkled, very short and thick scapes.
The cephalothorax is reddish, yellowish, or green in color. It is narrower at the front than at the back and also covered with fine pubescence.
The sternum is heart-shaped, narrowing towards the back. It is covered with long, black, spine-like hairs. They have eight eyes arranged in two recurved rows. The front row of eyes are larger and more recurved than the back row. Dark rings encircle the pair of central back eyes and the lateral eyes are close together and mounted on black tubercles.
The labium is wider than it is long and yellowish. The maxillae have almost square shapes and have distinct tufts of hair at the tips (scopulae). The chelicerae and pedipalps are also yellowish to brownish in color.
The legs are moderately strong and long. They are reddish, yellowish, pale green, to brownish in color. The distal ends of the leg segments have transverse bands dark brown in color. They are covered with long black spines and fine hairs. Its leg formula is 1-2-4-3, with the first pair the longest, and the third pair the shortest.
Araneus mitificus are found in South, East, and Southeast Asia; west from Pakistan and India, north towards China and Japan, and south towards the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
They are common in gardens and low vegetation. They often build their webs among bushes.
Araneus mitificus builds orb webs that are characteristically missing a section. The spider does not rest on the center of the web, but instead builds a silk-lined sanctuary in a leaf at the margins.
The leaf is bent at the edges and roofed with a mesh of silk. If a prey animal becomes entangled in the web, the vibrations from its struggle travel to the center of the web, then along a single long strand of silk (the signal line) positioned in the empty section. The strand is linked to the hidden spider. Once the spider feels the signal line vibrate, it will rush out to capture the prey.
Males also build orb webs, often near the webs of females. Their webs are usually smaller.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Araneus
Species: A. mitificus
Binomial name Araneus mitificus
(Simon, 1886)
Toxeus hirsutipalpi (Singapore)
ant-mimicking jumping spider
ant-mimicking jumping spider
Myrmarachne is a genus of ant-mimicking jumping spiders that was first described by W. S. MacLeay in 1839. They are commonly called antmimicking spiders, but they are not the only spiders that have this attribute. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek μύρμηξ (myrmex), meaning "ant", and ἀράχνη (arachne), meaning "spider".
This genus has undergone many changes, and is still under review as more information becomes available.
Myrmarachne have an elongated cephalothorax with relatively long chelicerae that projects forward in males. The cephalothorax has a waist, and the opisthosoma often has one too. The colors can vary from black to yellow, depending on ant species it is mimicking, and can change over the course of its life.
With about 80 described and many undescribed southeast Asian species, Myrmarachne is the most diverse genus of jumping spider in this region.
Toxeus is a genus of jumping spiders first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846. The genus was synonymized with Myrmarachne by Eugène Simon in 1901, and remained a synonym until revived by Jerzy Prószyński in 2016, when he split up Myrmarachne.
Prószyński placed Toxeus in his informal group "myrmarachnines". When synonymized with Myrmarachne, it was placed in the tribe Myrmarachnini, part of the Salticoida clade of the subfamily Salticinae in Maddison's 2015 classification of the family Salticidae.
Toxeus magnus is a species of jumping-spider of the genus Toxeus. It is endemic to the island of Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
The species was originally classified as a part of the genus Myrmarachne in 1933 by Saitō in his work Notes on the spiders from Formosa, but it was later reclassified as Toxeus by the Polish arachnologist
Jerzy Prószyński in November 2016. The species is notable for being a non-mammalian animal that nurses its offspring through a form of lactation.
Toxeus magnus nurses its offspring for about 38 days, although they are able to forage on their own after 21 days. While the species was first classified in 1933, it wasn't until 2012 that Chinese researcher Chen Zhanqi at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Menglunzhen,
Yunnan had noticed that the Toxeus magnus shared a nest and in July 2017 he had discovered their nursing behaviour.
The white milk-like nutritional fluids produced by the female Toxeus magnus contains sugar, fat, and protein. There is about 2 milligrams of sugar, 5 milligrams of fat, and 124 milligrams of protein in every milliliter of this fluid. While this fluid isn't technically a type of "milk" (containing lactose produced by mammary glands) it does fulfill the same purpose as milk does in mammals and it contains four times more protein relative to cow's milk.
Researchers attempted to discover how long the Toxeus magnus spiderlings can survive without their mother's "milk" by glueing her epigastric furrow shut. Blocking nursing immediately after birth resulted in complete mortality of the offspring, whereas blocking it 20 days after birth resulted in increased foraging and reduced survival. Even after the spiderlings started hunting themselves blocking them from their mother's "milk" decreased their chances of survival by about 50%.
For around the first week after the eggs hatch, a Toxeus magnus mother will leave "milk" droplets around her nest to be consumed by her offspring, after this initial period the mother will start to directly nurse her offpsring.
While the mother might occasionally hunt for fruit flies and other small insects to eat herself, they are not known to return prey back to the nest for feeding their offspring and it is believed that baby Toxeus magnus exclusively feed off of the milk-like substance produced by their mothers for the first three weeks of their lives before they start foraging themselves.
After reaching sexual maturity daughters (but not sons) are allowed to continue, while at this stage in their lives the continued consumption of this milk-like fluid isn't exclusively necessary for survival the offspring that consume it have higher chances of survival, since foraging outside their nest would increase the risk of predation. This form of lactation may have evolved from production of trophic eggs.
Toxeus magnus is exceptional because of its social behaviour. Of the nearly 48,000 known different species of spiders only around 120 are known to be able to tolerate the company of others (including their own siblings) for more than three weeks, and only around 30 species of spiders are known to engage in life-long social lives.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Toxeus
Koch, 1846
Species Toxeus hirsutipalpi (Edmunds & Prószyński, 2003) - Malaysia, Singapore, Bali
This genus has undergone many changes, and is still under review as more information becomes available.
Myrmarachne have an elongated cephalothorax with relatively long chelicerae that projects forward in males. The cephalothorax has a waist, and the opisthosoma often has one too. The colors can vary from black to yellow, depending on ant species it is mimicking, and can change over the course of its life.
With about 80 described and many undescribed southeast Asian species, Myrmarachne is the most diverse genus of jumping spider in this region.
Toxeus is a genus of jumping spiders first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846. The genus was synonymized with Myrmarachne by Eugène Simon in 1901, and remained a synonym until revived by Jerzy Prószyński in 2016, when he split up Myrmarachne.
Prószyński placed Toxeus in his informal group "myrmarachnines". When synonymized with Myrmarachne, it was placed in the tribe Myrmarachnini, part of the Salticoida clade of the subfamily Salticinae in Maddison's 2015 classification of the family Salticidae.
Toxeus magnus is a species of jumping-spider of the genus Toxeus. It is endemic to the island of Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
The species was originally classified as a part of the genus Myrmarachne in 1933 by Saitō in his work Notes on the spiders from Formosa, but it was later reclassified as Toxeus by the Polish arachnologist
Jerzy Prószyński in November 2016. The species is notable for being a non-mammalian animal that nurses its offspring through a form of lactation.
Toxeus magnus nurses its offspring for about 38 days, although they are able to forage on their own after 21 days. While the species was first classified in 1933, it wasn't until 2012 that Chinese researcher Chen Zhanqi at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Menglunzhen,
Yunnan had noticed that the Toxeus magnus shared a nest and in July 2017 he had discovered their nursing behaviour.
The white milk-like nutritional fluids produced by the female Toxeus magnus contains sugar, fat, and protein. There is about 2 milligrams of sugar, 5 milligrams of fat, and 124 milligrams of protein in every milliliter of this fluid. While this fluid isn't technically a type of "milk" (containing lactose produced by mammary glands) it does fulfill the same purpose as milk does in mammals and it contains four times more protein relative to cow's milk.
Researchers attempted to discover how long the Toxeus magnus spiderlings can survive without their mother's "milk" by glueing her epigastric furrow shut. Blocking nursing immediately after birth resulted in complete mortality of the offspring, whereas blocking it 20 days after birth resulted in increased foraging and reduced survival. Even after the spiderlings started hunting themselves blocking them from their mother's "milk" decreased their chances of survival by about 50%.
For around the first week after the eggs hatch, a Toxeus magnus mother will leave "milk" droplets around her nest to be consumed by her offspring, after this initial period the mother will start to directly nurse her offpsring.
While the mother might occasionally hunt for fruit flies and other small insects to eat herself, they are not known to return prey back to the nest for feeding their offspring and it is believed that baby Toxeus magnus exclusively feed off of the milk-like substance produced by their mothers for the first three weeks of their lives before they start foraging themselves.
After reaching sexual maturity daughters (but not sons) are allowed to continue, while at this stage in their lives the continued consumption of this milk-like fluid isn't exclusively necessary for survival the offspring that consume it have higher chances of survival, since foraging outside their nest would increase the risk of predation. This form of lactation may have evolved from production of trophic eggs.
Toxeus magnus is exceptional because of its social behaviour. Of the nearly 48,000 known different species of spiders only around 120 are known to be able to tolerate the company of others (including their own siblings) for more than three weeks, and only around 30 species of spiders are known to engage in life-long social lives.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Toxeus
Koch, 1846
Species Toxeus hirsutipalpi (Edmunds & Prószyński, 2003) - Malaysia, Singapore, Bali
Talthybia depressa
Talthybia , known as the wrap-around spider, is a species of spider in the family Araneidae. It is named for its ability to flatten and wrap its body around tree limbs as camouflage.
Talthybia is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Talthybia depressa. It was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1898 and has only been found in China and Myanmar.
Talthybia depressa Thorell, 1898 is morphologically easy to recognize by its subequal length and width of the carapace, having a truncated anterior cephalic region with a tubercle pointed in lateral angle plus three anterior, two middle, and four posterior
tubercles on the ventral part of the abdomen.
Epigynal scape is developed, wide and flat, and spoon-shaped or ovate posteriorly. Behavior-wise, the species rest on branches with its head perpendicular to the length of the branch.
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests.
The English word orb can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group.
Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,067 species in 177 genera worldwide,
Araneidae is the third-largest family of spiders (behind Salticidae and Linyphiidae). Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotyped fashion. A framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae; they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea. The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae.
The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Generally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with many radii of nonsticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk.
The third claw is used to walk on the nonsticky part of the web. Characteristically, the prey insect that blunders into the sticky lines is stunned by a quick bite, and then wrapped in silk.
If the prey is a venomous insect, such as a wasp, wrapping may precede biting and/or stinging. Much of the orb-spinning spiders' success in capturing insects depends on the web not being visible to the prey, with the stickiness of the web increasing the visibility and so decreasing the chances of capturing prey. This leads to a trade-off between the visibility of the web and the web's prey retention ability.
Many orb-weavers build a new web each day and some orb-weavers do not build webs at all. Most orb-weavers tend to be active during the evening hours; they hide for most of the day.
Generally, towards evening, the spider will consume the old web, rest for approximately an hour, then spin a new web in the same general location.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Talthybia
Thorell, 1898
Species: T. depressa
Binomial name Talthybia depressa
Thorell, 1898
Talthybia is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Talthybia depressa. It was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1898 and has only been found in China and Myanmar.
Talthybia depressa Thorell, 1898 is morphologically easy to recognize by its subequal length and width of the carapace, having a truncated anterior cephalic region with a tubercle pointed in lateral angle plus three anterior, two middle, and four posterior
tubercles on the ventral part of the abdomen.
Epigynal scape is developed, wide and flat, and spoon-shaped or ovate posteriorly. Behavior-wise, the species rest on branches with its head perpendicular to the length of the branch.
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests.
The English word orb can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group.
Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,067 species in 177 genera worldwide,
Araneidae is the third-largest family of spiders (behind Salticidae and Linyphiidae). Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotyped fashion. A framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
Orb webs are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnathidae) were formerly included in the Araneidae; they are closely related, being part of the superfamily Araneoidea. The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae.
The cribellate or hackled orb-weavers (Uloboridae) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.
Generally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with many radii of nonsticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk.
The third claw is used to walk on the nonsticky part of the web. Characteristically, the prey insect that blunders into the sticky lines is stunned by a quick bite, and then wrapped in silk.
If the prey is a venomous insect, such as a wasp, wrapping may precede biting and/or stinging. Much of the orb-spinning spiders' success in capturing insects depends on the web not being visible to the prey, with the stickiness of the web increasing the visibility and so decreasing the chances of capturing prey. This leads to a trade-off between the visibility of the web and the web's prey retention ability.
Many orb-weavers build a new web each day and some orb-weavers do not build webs at all. Most orb-weavers tend to be active during the evening hours; they hide for most of the day.
Generally, towards evening, the spider will consume the old web, rest for approximately an hour, then spin a new web in the same general location.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Talthybia
Thorell, 1898
Species: T. depressa
Binomial name Talthybia depressa
Thorell, 1898
Bavia sexpunctata
Six spotted jumping spider
Six spotted jumping spider
Bavia is a genus of jumping spiders. Bavia species are around 6 to 11 millimetres (0.24 to 0.43 in) long in both sexes. Species of this genus are slender with long legs often found on the leaves of shrubs or lower tree branches.
Bavia is distributed throughout the Australasian region, with one isolated species found in Madagascar.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Bavia
Simon, 1877
Species Bavia sexpunctata
Simon, 1877
Bavia is distributed throughout the Australasian region, with one isolated species found in Madagascar.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Bavia
Simon, 1877
Species Bavia sexpunctata
Simon, 1877
Hersiliidae
Tree trunk spider and or Two tailed spider
Tree trunk spider and or Two tailed spider
Hersiliidae is a tropical and subtropical family of spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869, which are commonly known as tree trunk spiders.
They have two prominent spinnerets that are almost as long as their abdomen, earning them another nickname, the "two-tailed spiders".
They range in size from 10 to 18 mm (0.4 to 0.7 in) long. Rather than using a web that captures prey directly, they lay a light coating of threads over an area of tree bark and wait for an insect to stray onto the patch. When this happens, they encircle their spinnerets around their prey while casting silk on it. When the insect is immobilized, they can bite it through the shroud.
Hersiliidae is an entelegyne family (characterized primarily by the nature of the female genital system), and together with the family Oecobiidae traditionally formed the superfamily Oecobioidea.
The family consists of about 206 species divided into sixteen genera. It has a global distribution in tropical and subtropical regions, with only a few species being found north of the 40°N parallel. All members are ecribellate (lack the cribella or perforated plates which produce multiple, exceptionally fine strands of silk) and are recognizable by the pair of exceptionally long spinnerets set at the tip of the abdomen. They have eight eyes, set in two curved rows. They are small to medium-sized spiders and are active day and night. They are very well camouflaged when stationary on the trunk of a tree and aligned with the bark markings.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Hersiliidae
Thorell, 1869
They have two prominent spinnerets that are almost as long as their abdomen, earning them another nickname, the "two-tailed spiders".
They range in size from 10 to 18 mm (0.4 to 0.7 in) long. Rather than using a web that captures prey directly, they lay a light coating of threads over an area of tree bark and wait for an insect to stray onto the patch. When this happens, they encircle their spinnerets around their prey while casting silk on it. When the insect is immobilized, they can bite it through the shroud.
Hersiliidae is an entelegyne family (characterized primarily by the nature of the female genital system), and together with the family Oecobiidae traditionally formed the superfamily Oecobioidea.
The family consists of about 206 species divided into sixteen genera. It has a global distribution in tropical and subtropical regions, with only a few species being found north of the 40°N parallel. All members are ecribellate (lack the cribella or perforated plates which produce multiple, exceptionally fine strands of silk) and are recognizable by the pair of exceptionally long spinnerets set at the tip of the abdomen. They have eight eyes, set in two curved rows. They are small to medium-sized spiders and are active day and night. They are very well camouflaged when stationary on the trunk of a tree and aligned with the bark markings.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Hersiliidae
Thorell, 1869
Argiope versicolor
multi-coloured Saint Andrew's cross spider
multi-coloured Saint Andrew's cross spider
Argiope versicolor, the multi-coloured Saint Andrew's cross spider, is a species of orb-weaver spider found mostly in Southeast Asia, from China to Indonesia (Java).
Argiope versicolor is a colorful spider. The female's cephalothorax is covered by silvery hair. Its abdomen is pentagonal in shape with white, yellow, red, dark bands dorsally, and two longitudinal yellow stripes ventrally. The dark bands are dotted with white. The legs are orange with dark bands. She usually sits head down in the centre of the web, with legs held spread-eagle in an 'X' shape reminiscent of St. Andrew's Cross.
The Male webs are not decorated by zig-zag white bands and its size is smaller and duller than the female, and brown and cream coloured.
Like other members of the genus, females sometimes decorate their web with a zig-zag stabilimentum of white silk, which varies in shape from discoid in juveniles to cruciform in mature females. The stabilimentum may be association with predator-avoidance behaviours.
St Andrews Cross Spiders:
Low Risk • Non-Aggressive
VENOM TOXICITY - the bite of the St Andrews Cross is of low risk (non-toxic) to humans.
They are a non-aggressive group of spiders.
Phylum:Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species: A. versicolor
Binomial name Argiope versicolor
(Doleschall, 1859)
Synonyms
Epeira versicolor Doleschall, 1859
Argiope versicolor is a colorful spider. The female's cephalothorax is covered by silvery hair. Its abdomen is pentagonal in shape with white, yellow, red, dark bands dorsally, and two longitudinal yellow stripes ventrally. The dark bands are dotted with white. The legs are orange with dark bands. She usually sits head down in the centre of the web, with legs held spread-eagle in an 'X' shape reminiscent of St. Andrew's Cross.
The Male webs are not decorated by zig-zag white bands and its size is smaller and duller than the female, and brown and cream coloured.
Like other members of the genus, females sometimes decorate their web with a zig-zag stabilimentum of white silk, which varies in shape from discoid in juveniles to cruciform in mature females. The stabilimentum may be association with predator-avoidance behaviours.
St Andrews Cross Spiders:
Low Risk • Non-Aggressive
VENOM TOXICITY - the bite of the St Andrews Cross is of low risk (non-toxic) to humans.
They are a non-aggressive group of spiders.
Phylum:Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species: A. versicolor
Binomial name Argiope versicolor
(Doleschall, 1859)
Synonyms
Epeira versicolor Doleschall, 1859
Doria's Spiny Spider
Gasteracantha doriae
Gasteracantha doriae
Gasteracantha (known as spiny-backed orb-weavers, spiny orb-weavers, or spiny spiders) is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833.
The females of most species are brightly colored with six prominent spines on their broad, hardened, shell-like abdomens.
The name Gasteracantha is derived from the Greek gaster (γαστήρ), meaning "belly, abdomen", and akantha (άκανθα), meaning "thorn, spine".
Spiny-backed orb-weavers are sometimes colloquially called "crab spiders" because of their shape, but they are not closely related to the true crab spiders. Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider, star spider, kite spider, or jewel spider.
Members of the genus exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. Males are several times smaller than females, and they lack prominent spines or bright colors.
Gasteracantha is distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. The genus is most diverse in tropical Asia, from India through Indonesia.
Gasteracantha has a complex taxonomic history, and many questions of species limits and distribution and generic interrelationships remain unanswered.
Furthermore, challenges include the variability within individual Gasteracantha species (e.g., color polymorphism and variable length and shape of spines), a lack of male specimens and descriptions for many species, missing or damaged type specimens, and ambiguous initial descriptions in 18th- and 19th-century scientific literature. The 70 species currently recognized by World Spider Catalog include dozens of synonyms and subspecies, many based on literature well over 100 years old.
Gasteracantha is related to several other spiny orb-weaver genera of Africa, Asia, and Australasia, many of which are monospecific. Orb-weavers' bites are generally harmless to humans.
Gasteracantha doriae is a spiny orb-weaver in the family Araneidae.
Are Spiny Orb-Weaver Spiders Poisonous?
While these spiders are capable of biting, they are not known to be an aggressive species of spider.
Unless picked up or provoked, these spiders will not bite you, and are actually quite beneficial. Even if you were bitten by a spiny-backed orb-weaver, their bites are not known to be poisonous, and do not cause any serious symptoms to humans.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Sundevall, 1833
Species: Doria's Spiny Spider
Gasteracantha doriae Simon 1877
The females of most species are brightly colored with six prominent spines on their broad, hardened, shell-like abdomens.
The name Gasteracantha is derived from the Greek gaster (γαστήρ), meaning "belly, abdomen", and akantha (άκανθα), meaning "thorn, spine".
Spiny-backed orb-weavers are sometimes colloquially called "crab spiders" because of their shape, but they are not closely related to the true crab spiders. Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider, star spider, kite spider, or jewel spider.
Members of the genus exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. Males are several times smaller than females, and they lack prominent spines or bright colors.
Gasteracantha is distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. The genus is most diverse in tropical Asia, from India through Indonesia.
Gasteracantha has a complex taxonomic history, and many questions of species limits and distribution and generic interrelationships remain unanswered.
Furthermore, challenges include the variability within individual Gasteracantha species (e.g., color polymorphism and variable length and shape of spines), a lack of male specimens and descriptions for many species, missing or damaged type specimens, and ambiguous initial descriptions in 18th- and 19th-century scientific literature. The 70 species currently recognized by World Spider Catalog include dozens of synonyms and subspecies, many based on literature well over 100 years old.
Gasteracantha is related to several other spiny orb-weaver genera of Africa, Asia, and Australasia, many of which are monospecific. Orb-weavers' bites are generally harmless to humans.
Gasteracantha doriae is a spiny orb-weaver in the family Araneidae.
Are Spiny Orb-Weaver Spiders Poisonous?
While these spiders are capable of biting, they are not known to be an aggressive species of spider.
Unless picked up or provoked, these spiders will not bite you, and are actually quite beneficial. Even if you were bitten by a spiny-backed orb-weaver, their bites are not known to be poisonous, and do not cause any serious symptoms to humans.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Sundevall, 1833
Species: Doria's Spiny Spider
Gasteracantha doriae Simon 1877
Pandercetes gracilis
Lichen huntsman
Lichen huntsman
Pandercetes gracilis is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in his 1875 treatise on Australian spiders.
They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat.
Individuals can vary in color and many color forms exist, It hunts by hiding among moss and lichen,
then ambushing prey that comes into range by pouncing on it.
The genus is characterized by the internal anatomy of the reproductive structures. Males have irregular coils at the terminal end, while females have screw like copulatory ducts.
Huntsman Spiders:
Low Risk • Non-Aggressive
VENOM TOXICITY ✦ Huntsman Spider bite is low risk (non toxic) to humans ✦ they are non-aggressive spiders ✦ but, a large individual can give a painful bite ✦ BEWARE in summer when the female spider is guarding her egg sacs or young.
FIRST AID - Huntsman Spider Bite
Keep the patient calm - don't panic - avoid excitement - avoid undue movement of patient - reassure the patient - so as to avoid quikening the heart rate and blood flow (with venom) through the body.
Do NOT bandage - except for Funnel-web spider bite. The venom of other spider bites moves slowly from the bite site - so any restriction causes excruciating pain.
Use an ICE-PACK (wrapped in cloth) on bite site - to help reduce pain and swelling around the bite site.
If serious symptoms exist - call AMBULANCE dial 995
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Pandercetes
L. Koch, 1875
Type species P. gracilis
L. Koch, 1875
They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat.
Individuals can vary in color and many color forms exist, It hunts by hiding among moss and lichen,
then ambushing prey that comes into range by pouncing on it.
The genus is characterized by the internal anatomy of the reproductive structures. Males have irregular coils at the terminal end, while females have screw like copulatory ducts.
Huntsman Spiders:
Low Risk • Non-Aggressive
VENOM TOXICITY ✦ Huntsman Spider bite is low risk (non toxic) to humans ✦ they are non-aggressive spiders ✦ but, a large individual can give a painful bite ✦ BEWARE in summer when the female spider is guarding her egg sacs or young.
FIRST AID - Huntsman Spider Bite
Keep the patient calm - don't panic - avoid excitement - avoid undue movement of patient - reassure the patient - so as to avoid quikening the heart rate and blood flow (with venom) through the body.
Do NOT bandage - except for Funnel-web spider bite. The venom of other spider bites moves slowly from the bite site - so any restriction causes excruciating pain.
Use an ICE-PACK (wrapped in cloth) on bite site - to help reduce pain and swelling around the bite site.
If serious symptoms exist - call AMBULANCE dial 995
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Pandercetes
L. Koch, 1875
Type species P. gracilis
L. Koch, 1875
Thomisus spectabilis
White crab spider
White crab spider
Thomisus spectabilis, also known as the white crab spider or Australian crab spider, is a small spider found in Australia and far east Asia.
The body length of the female is up to 10 mm, the male 6.2 mm. Including legs, the spider is around 3 cm across. This spider is usually white, though sometimes may appear yellow. The legs and head appear almost translucent.
Thomisus spectabilis is an ambush predator, often seen resting in flowers of its same color. Its egg sacs are laid in a folded leaf, and the cream colored eggs, typically 1 mm in diameter, range between 200 and 370 in number.
These spiders primarily eat insects and their preference for symmetry helps them in capturing pollinating insects such as butterflies and bees. The spider also takes advantage of its color scheme's reflectance of UV light to create a color contrast in the visual field of the bees that attracts the bees.
The Australian crab spider is mostly a suburban or urban animal found in Eastern Australia, and their habitat is among white and yellow daisies.
Thomisus spectabilis are a venomous species. They tend to be more aggressive than most spider species with higher bite rates. Their bites are not lethal, but might lead to mild symptoms like localized pain. These spiders do not weave webs, but rather chase and ambush their preys.
T. spectabilis undergoes a unique color transformation from yellow to white. The color change helps them not only hide from predators, but stalk prey in similarly colored daisies as well. This transformation allows them to switch between appearing conspicuous and cryptic to their prey.
The colorful bodies allow spiders to reflect UV-light in a manner that attracts bees to their flower. When the spider changes to a specific color, the color is displayed uniformly across its head, legs, and abdomen.
The legs of this spider span up to 30 mm. They have small black eyes that are organized into a white band across its head resembling a mask. The abdomen of the spider has a pentagon shape and two small bumps across it. They have stout legs arranged similarly to a crab. The spider has pinching fangs, but no claw tufts, so it's not able to climb across smooth surfaces.
Australian crab spiders are very similar to other crab spiders across the world, such as the European, Alaskan, or Canadian crab spider. A similarity in these spiders is that rather than building webs, they hide from their prey and ambush them with their forelimbs.
Crab spiders are in the family Thomisidae.
This family has four lineages/clades: Borboropactus clade, Epidius clade, Stephanopis clade and the Thomisus clade.
The Australian crab spider belongs to the Thomisus clade. There is very minimal genetic divergence in this clade. The ability of Thomisus spectabilis to change color is shared by Misumena, Diaea, and Runcinia spiders which are also members of the Thomisidae family and have high genetic relatedness with the Australian Crab spider.
Misumena vatia is a close relative of T. spectabilis but instead has a holarctic distribution. Thomisids fall within the larger Dionycha clade, and this clade is defined by the loss of an unpaired tarsal claw for the animal. Genetic sequencing of Thomisids found that the 16S gene was 430 nucleotide base pairs long, H3 gene was 328 base pairs, and COI gene was 557 base pairs. All of these basepair numbers are unique to the Thomisids within the Dionycha clade.
There are three distinct features that define a spider from the Thomisidae family: leg 3 and leg 4 are shorter and weaker than leg 1 and leg 2, lateral eyes that are larger than median eyes, and presence of a group of setae.
The Thomisus clade of the Australian crab spider has the following morphological similarities: circular scopula hairs, subequal bulbus, disc shaped tegulum, a sperm duct with a spherical, peripheral course, no conductor, and no median apophysis.
The Australian crab spiders choose habitats that increase their chances of catching prey. Since this involves creating contrast between itself and the flower, it will pick flower colors and flower positions that maximize the contrast.
Due to the importance of contrast with flowers, these spiders cannot simply choose habitats with large numbers of its prey. Instead, they must think about both flower type and prey number while choosing habitats in a way that maximizes capture.
T. spectabilis is mostly attracted to staying in flowers that are newer, and is drawn to them through olfactory cues. It is most commonly found in tropical or subtropical areas, but some also prefer white clothing lines.
They are spread throughout Australia, but are primarily located in Eastern Australia. It is mainly a suburban spider. In Brisbane, they are normally found in backyards, bushes, and gardens.
These spiders are a predatory species, and they feed mainly on insects. They mainly eat live or recently killed insects. Some examples of these insects are crickets, drosophila flies, and pollinators such as honey bees and butterflies.
The spiders are an important form of pest control as they protect the flowers they inhabit from attack by insects. The energy obtained from consuming these insects allows the adult female Australian crab spider to produce a clutch of eggs.
Australian crab spiders do not build webs, as they capture their prey through ambush and hiding rather than web capture. They will use fallen leaves or live foliage to hide their bodies, which are easy to camouflage due to its color in order to ambush their prey. They can wait up to periods of 2 hours hidden under foliage in order to strike their prey. However, they do still have the ability to make silk, and typically use it to build retreats. During the day, they rest in these retreats that are composed of silk and leaves. At night, they come out of their retreats to wait on flowers and ambush their prey.
This spider does not capture prey through webs, but instead sits on flowers and ambushes pollinators as they arrive to the flower. They use cues from their prey and from the flowers to pick their habitat.
Although many spiders use camouflage to hide from spiders before eventually attacking them, the Australian crab spider is actually not cryptic to its prey as it hides. In fact, honeybees can visually determine the difference between the spiders and the flowers in which they are waiting.
The mechanism of deceit for Australian crab spiders involves influencing and exploiting signal communication between pollinators and plants. Insects choose plants that have larger flowers, available nectar, a specific odor, a certain color, or a certain symmetrical pattern on the flower.
Honeybees specifically are attracted to flowers with certain odors (implying high nectar reward), colors, and symmetrical patterns. The Australian crab spider uses the same combination of visual and olfactory cues that attracts the bees to arrive at the same flower as the bees.
The honeybee's affinity for symmetry leads it to pollinate flowers with symmetrical patterns. Bees and Australian crab spiders are both drawn to symmetry, and this leads both the predator and prey to come together at the same flowers.
Coevolution of bees with the Australian crab spider has resulted in the spiders being attracted to the same cues as the bees. It has also resulted in the bees developing anti-predatory behavior. Despite the heightened risk of going to the same flowers as the Australian crab spiders, they continue to do it because those flowers present the highest potential reward in nectar and freshness for the bees.
Honeybees show a strong preference for radial symmetry over bilateral symmetry while crab spiders do not discriminate. The white crab spider's preference for symmetry, along with olfactory cues, draws it to hide among flowers and ambush honeybees as they arrive. The olfactory cues tell the honeybees which flowers hold the biggest rewards for them, and these spiders have evolved to be attracted to that same scent because the bees are the spiders' reward.
The spiders are able to actively influence honeybees to come to the flower that they are positioned on. When the Australian crab spider is in its white body state, it is able to reflect UV light. This reflected UV light causes activation in the UV photoreceptors of the bees, and increases the UV receptor contrast and the contrast between the spiders and the flowers. The bees are attracted to this contrast, and subsequently go to the flowers at which they are ambushed by the spiders.
There is temporal and individual variation in UV reflectance between Australian Crab spiders. This variation is most frequently in the range of 300 nm to 400 nm. Temporal variation can be seen in differences in UV-reflectance between different years. In 2008, Thomisus spectabilis were more UV-reflective and created larger color contrasts with flowers than in 2009.
This temporal variation is correlated with the spiders adopting strategies switching between low and high conspicuousness. This is necessitated by a combination of Thomisus spectabilis' prey and predator behavior and the balance of attracting prey while maintaining safety from predators. The most common predators of the spider are wasps and birds, and both of these animals are able to perceive UV-light. Thus, the Australian Crab Spider is much more likely to be harmed in a white UV-bright reflective patterns than a white UV-dull reflective pattern.
Individual UV-reflectance variation is not necessarily due to the amount of prey they have already consumed, as their adjustment is based on prey availability and environment rather than satiation. It is also not due to the body size or shape of the spiders. Rather, it has the strongest relationship with predator presence.
In the absence of predators, UV-Reflectance will always increase because it always makes them more likely to attract prey. This is in stark contrast to other spider species, such as Misumena vatia, that almost always vary their UV-reflectance to match their backgrounds and lower conspicuousness.
There is variation in the hypodermal layer of spiders with different body color phenotypes. For yellow body spiders, the hypodermis is composed of granules, filled with electrons, and does not contain crystals.
White non-UV spiders have their hypodermal layer filled with random patterns of crystals. White UV spiders have granules and little to no crystals in their hypodermis. The most significant aspect of the variation is the lack of granules for white non-UV spiders. The crystals of the hypodermis fluoresce under UV light. The structure of the guanocyte layer does not show distinct patterns for different color phenotypes.
Thomisus spectabilis differs from other crab spiders in that its UV reflectance, hue, saturation, and brightness profiles are very different between its three phenotypes. There is a 56 nm shift in hue from the white UV spiders to the white non-UV spiders, and a .05 difference in saturation between white UV and white non-UV spiders. Brightness of white UV-Spiders was 7.9% higher than for white non-UV spiders. The cuticles of white UV and white non-UV spiders reflect UV light very similarly across the spectrum, but yellow non-UV spiders transmit less light throughout the spectrum, specifically in the 380-500 nm region. Similarly, the guanocytes of white non-UV and white UV spiders reflect UV light similarly, but yellow non-UV spiders reflected less throughout the spectrum as well. Guanocytes across all phenotypes sharply dropped off reflection at wavelengths under 330 nm.
Another crucial aspect of prey capture for the Australian crab spider lies in its exact positioning on the flower itself. Honeybees are attracted to flowers partially based on the amount of rewards they have, and this is determined from looking at the center of the flower. To ensure they don't come in the way of that, it is vital for the spider to position itself on the lingulate floret of the flower away from the center. This allows them to create the color contrast in the bee's vision that draws them to the spider-laden flowers.
Thomisus spectabilis with larger body sizes are better able to capture prey. Honeybees are more likely to land on flowers that have larger spiders than smaller spiders. Thus, larger Australian crab spiders do not have to use their UV-reflective property as much as smaller spiders to attract bees. For smaller spiders, using UV-reflectance results in less hunting success than larger spiders using UV-reflectance; spider size is a larger factor than UV-reflectance for predicting bee attraction and hunting success. Further, levels of UV-reflectance increase for larger spiders suggesting coevolution of size and UV-reflectance traits.
Movement of Thomisus spectabilis has large impacts on the behavior of honeybees. If they move before honeybees approach, the bees are much more likely to stay away from the flower. This effect is more pronounced when the spiders are waiting below the inflorescence of the flower rather than above it. Below the inflorescence, the spiders remaining still makes them 70% more likely to attract a spider to land, but above the inflorescence they are 50% more likely to attract a spider to land by remaining still.
Movement of crab spiders alerts bees to their presence. This forces the bees to make a decision weighing the risk of the spiders and the reward of the nectar. These decisions are also influenced by the susceptibility of the bee. Highly susceptible bees mostly visit safe flowers, even if the resources are poor in those areas. Other bees often must choose riskier patches of flowers, because those flowers often contain the highest amount of nectar. Since the flowers with hiding spiders often become damaged due to the ambush of the bees, they actually have evolved to increase nectar production so that they can continue to attract bees despite the threat of predation. Honeybees are adept at finding the best flower patches to maximize nectar reward and minimize predation risk due to their impressive communication system. Bees are able to recruit bee mates to flower locations that they have scouted as high nectar locations, and they are also able to tell each other when there is a patch with hiding spiders.
T. spectabilis is sexually dimorphic, where the female spider is larger and stronger than the male spider. Thus, it is the female spider that lies in flowers waiting for pollinators to ambush and capture. The male spider spends the majority of its time searching for females to mate with, and they eat very little overall. The females have evolved to have higher reflectance of light on their abdomen than male spiders; this reflectance is vital to helping them deceive and capture pollinators. Females are also responsible for building the egg-sacs. They build them on curved leaves, and are responsible for guarding the eggs and the offspring.
The Australian crab spider eats a variety of bees, but the two main varieties are honeybees and Australian native bees. While the spider's array of prey catching techniques are effective on both types of bees, the honeybee is specifically susceptible due to a lack of coevolution with the Australian crab spider. When the spider creates color contrasts with different flowers in order to trick the bees, the honeybee immediately is drawn to land on the flower in which the spider is waiting. On the other hand, the Australian native bee has coevolved with the Australian crab spider, and thus can discriminate between flowers that have spiders and those that do not. In order for this discrimination to work, the bees must approach the flower closely. They land on the flower that is unoccupied by the bee. This results in many more honeybees being captured by the crab spider than Australian native bees. It is also possible that the Australian native bee has evolved to detect the odor of the crab spiders to help them avoid the spider laden flowers.
The crab spider has coevolved as well to better match the bee varieties they are surrounded by. Different pollinating species are attracted to different levels of UV contrasts, so Thomisus spectabilis has evolved to be able to adjust the UV contrast that they create with the flowers through reflecting varied amounts of UV light. Since honeybees do not have the ability to discriminate between flowers with and without the crab spiders, Thomisus spectabilis will more often create the UV contrast that attracts honeybees than create the UV contrast that attracts the Australian native bee. The UV contrast is also influenced by the predators of Thomisus spectabilis that are in the area. If there are a high number of predators nearby, the crab spider will use low UV reflectance to attract the least amount of attention, and vice versa for times during which there are very few predators.
The non-cryptic nature of Australian crab spiders influences the type of bee that they can capture. The deceit that Thomisus spectabilis use to attract prey actually makes them more conspicuous to the prey. Bees have varying reactions to conspicuousness. For example, in Austroplebeia australis bees there is an aversion to conspicuousness, so the non-cryptic nature of Thomisus spectabilis makes them less likely to capture those types of bees. In contrast, Trigona carbonaria bees do not change their behavior based on the conspicuousness of spiders, so the Australian crab spider has a better chance of capturing them.
T. specabilis typically bites more frequently than most spiders. The bites are venomous, and can have mild but significant effects on humans. These effects range from localized pain, redness, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and swelling, but the symptoms generally subside in 1–2 hours after onset.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Thomisus
Species: T. spectabilis
Binomial name Thomisus spectabilis
Doleschall, 1859
The body length of the female is up to 10 mm, the male 6.2 mm. Including legs, the spider is around 3 cm across. This spider is usually white, though sometimes may appear yellow. The legs and head appear almost translucent.
Thomisus spectabilis is an ambush predator, often seen resting in flowers of its same color. Its egg sacs are laid in a folded leaf, and the cream colored eggs, typically 1 mm in diameter, range between 200 and 370 in number.
These spiders primarily eat insects and their preference for symmetry helps them in capturing pollinating insects such as butterflies and bees. The spider also takes advantage of its color scheme's reflectance of UV light to create a color contrast in the visual field of the bees that attracts the bees.
The Australian crab spider is mostly a suburban or urban animal found in Eastern Australia, and their habitat is among white and yellow daisies.
Thomisus spectabilis are a venomous species. They tend to be more aggressive than most spider species with higher bite rates. Their bites are not lethal, but might lead to mild symptoms like localized pain. These spiders do not weave webs, but rather chase and ambush their preys.
T. spectabilis undergoes a unique color transformation from yellow to white. The color change helps them not only hide from predators, but stalk prey in similarly colored daisies as well. This transformation allows them to switch between appearing conspicuous and cryptic to their prey.
The colorful bodies allow spiders to reflect UV-light in a manner that attracts bees to their flower. When the spider changes to a specific color, the color is displayed uniformly across its head, legs, and abdomen.
The legs of this spider span up to 30 mm. They have small black eyes that are organized into a white band across its head resembling a mask. The abdomen of the spider has a pentagon shape and two small bumps across it. They have stout legs arranged similarly to a crab. The spider has pinching fangs, but no claw tufts, so it's not able to climb across smooth surfaces.
Australian crab spiders are very similar to other crab spiders across the world, such as the European, Alaskan, or Canadian crab spider. A similarity in these spiders is that rather than building webs, they hide from their prey and ambush them with their forelimbs.
Crab spiders are in the family Thomisidae.
This family has four lineages/clades: Borboropactus clade, Epidius clade, Stephanopis clade and the Thomisus clade.
The Australian crab spider belongs to the Thomisus clade. There is very minimal genetic divergence in this clade. The ability of Thomisus spectabilis to change color is shared by Misumena, Diaea, and Runcinia spiders which are also members of the Thomisidae family and have high genetic relatedness with the Australian Crab spider.
Misumena vatia is a close relative of T. spectabilis but instead has a holarctic distribution. Thomisids fall within the larger Dionycha clade, and this clade is defined by the loss of an unpaired tarsal claw for the animal. Genetic sequencing of Thomisids found that the 16S gene was 430 nucleotide base pairs long, H3 gene was 328 base pairs, and COI gene was 557 base pairs. All of these basepair numbers are unique to the Thomisids within the Dionycha clade.
There are three distinct features that define a spider from the Thomisidae family: leg 3 and leg 4 are shorter and weaker than leg 1 and leg 2, lateral eyes that are larger than median eyes, and presence of a group of setae.
The Thomisus clade of the Australian crab spider has the following morphological similarities: circular scopula hairs, subequal bulbus, disc shaped tegulum, a sperm duct with a spherical, peripheral course, no conductor, and no median apophysis.
The Australian crab spiders choose habitats that increase their chances of catching prey. Since this involves creating contrast between itself and the flower, it will pick flower colors and flower positions that maximize the contrast.
Due to the importance of contrast with flowers, these spiders cannot simply choose habitats with large numbers of its prey. Instead, they must think about both flower type and prey number while choosing habitats in a way that maximizes capture.
T. spectabilis is mostly attracted to staying in flowers that are newer, and is drawn to them through olfactory cues. It is most commonly found in tropical or subtropical areas, but some also prefer white clothing lines.
They are spread throughout Australia, but are primarily located in Eastern Australia. It is mainly a suburban spider. In Brisbane, they are normally found in backyards, bushes, and gardens.
These spiders are a predatory species, and they feed mainly on insects. They mainly eat live or recently killed insects. Some examples of these insects are crickets, drosophila flies, and pollinators such as honey bees and butterflies.
The spiders are an important form of pest control as they protect the flowers they inhabit from attack by insects. The energy obtained from consuming these insects allows the adult female Australian crab spider to produce a clutch of eggs.
Australian crab spiders do not build webs, as they capture their prey through ambush and hiding rather than web capture. They will use fallen leaves or live foliage to hide their bodies, which are easy to camouflage due to its color in order to ambush their prey. They can wait up to periods of 2 hours hidden under foliage in order to strike their prey. However, they do still have the ability to make silk, and typically use it to build retreats. During the day, they rest in these retreats that are composed of silk and leaves. At night, they come out of their retreats to wait on flowers and ambush their prey.
This spider does not capture prey through webs, but instead sits on flowers and ambushes pollinators as they arrive to the flower. They use cues from their prey and from the flowers to pick their habitat.
Although many spiders use camouflage to hide from spiders before eventually attacking them, the Australian crab spider is actually not cryptic to its prey as it hides. In fact, honeybees can visually determine the difference between the spiders and the flowers in which they are waiting.
The mechanism of deceit for Australian crab spiders involves influencing and exploiting signal communication between pollinators and plants. Insects choose plants that have larger flowers, available nectar, a specific odor, a certain color, or a certain symmetrical pattern on the flower.
Honeybees specifically are attracted to flowers with certain odors (implying high nectar reward), colors, and symmetrical patterns. The Australian crab spider uses the same combination of visual and olfactory cues that attracts the bees to arrive at the same flower as the bees.
The honeybee's affinity for symmetry leads it to pollinate flowers with symmetrical patterns. Bees and Australian crab spiders are both drawn to symmetry, and this leads both the predator and prey to come together at the same flowers.
Coevolution of bees with the Australian crab spider has resulted in the spiders being attracted to the same cues as the bees. It has also resulted in the bees developing anti-predatory behavior. Despite the heightened risk of going to the same flowers as the Australian crab spiders, they continue to do it because those flowers present the highest potential reward in nectar and freshness for the bees.
Honeybees show a strong preference for radial symmetry over bilateral symmetry while crab spiders do not discriminate. The white crab spider's preference for symmetry, along with olfactory cues, draws it to hide among flowers and ambush honeybees as they arrive. The olfactory cues tell the honeybees which flowers hold the biggest rewards for them, and these spiders have evolved to be attracted to that same scent because the bees are the spiders' reward.
The spiders are able to actively influence honeybees to come to the flower that they are positioned on. When the Australian crab spider is in its white body state, it is able to reflect UV light. This reflected UV light causes activation in the UV photoreceptors of the bees, and increases the UV receptor contrast and the contrast between the spiders and the flowers. The bees are attracted to this contrast, and subsequently go to the flowers at which they are ambushed by the spiders.
There is temporal and individual variation in UV reflectance between Australian Crab spiders. This variation is most frequently in the range of 300 nm to 400 nm. Temporal variation can be seen in differences in UV-reflectance between different years. In 2008, Thomisus spectabilis were more UV-reflective and created larger color contrasts with flowers than in 2009.
This temporal variation is correlated with the spiders adopting strategies switching between low and high conspicuousness. This is necessitated by a combination of Thomisus spectabilis' prey and predator behavior and the balance of attracting prey while maintaining safety from predators. The most common predators of the spider are wasps and birds, and both of these animals are able to perceive UV-light. Thus, the Australian Crab Spider is much more likely to be harmed in a white UV-bright reflective patterns than a white UV-dull reflective pattern.
Individual UV-reflectance variation is not necessarily due to the amount of prey they have already consumed, as their adjustment is based on prey availability and environment rather than satiation. It is also not due to the body size or shape of the spiders. Rather, it has the strongest relationship with predator presence.
In the absence of predators, UV-Reflectance will always increase because it always makes them more likely to attract prey. This is in stark contrast to other spider species, such as Misumena vatia, that almost always vary their UV-reflectance to match their backgrounds and lower conspicuousness.
There is variation in the hypodermal layer of spiders with different body color phenotypes. For yellow body spiders, the hypodermis is composed of granules, filled with electrons, and does not contain crystals.
White non-UV spiders have their hypodermal layer filled with random patterns of crystals. White UV spiders have granules and little to no crystals in their hypodermis. The most significant aspect of the variation is the lack of granules for white non-UV spiders. The crystals of the hypodermis fluoresce under UV light. The structure of the guanocyte layer does not show distinct patterns for different color phenotypes.
Thomisus spectabilis differs from other crab spiders in that its UV reflectance, hue, saturation, and brightness profiles are very different between its three phenotypes. There is a 56 nm shift in hue from the white UV spiders to the white non-UV spiders, and a .05 difference in saturation between white UV and white non-UV spiders. Brightness of white UV-Spiders was 7.9% higher than for white non-UV spiders. The cuticles of white UV and white non-UV spiders reflect UV light very similarly across the spectrum, but yellow non-UV spiders transmit less light throughout the spectrum, specifically in the 380-500 nm region. Similarly, the guanocytes of white non-UV and white UV spiders reflect UV light similarly, but yellow non-UV spiders reflected less throughout the spectrum as well. Guanocytes across all phenotypes sharply dropped off reflection at wavelengths under 330 nm.
Another crucial aspect of prey capture for the Australian crab spider lies in its exact positioning on the flower itself. Honeybees are attracted to flowers partially based on the amount of rewards they have, and this is determined from looking at the center of the flower. To ensure they don't come in the way of that, it is vital for the spider to position itself on the lingulate floret of the flower away from the center. This allows them to create the color contrast in the bee's vision that draws them to the spider-laden flowers.
Thomisus spectabilis with larger body sizes are better able to capture prey. Honeybees are more likely to land on flowers that have larger spiders than smaller spiders. Thus, larger Australian crab spiders do not have to use their UV-reflective property as much as smaller spiders to attract bees. For smaller spiders, using UV-reflectance results in less hunting success than larger spiders using UV-reflectance; spider size is a larger factor than UV-reflectance for predicting bee attraction and hunting success. Further, levels of UV-reflectance increase for larger spiders suggesting coevolution of size and UV-reflectance traits.
Movement of Thomisus spectabilis has large impacts on the behavior of honeybees. If they move before honeybees approach, the bees are much more likely to stay away from the flower. This effect is more pronounced when the spiders are waiting below the inflorescence of the flower rather than above it. Below the inflorescence, the spiders remaining still makes them 70% more likely to attract a spider to land, but above the inflorescence they are 50% more likely to attract a spider to land by remaining still.
Movement of crab spiders alerts bees to their presence. This forces the bees to make a decision weighing the risk of the spiders and the reward of the nectar. These decisions are also influenced by the susceptibility of the bee. Highly susceptible bees mostly visit safe flowers, even if the resources are poor in those areas. Other bees often must choose riskier patches of flowers, because those flowers often contain the highest amount of nectar. Since the flowers with hiding spiders often become damaged due to the ambush of the bees, they actually have evolved to increase nectar production so that they can continue to attract bees despite the threat of predation. Honeybees are adept at finding the best flower patches to maximize nectar reward and minimize predation risk due to their impressive communication system. Bees are able to recruit bee mates to flower locations that they have scouted as high nectar locations, and they are also able to tell each other when there is a patch with hiding spiders.
T. spectabilis is sexually dimorphic, where the female spider is larger and stronger than the male spider. Thus, it is the female spider that lies in flowers waiting for pollinators to ambush and capture. The male spider spends the majority of its time searching for females to mate with, and they eat very little overall. The females have evolved to have higher reflectance of light on their abdomen than male spiders; this reflectance is vital to helping them deceive and capture pollinators. Females are also responsible for building the egg-sacs. They build them on curved leaves, and are responsible for guarding the eggs and the offspring.
The Australian crab spider eats a variety of bees, but the two main varieties are honeybees and Australian native bees. While the spider's array of prey catching techniques are effective on both types of bees, the honeybee is specifically susceptible due to a lack of coevolution with the Australian crab spider. When the spider creates color contrasts with different flowers in order to trick the bees, the honeybee immediately is drawn to land on the flower in which the spider is waiting. On the other hand, the Australian native bee has coevolved with the Australian crab spider, and thus can discriminate between flowers that have spiders and those that do not. In order for this discrimination to work, the bees must approach the flower closely. They land on the flower that is unoccupied by the bee. This results in many more honeybees being captured by the crab spider than Australian native bees. It is also possible that the Australian native bee has evolved to detect the odor of the crab spiders to help them avoid the spider laden flowers.
The crab spider has coevolved as well to better match the bee varieties they are surrounded by. Different pollinating species are attracted to different levels of UV contrasts, so Thomisus spectabilis has evolved to be able to adjust the UV contrast that they create with the flowers through reflecting varied amounts of UV light. Since honeybees do not have the ability to discriminate between flowers with and without the crab spiders, Thomisus spectabilis will more often create the UV contrast that attracts honeybees than create the UV contrast that attracts the Australian native bee. The UV contrast is also influenced by the predators of Thomisus spectabilis that are in the area. If there are a high number of predators nearby, the crab spider will use low UV reflectance to attract the least amount of attention, and vice versa for times during which there are very few predators.
The non-cryptic nature of Australian crab spiders influences the type of bee that they can capture. The deceit that Thomisus spectabilis use to attract prey actually makes them more conspicuous to the prey. Bees have varying reactions to conspicuousness. For example, in Austroplebeia australis bees there is an aversion to conspicuousness, so the non-cryptic nature of Thomisus spectabilis makes them less likely to capture those types of bees. In contrast, Trigona carbonaria bees do not change their behavior based on the conspicuousness of spiders, so the Australian crab spider has a better chance of capturing them.
T. specabilis typically bites more frequently than most spiders. The bites are venomous, and can have mild but significant effects on humans. These effects range from localized pain, redness, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and swelling, but the symptoms generally subside in 1–2 hours after onset.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Thomisus
Species: T. spectabilis
Binomial name Thomisus spectabilis
Doleschall, 1859
Herennia multipuncta
Ornamental tree trunk spider or coin spider
Ornamental tree trunk spider or coin spider
Herennia multipuncta, commonly known as the ornamental tree trunk spider or coin spider is a species of spider in the family Araneidae native to Asia.
It exhibits sexual dimorphism, the female being much larger than the male. It weaves a small web on the trunk of a tree or the wall of a building and is well camouflaged by its dappled colouration.
The female has a hairy cephalothorax that is narrow in front and longer than it is wide. It is reddish-brown with a yellowish, U-shaped patch near the front and darker markings further back. The mouthparts are yellowish-brown and the long, slender, hairy and spiny legs are mostly brown. The abdomen has a flattened, pale grey dorsal surface with five pairs of sigilla (puncture-like spots where muscles are attached internally), numerous grey specks and a few dark streaks near the back.
The male is reddish-brown with dark legs. His body length at 5 to 7 mm (0.2 to 0.3 in) is about half that of the female at 10 to 14 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in). This spider rests head-downwards on the web with its legs flexed. Its colouring makes it well camouflaged.
H. multipuncta is found in tropical parts of southern Asia where its range includes India, Malaysia, Singapore, China and New Guinea. It is often found in association with man and has spread to other countries where it is considered invasive.
Its habitat is the trunks of trees and the walls of buildings where it creates a small web close to the surface. The web starts off as an orb web using prominences on the underlying structure for support. As the spider grows, so does the web and allometrically becomes a substrate-dependent ladder web with parallel-sided rather than rounded side frames. The hub of the web is modified into a silken cup. This species is said to be invasive and synanthropic.
Like other spiders, the male of this species uses his pedipalps to insert sperm into the female's seminal receptacles. The terminal joint of the palps become detached and remains in the female during seventy-five to eighty percent of matings, especially when the female is aggressive.
It is surmised that the severed copulatory organs may function as plugs to prevent leakage of sperm and that abandoning them may be a sensible option for the male as otherwise his damaged palps might leak haemolymph. Although their loss effectively makes the male sterile, he usually stays with the female and fends off rival males, and this behaviour protects his reproductive investment. A subsequent study suggests that losing the extra weight of the pedipalps allows males to more effectively fend off rival males, guard their mate and thereby ensure paternity.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Herennia
Species: H. multipuncta
Binomial name Herennia multipuncta
Doleschall, 1859
It exhibits sexual dimorphism, the female being much larger than the male. It weaves a small web on the trunk of a tree or the wall of a building and is well camouflaged by its dappled colouration.
The female has a hairy cephalothorax that is narrow in front and longer than it is wide. It is reddish-brown with a yellowish, U-shaped patch near the front and darker markings further back. The mouthparts are yellowish-brown and the long, slender, hairy and spiny legs are mostly brown. The abdomen has a flattened, pale grey dorsal surface with five pairs of sigilla (puncture-like spots where muscles are attached internally), numerous grey specks and a few dark streaks near the back.
The male is reddish-brown with dark legs. His body length at 5 to 7 mm (0.2 to 0.3 in) is about half that of the female at 10 to 14 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in). This spider rests head-downwards on the web with its legs flexed. Its colouring makes it well camouflaged.
H. multipuncta is found in tropical parts of southern Asia where its range includes India, Malaysia, Singapore, China and New Guinea. It is often found in association with man and has spread to other countries where it is considered invasive.
Its habitat is the trunks of trees and the walls of buildings where it creates a small web close to the surface. The web starts off as an orb web using prominences on the underlying structure for support. As the spider grows, so does the web and allometrically becomes a substrate-dependent ladder web with parallel-sided rather than rounded side frames. The hub of the web is modified into a silken cup. This species is said to be invasive and synanthropic.
Like other spiders, the male of this species uses his pedipalps to insert sperm into the female's seminal receptacles. The terminal joint of the palps become detached and remains in the female during seventy-five to eighty percent of matings, especially when the female is aggressive.
It is surmised that the severed copulatory organs may function as plugs to prevent leakage of sperm and that abandoning them may be a sensible option for the male as otherwise his damaged palps might leak haemolymph. Although their loss effectively makes the male sterile, he usually stays with the female and fends off rival males, and this behaviour protects his reproductive investment. A subsequent study suggests that losing the extra weight of the pedipalps allows males to more effectively fend off rival males, guard their mate and thereby ensure paternity.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Herennia
Species: H. multipuncta
Binomial name Herennia multipuncta
Doleschall, 1859
Evarcha
Jumping spider
Jumping spider
Evarcha is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders) with 85 species (and one recognized subspecies) distributed across the world.
These spiders are often found on shrubs and short plants in damp areas, resting in silken cells.
Spiders in this genus generally look rather sturdy and are not very colorful, often brownish.
Evarcha culicivora can be an uncommon predator due to the fact it feeds on vertebrate blood by choosing blood-carrying mosquitoes as well-liked prey.
Most species occur in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, with E. amabilis and E. hoyi found only in the United States. E. proszynskii is found from Russia to Japan and Canada to United States.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Evarcha
Simon, 1902
These spiders are often found on shrubs and short plants in damp areas, resting in silken cells.
Spiders in this genus generally look rather sturdy and are not very colorful, often brownish.
Evarcha culicivora can be an uncommon predator due to the fact it feeds on vertebrate blood by choosing blood-carrying mosquitoes as well-liked prey.
Most species occur in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, with E. amabilis and E. hoyi found only in the United States. E. proszynskii is found from Russia to Japan and Canada to United States.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Evarcha
Simon, 1902
Sandokanidae harvestmem
Sandokan truncatus
Sandokan truncatus
Sandokanidae is a family of harvestmen in the suborder Laniatores, formerly referred to as Oncopodidae (the name was replaced because of the secondary homonymy of the type genus Oncopus, replaced by Sandokan; this made the change of family name mandatory.
Sandokanidae range in body size from about 2–11 mm. Their legs are relatively short and stout and it emits under uv lights. Most species are amber colored with some dark brown patterns. A few undescribed Gnomulus species are orange.
This family is known from Southeast Asia from Indonesia, almost reaching New Guinea on Waigeo, up north into the Himalayan region. Sandokanidae are probably the sister group to all other Grassatores.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Laniatores
Infraorder: Grassatores
Superfamily: Phalangodoidea
Family: Sandokanidae
Özdikmen & Kury, 2007
Genus: Sandokan
Species: S.truncatus
Thorell 1891
Sandokanidae range in body size from about 2–11 mm. Their legs are relatively short and stout and it emits under uv lights. Most species are amber colored with some dark brown patterns. A few undescribed Gnomulus species are orange.
This family is known from Southeast Asia from Indonesia, almost reaching New Guinea on Waigeo, up north into the Himalayan region. Sandokanidae are probably the sister group to all other Grassatores.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Laniatores
Infraorder: Grassatores
Superfamily: Phalangodoidea
Family: Sandokanidae
Özdikmen & Kury, 2007
Genus: Sandokan
Species: S.truncatus
Thorell 1891
How is bioluminescence form
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence.
Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies.
Bioluminescence is used by living things to hunt prey, defend against predators, find mates, and execute other vital activities and some species luminesce to confuse attackers.
Most bioluminescent organisms are found in the ocean. These bioluminescent marine species include fish, bacteria, and jellies and Some bioluminescent organisms, including fireflies and fungi, are found on land.
In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus Vibrio; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves.
Bioluminescence is a "cold light." Cold light means less than 20% of the light generates thermal radiation, or heat.
Luciferin is the compound that actually produces light. Luciferase is an enzyme. An enzyme is a chemical (called a catalyst) that interacts with a substrate to affect the rate of a chemical reaction.
In a general sense, the principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, generally called luciferin and luciferase, respectively.
In a chemical reaction, luciferin is called the substrate. The bioluminescent color (yellow in fireflies, greenish in lanternfish) is a result of the arrangement of luciferin molecules.
Some bioluminescent organisms produce (synthesize) luciferin on their own and some bioluminescent organisms do not synthesize luciferin. Instead, they absorb it through other organisms, either as food or in a symbiotic relationship.
The interaction of the luciferase with oxidized (oxygen-added) luciferin creates a byproduct, called oxyluciferin which is a type of chemical reaction creates light.
Most bioluminescent reactions involve luciferin and luciferase. Some reactions, however, do not involve an enzyme (luciferase). These reactions involve a chemical called a photoprotein. Photoproteins combine with luciferins and oxygen, but need another agent, often an ion of the element calcium, to produce light.
The appearance of bioluminescent light varies greatly, depending on the habitat and organism in which it is found.
Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies.
Bioluminescence is used by living things to hunt prey, defend against predators, find mates, and execute other vital activities and some species luminesce to confuse attackers.
Most bioluminescent organisms are found in the ocean. These bioluminescent marine species include fish, bacteria, and jellies and Some bioluminescent organisms, including fireflies and fungi, are found on land.
In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus Vibrio; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves.
Bioluminescence is a "cold light." Cold light means less than 20% of the light generates thermal radiation, or heat.
Luciferin is the compound that actually produces light. Luciferase is an enzyme. An enzyme is a chemical (called a catalyst) that interacts with a substrate to affect the rate of a chemical reaction.
In a general sense, the principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, generally called luciferin and luciferase, respectively.
In a chemical reaction, luciferin is called the substrate. The bioluminescent color (yellow in fireflies, greenish in lanternfish) is a result of the arrangement of luciferin molecules.
Some bioluminescent organisms produce (synthesize) luciferin on their own and some bioluminescent organisms do not synthesize luciferin. Instead, they absorb it through other organisms, either as food or in a symbiotic relationship.
The interaction of the luciferase with oxidized (oxygen-added) luciferin creates a byproduct, called oxyluciferin which is a type of chemical reaction creates light.
Most bioluminescent reactions involve luciferin and luciferase. Some reactions, however, do not involve an enzyme (luciferase). These reactions involve a chemical called a photoprotein. Photoproteins combine with luciferins and oxygen, but need another agent, often an ion of the element calcium, to produce light.
The appearance of bioluminescent light varies greatly, depending on the habitat and organism in which it is found.
Opadometa fastigata
pear-shaped leucauge (long-jawed orb weavers)
pear-shaped leucauge (long-jawed orb weavers)
Opadometa fastigata, the pear-shaped leucauge, is a species of spiders in the family Tetragnathidae (long-jawed orb weavers). It is found in India to Philippines, Sulawesi and also in Singapore.
Members of the species have silvery or golden spots on the abdomen. They are elongated spiders with long legs and chelicerae.
They are orb web weavers, weaving small orb webs with an open hub and few, wide-set radii and spirals. The webs have no signal line and no retreat. The web is a large horizontally-placed orb structure with a diameter of more than a metre. The entire web is often suspended by several long strands of silk attached to branches and leaves nearby.
This species is separated from other Leucauge spiders by its pear-shaped abdomen and its unique fourth leg. In addition to the two rows of curved hairs (characteristic of Leucauge), this leg also has a thick brush of spines which are not present in most other species of Leucauge.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Tetragnathidae
Genus: Opadometa
Species: O. fastigata
Binomial name Opadometa fastigata
(Simon, 1877)
Members of the species have silvery or golden spots on the abdomen. They are elongated spiders with long legs and chelicerae.
They are orb web weavers, weaving small orb webs with an open hub and few, wide-set radii and spirals. The webs have no signal line and no retreat. The web is a large horizontally-placed orb structure with a diameter of more than a metre. The entire web is often suspended by several long strands of silk attached to branches and leaves nearby.
This species is separated from other Leucauge spiders by its pear-shaped abdomen and its unique fourth leg. In addition to the two rows of curved hairs (characteristic of Leucauge), this leg also has a thick brush of spines which are not present in most other species of Leucauge.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Tetragnathidae
Genus: Opadometa
Species: O. fastigata
Binomial name Opadometa fastigata
(Simon, 1877)
Macracantha arcuata
Long horned orb weavers
Long horned orb weavers
Macracantha is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders recognized as containing a single species, Macracantha arcuata.
Macracantha is notable for the extremely long, curved spines on the abdomens of female members of the genus; Eugène Simon created the taxon name from the Greek words μακρός (large, long) and ἄκανθα (spine). It occurs from India and China through Southeast Asia to Borneo.
Female long-horned orb-weavers have tough, shell-like abdomens armed with three pairs of spines. The spectacular middle (median) spines project upward and outward, curving in toward each other along their length. They are up to three times as long (20-26 mm) as the abdomen is wide (8-9 mm). The front (anterior) and rear (posterior) spines are short, relatively inconspicuous, and roughly equal in length.
The upper surface of the female abdomen ranges from yellow to red or even white or black and is marked with black sigilla. The ventral surface of the abdomen bears yellow or orange marks, and the median spines can show a bluish iridescence.
The male of the species measures only 1.5 mm, with stout, conical spines.
Female M. arcuata build orb webs three or four feet wide in forested areas. These webs have hollow hubs and white silk beads on the radial threads. Siliwal and Molur report that females were more often observed on the underside of leaves near their webs than hanging in the center of the web.
In Singapore, the species depends heavily on primary rainforest.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Macracantha
Simon, 1864
Species: M.arcuata
Binomial name Macracantha arcuata
(Fabricius, 1793)
Macracantha is notable for the extremely long, curved spines on the abdomens of female members of the genus; Eugène Simon created the taxon name from the Greek words μακρός (large, long) and ἄκανθα (spine). It occurs from India and China through Southeast Asia to Borneo.
Female long-horned orb-weavers have tough, shell-like abdomens armed with three pairs of spines. The spectacular middle (median) spines project upward and outward, curving in toward each other along their length. They are up to three times as long (20-26 mm) as the abdomen is wide (8-9 mm). The front (anterior) and rear (posterior) spines are short, relatively inconspicuous, and roughly equal in length.
The upper surface of the female abdomen ranges from yellow to red or even white or black and is marked with black sigilla. The ventral surface of the abdomen bears yellow or orange marks, and the median spines can show a bluish iridescence.
The male of the species measures only 1.5 mm, with stout, conical spines.
Female M. arcuata build orb webs three or four feet wide in forested areas. These webs have hollow hubs and white silk beads on the radial threads. Siliwal and Molur report that females were more often observed on the underside of leaves near their webs than hanging in the center of the web.
In Singapore, the species depends heavily on primary rainforest.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Macracantha
Simon, 1864
Species: M.arcuata
Binomial name Macracantha arcuata
(Fabricius, 1793)
Six spotted fishing spider
Thalassius albocinctus
Thalassius albocinctus
The six-spotted fishing spider, The Singapore Fishing Spider (Thalassius albocinctus), is an arachnid from the nursery web spider family Pisauridae.
This species is from the genus Thalassius , or the fishing spiders. Found in wetland habitats, these spiders are usually seen scampering along the surface of ponds, streams and mangroves.
They hunt by the water’s surface in which they can walk on water and dive under to capture prey.
They are often seen with their legs sprawled out by the water while they are waiting for prey.
They can wait patiently for hours until stimulated by prey. Potential prey include both aquatic insects and terrestrial insects that have fallen into the water and small fish where it could dive to catch before dragging its prey ashore.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Thalassius
Species: T. albocinctus
This species is from the genus Thalassius , or the fishing spiders. Found in wetland habitats, these spiders are usually seen scampering along the surface of ponds, streams and mangroves.
They hunt by the water’s surface in which they can walk on water and dive under to capture prey.
They are often seen with their legs sprawled out by the water while they are waiting for prey.
They can wait patiently for hours until stimulated by prey. Potential prey include both aquatic insects and terrestrial insects that have fallen into the water and small fish where it could dive to catch before dragging its prey ashore.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Thalassius
Species: T. albocinctus
Viciria praemandibularis
Wide-Jawed Viciria (Female)
Wide-Jawed Viciria (Female)
Viciria is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1877. The genus includes thirty-one accepted species.
Both sexes reach a length of about 7 to 12 mm. Viciria is a colorful genus similar to Telamonia. However, the very long, thin opisthosoma of Viciria is almost cylindrical, and the color patterns differ. Viciria often shows a single broad longitudinal stripe with a pattern of black dashes on the opisthosoma. A white median stripe is present on the cephalus of the female.
V. praemandibularis males have an orange carapace with bronze iridescent hairs on the cephalus, and an orange opisthosoma with a dark brown median stripe. The legs are yellowish, except for the brown first pair. The carapace of the female is yellowish with a white stripe, bordered by two orange stripes. The median stripe of the opisthosoma is bright orange, narrowly bordered with white. The rest of the opisthosoma is yellowish. The legs are paler than in males.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Viciria
Thorell, 1877
Both sexes reach a length of about 7 to 12 mm. Viciria is a colorful genus similar to Telamonia. However, the very long, thin opisthosoma of Viciria is almost cylindrical, and the color patterns differ. Viciria often shows a single broad longitudinal stripe with a pattern of black dashes on the opisthosoma. A white median stripe is present on the cephalus of the female.
V. praemandibularis males have an orange carapace with bronze iridescent hairs on the cephalus, and an orange opisthosoma with a dark brown median stripe. The legs are yellowish, except for the brown first pair. The carapace of the female is yellowish with a white stripe, bordered by two orange stripes. The median stripe of the opisthosoma is bright orange, narrowly bordered with white. The rest of the opisthosoma is yellowish. The legs are paler than in males.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Viciria
Thorell, 1877
Heteropoda davidbowie
Huntsman spider
Huntsman spider
Heteropoda davidbowie is a species of huntsman spider of the genus Heteropoda. It was described from the Cameron Highlands District in peninsular Malaysia and named in honour of singer David Bowie.
They are sexually dimorphic and body length ranges from medium to large: the male 15.3–18.2 millimetres (0.60–0.72 in); the female 21.3–25.3 mm (0.84–1.00 in).
Males have an overall reddish brown dorsum with distinct brightly colored hairs forming patches and lines. The body has short dense hair, prominently interspersed with long bright orange hairs. The posterior half of body has a distinct red line surrounded by red hairs. The pedipalps are black, and the legs lack any distinct pattern.
Females are similar to males, but the female's dorsum coloration may vary from greyish to reddish brown. Their legs are annulated with dark spots on bright regions, and there is a prominent triangular patch on the venter between the epigastric furrow and spinnerets.
Heteropoda davidbowie is found in West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), Singapore, Sumatra and possibly southern Thailand.
Adults are often seen on tree bark. Juveniles have been found on leaf litter and leaves on shrubs.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Species: H. davidbowie
Binomial name Heteropoda davidbowie
Jäger, 2008
They are sexually dimorphic and body length ranges from medium to large: the male 15.3–18.2 millimetres (0.60–0.72 in); the female 21.3–25.3 mm (0.84–1.00 in).
Males have an overall reddish brown dorsum with distinct brightly colored hairs forming patches and lines. The body has short dense hair, prominently interspersed with long bright orange hairs. The posterior half of body has a distinct red line surrounded by red hairs. The pedipalps are black, and the legs lack any distinct pattern.
Females are similar to males, but the female's dorsum coloration may vary from greyish to reddish brown. Their legs are annulated with dark spots on bright regions, and there is a prominent triangular patch on the venter between the epigastric furrow and spinnerets.
Heteropoda davidbowie is found in West Malaysia (Cameron Highlands), Singapore, Sumatra and possibly southern Thailand.
Adults are often seen on tree bark. Juveniles have been found on leaf litter and leaves on shrubs.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Species: H. davidbowie
Binomial name Heteropoda davidbowie
Jäger, 2008
Heterophrynus sp
Whip spiders and or tailless whip scorpions
Whip spiders and or tailless whip scorpions
Heterophrynus is a genus of whip spiders, also known as tailless whip scorpions (order Amblypygi), of the family Phrynidae. It is mostly distributed in South America.
Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyphonida).
The name "amblypygid" means "blunt tail", a reference to a lack of the flagellum that is otherwise seen in whip scorpions. They are harmless to humans. Amblypygids possess no silk glands or venomous fangs. They rarely bite if threatened, but can grab fingers with their pedipalps, resulting in thorn-like puncture injuries.
As of 2016, 5 families, 17 genera and around 155 species had been discovered and described. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide; they are mainly found in warm and humid environments and like to stay protected and hidden within leaf litter, caves, or underneath bark. Some species are subterranean; all are nocturnal. Fossilized amblypygids have been found dating back to the Carboniferous period, such as Graeophonus.
Amblypygids range from 5 to 70 centimetres (2.0 to 27.6 in) in legspan. Their bodies are broad and highly flattened, with a solid carapace and a segmented abdomen, or opisthosoma. Most species have eight eyes; a pair of median eyes at the front of the carapace above the chelicerae and 2 smaller clusters of three eyes each further back on each side.
Amblypygids have raptorial pedipalps modified for grabbing and retaining prey, much like those of a mantis; recent work suggests that the pedipalps display sexual dimorphism in their size and shape. The first pair of legs act as sensory organs and are not used for walking. The sensory legs are very thin and elongate, have numerous sensory receptors, and can extend several times the length of body.
Amblypygids have eight legs, but use only six for walking, often in a crab-like, sideways fashion. The front pair of legs are modified for use as antennae-like feelers, with many fine segments giving the appearance of a "whip".
When a suitable prey is located with the antenniform legs, the amblypygid seizes its victim with large spines on the grasping pedipalps, impaling and immobilizing the prey. This is typically done while climbing the side of a vertical surface and looking downward at their prey. Pincer-like chelicerae then work to grind and chew the prey prior to ingestion.
The tailless whip scorpion may go for over a month in which no food is eaten; often this is due to premolt. Due to the lack of venom the tailless whip scorpion is very nervous in temperament, retreating away if any dangerous threat is sensed by the animal.
Courtship involves the male depositing stalked spermatophores, which have one or more sperm masses at the tip, onto the ground, and using his pedipalps to guide the female over them. She gathers the sperm and lays fertilized eggs into a sac carried under the abdomen, or opisthosoma. When the young hatch, they climb up onto the mother's back; any which fall off before their first molt will not survive.
Some species of amblypygids, particularly Phrynus marginemaculatus and Damon diadema, may be among the few examples of arachnids that exhibit social behavior. Research conducted at Cornell University suggests that mother amblypygids communicate with their young with her antenniform front legs, and the offspring reciprocate both with their mother and siblings. The ultimate function of this social behavior remains unknown. Amblypygids hold territories that they defend from other individuals.
The amblypygid diet mostly consists of arthropod prey, but these opportunistic predators have also been observed feeding on vertebrates.
Amblypygids generally do not feed before, during, and after molting. Like other arachnids, an amblypygid will molt several times during its life. Molting is done from hanging from the underside of a horizontal surface in order to use gravity to assist in separating the old exoskeleton from the animal.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Amblypygi
Thorell, 1883
Family: Phrynidae
Subfamily: Heterophryninae
Genus: Heterophrynus
Pocock, 1894
Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyphonida).
The name "amblypygid" means "blunt tail", a reference to a lack of the flagellum that is otherwise seen in whip scorpions. They are harmless to humans. Amblypygids possess no silk glands or venomous fangs. They rarely bite if threatened, but can grab fingers with their pedipalps, resulting in thorn-like puncture injuries.
As of 2016, 5 families, 17 genera and around 155 species had been discovered and described. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide; they are mainly found in warm and humid environments and like to stay protected and hidden within leaf litter, caves, or underneath bark. Some species are subterranean; all are nocturnal. Fossilized amblypygids have been found dating back to the Carboniferous period, such as Graeophonus.
Amblypygids range from 5 to 70 centimetres (2.0 to 27.6 in) in legspan. Their bodies are broad and highly flattened, with a solid carapace and a segmented abdomen, or opisthosoma. Most species have eight eyes; a pair of median eyes at the front of the carapace above the chelicerae and 2 smaller clusters of three eyes each further back on each side.
Amblypygids have raptorial pedipalps modified for grabbing and retaining prey, much like those of a mantis; recent work suggests that the pedipalps display sexual dimorphism in their size and shape. The first pair of legs act as sensory organs and are not used for walking. The sensory legs are very thin and elongate, have numerous sensory receptors, and can extend several times the length of body.
Amblypygids have eight legs, but use only six for walking, often in a crab-like, sideways fashion. The front pair of legs are modified for use as antennae-like feelers, with many fine segments giving the appearance of a "whip".
When a suitable prey is located with the antenniform legs, the amblypygid seizes its victim with large spines on the grasping pedipalps, impaling and immobilizing the prey. This is typically done while climbing the side of a vertical surface and looking downward at their prey. Pincer-like chelicerae then work to grind and chew the prey prior to ingestion.
The tailless whip scorpion may go for over a month in which no food is eaten; often this is due to premolt. Due to the lack of venom the tailless whip scorpion is very nervous in temperament, retreating away if any dangerous threat is sensed by the animal.
Courtship involves the male depositing stalked spermatophores, which have one or more sperm masses at the tip, onto the ground, and using his pedipalps to guide the female over them. She gathers the sperm and lays fertilized eggs into a sac carried under the abdomen, or opisthosoma. When the young hatch, they climb up onto the mother's back; any which fall off before their first molt will not survive.
Some species of amblypygids, particularly Phrynus marginemaculatus and Damon diadema, may be among the few examples of arachnids that exhibit social behavior. Research conducted at Cornell University suggests that mother amblypygids communicate with their young with her antenniform front legs, and the offspring reciprocate both with their mother and siblings. The ultimate function of this social behavior remains unknown. Amblypygids hold territories that they defend from other individuals.
The amblypygid diet mostly consists of arthropod prey, but these opportunistic predators have also been observed feeding on vertebrates.
Amblypygids generally do not feed before, during, and after molting. Like other arachnids, an amblypygid will molt several times during its life. Molting is done from hanging from the underside of a horizontal surface in order to use gravity to assist in separating the old exoskeleton from the animal.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Amblypygi
Thorell, 1883
Family: Phrynidae
Subfamily: Heterophryninae
Genus: Heterophrynus
Pocock, 1894
Lychas scutilus
bark scorpion
bark scorpion
Scorpions are a type of arachnid that are found on every continent around the world, except Antarctica.
Arachnids belong to a group of animals called arthropods. This group contains creatures such as crabs, insects and spiders. Arthropods have four pairs of legs and a segmented body. Other arachnids that are similar to the scorpion include spiders, mites and ticks.
Scorpions mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,650 described species of scorpions across the globe, which can vary in size and shape, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date.
The largest species of scorpion can grow up to 10 inches in length. However, the smallest species can only grow to half an inch. Scorpions use their venomous stinger for both attack and defence. Each species varies in regards to the potency of its venom.
All scorpions can adapt to live in all kinds of difficult environments. As a result of this, these hardy survivors have existed for hundreds of millions of years.
Scorpions are nocturnal hunters that are most active at night and scorpions are fluorescence, it glow a bright blue-green colour when exposed to ultraviolet light, they are burrowing animals that spend most of their time in self-made burrows, cracks and under natural objects such as logs and bark and sometimes resting on top of tree leaves.
Most scorpion habitats are mainly found in the desert. However, they can also live in grasslands, savannas, forests, mountains and caves. They prefer warmer temperatures and tend to avoid colder climates. That said, scorpions can survive through harsh cold conditions when necessary.
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger.
Scorpions have much longer life spans than other arthropods. In the wild, some scorpion species can live for up to 10 years. However, in captivity, some scorpions have lived for as long as 25 years.
As champions of survival, scorpions can survive all kinds of harsh conditions. For example, they can stay submerged underwater for up to 48 hours and live without food for a full year. Until about three decades ago, only 600 species of scorpions were discovered. The reason that so many have been discovered since is because of scorpions fluorescent.
Scorpions, unlike insects, give birth to live young. Each female scorpion will give birth to between 3 to 100 babies.
When scorpions are born, they have a much softer exoskeleton compared to adult scorpions. Once a female scorpion has finished giving birth, her babies crawl onto her back where they will remain for several weeks. They stay clung onto their mother by using temporary suckers. The reason that this takes place is to allow the babies exoskeletons to harden.
The exoskeleton contains fluorescent chemicals and glows under ultraviolet light. It also keeps them safe from ground-based predators.
Scorpions have been known to eat their own young when food has been scarce. Some scorpion species keep their young on their back for up to two years. Researchers have recently discovered that scorpion venom can actually be used to create human medicine. For example, the lesser Asian scorpion has venom that can be used to fight malaria and arthritis.
Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but some species take vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and kill prey. Scorpions themselves are preyed on by larger animals. The venomous sting can be used both for killing prey and for defense.
The deadliness of a scorpions sting depends on the scorpion species in question. Each scorpion has venom that has adapted to suit the type of prey it typically hunts. Due to this, some scorpions have much more deadly venom than others, however in some other country the scorpion species venom is incredibly potent and is deadly to humans.
During courtship, the male and female scorpion grasp each other's pincers and move around in a "dance" where the male tries to maneuver the female onto his deposited sperm packet.
The species Lychas scutilus lives in parts of the wet tropical zone of Southeast Asia. It occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Lychas scutilus is one of the medium sized species of scorpions. The females will reach between 4 to 6,5 cm in bodysize, whereas the males, due to their greatly elongated metasoma, will reach 6 to 8,5 cm.
The species is colored in a gray orange. The last segements of the metasoma including the telson and the chelae are colored in a reddish brown. In addition, the pedipalps and the legs are slightly marbleized.
As mentioned above, the males have a greatly elongated metasomas, with the help of which one can identify adulthood quickly. The telson is elongated as well. The females will stay behind in body size but will get bulkier. Lychas scutilus is a calm and much inaggressive species of scorpion.
The specimen will flee when disturbed in addition they can be kept in groups, since the potential for aggression within a group is low the animals will share hideouts and live together in large groups. Juveniles make an exception since they are prone to cannibalism, especially during molts.
This species climbs very well and often as all bark-scorpions do. As bark-dwellers they prefer to remain on or under bark and sometimes it do stay on top of tree leaves .
All scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, such as an electric black light or natural moonlight. The blue-green glow comes from a substance found in the hyaline layer, a very thin but super tough coating in a part of the scorpion’s exoskeleton called the cuticle.
Certain molecules in one layer of the cuticle, the tough but somewhat flexible part of a scorpion’s exoskeleton, absorb the longer wavelengths of ultraviolet light and emit it in different wavelengths that are visible at night as a blue-green glow.
A study led by Carl T. Kloock in 2011 found that the fluorescence seemed to help scorpions detect and avoid ultraviolet light.
Several theories have been advanced about the usefulness of this fluorescence, perhaps in finding prey or in courtship, without experimental corroboration.
In 2012, further research published in the journal Animal Behavior by Douglas Gaffin of the University of Oklahoma tested how scorpions reacted to both ultraviolet and blue-green light with their eyes blocked and unblocked. They showed a stronger avoidance reaction to ultraviolet light than expected from the sensitivity of their eyes, and even stronger avoidance when they were exposed to green light with their eyes blocked.
To Dr. Gaffin, this suggested that scorpions used their whole bodies as light-detection devices, converting ultraviolet light to the blue-green glow and transmitting this signal to the nervous system. In theory, this would help a scorpion hide better at night. If any part of the faint ultraviolet signal from the moon was blocked from the insect’s cuticle, it could better sense that some barrier or hiding place was coming in between it and the source of the light.
Scientists have noticed that, right after a scorpion molts, or sheds its shell, it doesn’t glow until the new cuticle hardens. According to scorpion expert Dr. Scott A. Stockwell, this could mean that the substance that causes fluorescence is a byproduct of the hardening process itself, or it might be secreted not long after the creature molts.
Whatever its source, the glowing property is surprisingly long-lasting. When scorpions are preserved in alcohol, the liquid itself sometimes glows under UV light and even fossilized hyaline fluoresces.
The hyaline layer is amazingly durable, It can survive millions of years it’s often found in scorpion fossils even when all other parts of the cuticle have vanished.
Whatever its source, the glowing property is surprisingly long-lasting. When scorpions are preserved in alcohol, the liquid itself sometimes glows under UV light. And the hyaline layer is amazingly durable: It can survive millions of years, Stockwell says; it’s often found in scorpion fossils even when all other parts of the cuticle have vanished. What’s more, even fossilized hyaline fluoresces!
Scientists don’t know what purpose the fluorescence serves. Some theories:
• It protects scorpions from sunlight.
• It helps them find each other.
• It might confuse their prey.
An article on the news website LiveScience reported another theory, by California State University arachnologist Carl Kloock. Because scorpions avoid sunlight in general and UV light in particular, he thinks the glow actually helps them figure out whether to come to the surface or stay underground, based on how much UV light shines on them. For example, these nocturnal creatures are less active on moonlit nights and during the full moon.
For humans, one benefit of the scorpion’s glow is that it makes these stingers easier to see in the dark. Which is perfect, whether you’re trying to study them or to avoid them.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Family: Buthidae
Genus: Lychas
Species: L. scutilus
Binomial name Lychas scutilus
C. L. Koch 1837
Arachnids belong to a group of animals called arthropods. This group contains creatures such as crabs, insects and spiders. Arthropods have four pairs of legs and a segmented body. Other arachnids that are similar to the scorpion include spiders, mites and ticks.
Scorpions mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,650 described species of scorpions across the globe, which can vary in size and shape, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date.
The largest species of scorpion can grow up to 10 inches in length. However, the smallest species can only grow to half an inch. Scorpions use their venomous stinger for both attack and defence. Each species varies in regards to the potency of its venom.
All scorpions can adapt to live in all kinds of difficult environments. As a result of this, these hardy survivors have existed for hundreds of millions of years.
Scorpions are nocturnal hunters that are most active at night and scorpions are fluorescence, it glow a bright blue-green colour when exposed to ultraviolet light, they are burrowing animals that spend most of their time in self-made burrows, cracks and under natural objects such as logs and bark and sometimes resting on top of tree leaves.
Most scorpion habitats are mainly found in the desert. However, they can also live in grasslands, savannas, forests, mountains and caves. They prefer warmer temperatures and tend to avoid colder climates. That said, scorpions can survive through harsh cold conditions when necessary.
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger.
Scorpions have much longer life spans than other arthropods. In the wild, some scorpion species can live for up to 10 years. However, in captivity, some scorpions have lived for as long as 25 years.
As champions of survival, scorpions can survive all kinds of harsh conditions. For example, they can stay submerged underwater for up to 48 hours and live without food for a full year. Until about three decades ago, only 600 species of scorpions were discovered. The reason that so many have been discovered since is because of scorpions fluorescent.
Scorpions, unlike insects, give birth to live young. Each female scorpion will give birth to between 3 to 100 babies.
When scorpions are born, they have a much softer exoskeleton compared to adult scorpions. Once a female scorpion has finished giving birth, her babies crawl onto her back where they will remain for several weeks. They stay clung onto their mother by using temporary suckers. The reason that this takes place is to allow the babies exoskeletons to harden.
The exoskeleton contains fluorescent chemicals and glows under ultraviolet light. It also keeps them safe from ground-based predators.
Scorpions have been known to eat their own young when food has been scarce. Some scorpion species keep their young on their back for up to two years. Researchers have recently discovered that scorpion venom can actually be used to create human medicine. For example, the lesser Asian scorpion has venom that can be used to fight malaria and arthritis.
Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but some species take vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and kill prey. Scorpions themselves are preyed on by larger animals. The venomous sting can be used both for killing prey and for defense.
The deadliness of a scorpions sting depends on the scorpion species in question. Each scorpion has venom that has adapted to suit the type of prey it typically hunts. Due to this, some scorpions have much more deadly venom than others, however in some other country the scorpion species venom is incredibly potent and is deadly to humans.
During courtship, the male and female scorpion grasp each other's pincers and move around in a "dance" where the male tries to maneuver the female onto his deposited sperm packet.
The species Lychas scutilus lives in parts of the wet tropical zone of Southeast Asia. It occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Lychas scutilus is one of the medium sized species of scorpions. The females will reach between 4 to 6,5 cm in bodysize, whereas the males, due to their greatly elongated metasoma, will reach 6 to 8,5 cm.
The species is colored in a gray orange. The last segements of the metasoma including the telson and the chelae are colored in a reddish brown. In addition, the pedipalps and the legs are slightly marbleized.
As mentioned above, the males have a greatly elongated metasomas, with the help of which one can identify adulthood quickly. The telson is elongated as well. The females will stay behind in body size but will get bulkier. Lychas scutilus is a calm and much inaggressive species of scorpion.
The specimen will flee when disturbed in addition they can be kept in groups, since the potential for aggression within a group is low the animals will share hideouts and live together in large groups. Juveniles make an exception since they are prone to cannibalism, especially during molts.
This species climbs very well and often as all bark-scorpions do. As bark-dwellers they prefer to remain on or under bark and sometimes it do stay on top of tree leaves .
All scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, such as an electric black light or natural moonlight. The blue-green glow comes from a substance found in the hyaline layer, a very thin but super tough coating in a part of the scorpion’s exoskeleton called the cuticle.
Certain molecules in one layer of the cuticle, the tough but somewhat flexible part of a scorpion’s exoskeleton, absorb the longer wavelengths of ultraviolet light and emit it in different wavelengths that are visible at night as a blue-green glow.
A study led by Carl T. Kloock in 2011 found that the fluorescence seemed to help scorpions detect and avoid ultraviolet light.
Several theories have been advanced about the usefulness of this fluorescence, perhaps in finding prey or in courtship, without experimental corroboration.
In 2012, further research published in the journal Animal Behavior by Douglas Gaffin of the University of Oklahoma tested how scorpions reacted to both ultraviolet and blue-green light with their eyes blocked and unblocked. They showed a stronger avoidance reaction to ultraviolet light than expected from the sensitivity of their eyes, and even stronger avoidance when they were exposed to green light with their eyes blocked.
To Dr. Gaffin, this suggested that scorpions used their whole bodies as light-detection devices, converting ultraviolet light to the blue-green glow and transmitting this signal to the nervous system. In theory, this would help a scorpion hide better at night. If any part of the faint ultraviolet signal from the moon was blocked from the insect’s cuticle, it could better sense that some barrier or hiding place was coming in between it and the source of the light.
Scientists have noticed that, right after a scorpion molts, or sheds its shell, it doesn’t glow until the new cuticle hardens. According to scorpion expert Dr. Scott A. Stockwell, this could mean that the substance that causes fluorescence is a byproduct of the hardening process itself, or it might be secreted not long after the creature molts.
Whatever its source, the glowing property is surprisingly long-lasting. When scorpions are preserved in alcohol, the liquid itself sometimes glows under UV light and even fossilized hyaline fluoresces.
The hyaline layer is amazingly durable, It can survive millions of years it’s often found in scorpion fossils even when all other parts of the cuticle have vanished.
Whatever its source, the glowing property is surprisingly long-lasting. When scorpions are preserved in alcohol, the liquid itself sometimes glows under UV light. And the hyaline layer is amazingly durable: It can survive millions of years, Stockwell says; it’s often found in scorpion fossils even when all other parts of the cuticle have vanished. What’s more, even fossilized hyaline fluoresces!
Scientists don’t know what purpose the fluorescence serves. Some theories:
• It protects scorpions from sunlight.
• It helps them find each other.
• It might confuse their prey.
An article on the news website LiveScience reported another theory, by California State University arachnologist Carl Kloock. Because scorpions avoid sunlight in general and UV light in particular, he thinks the glow actually helps them figure out whether to come to the surface or stay underground, based on how much UV light shines on them. For example, these nocturnal creatures are less active on moonlit nights and during the full moon.
For humans, one benefit of the scorpion’s glow is that it makes these stingers easier to see in the dark. Which is perfect, whether you’re trying to study them or to avoid them.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Family: Buthidae
Genus: Lychas
Species: L. scutilus
Binomial name Lychas scutilus
C. L. Koch 1837
Leiobunum is a genus of the harvestman
( Daddy Long Legs)
( Daddy Long Legs)
Leiobunum is a genus of the harvestman ( Daddy Long Legs) family Sclerosomatidae with more than a hundred described species.
Contrary to popular belief, they are not spiders, although they share a resemblance. They are arachnids, in the order Opiliones, harvestmen.
Species in Leiobunum tend to have relatively long legs compared with other harvestmen, and some species are gregarious.
The teguments are soft or subcoriaceous. The striae of the cephalothorax and of the three last abdominal segments are very distinct; those of the anterior segments are scarcely or not at all distinct.
The anterior and lateral borders of the cephalothorax are smooth. The eye eminence is relatively small; smooth or, rarely, provided with small, slightly distinct, tubercles; widely separated from the cephalic border.
Lateral pores small, oval, and marginal. Anal piece large, transverse-oval or semicircular, much wider than long, and much wider than the reflected borders of the eighth segment.
Mandibles short, similar in the two sexes ; first joint furnished at the base below with an acute tooth. Palpi simple ; femur, patella, and tibia without any process and without projecting angles ; maxillary lobe provided at the base with two strong, conical teeth.
Maxillary lobe of the second pair of feet very long, nearly straight from the base, not attenuated, directed mesad nearly horizontally, and united on the ventro-meson to the lobe from the opposite side without forming a sensible angle; the two together lightly arched on the cephalic border, and forming an even curve.
Sternal piece large, slightly contracted between the fourth pair of coxae, gradually enlarging and obtusely truncate cephalad. The feet are very long and slender; tibia of the second pair with a few false articulations. Palpal claw denticulate. Many Leiobunum species tend to form clusters of several, but some up to 1,000 and more individuals.
They swarm out at night to hunt on their own. When disturbed, they move their bodies up and down in a fast rhythmic motion, with individuals moving away from the disturbance. The first juvenile stages seem to live on the ground below rocks and debris.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerat
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Family: Sclerosomatidae
Genus: Leiobunum
C. L. Koch, 1839
Contrary to popular belief, they are not spiders, although they share a resemblance. They are arachnids, in the order Opiliones, harvestmen.
Species in Leiobunum tend to have relatively long legs compared with other harvestmen, and some species are gregarious.
The teguments are soft or subcoriaceous. The striae of the cephalothorax and of the three last abdominal segments are very distinct; those of the anterior segments are scarcely or not at all distinct.
The anterior and lateral borders of the cephalothorax are smooth. The eye eminence is relatively small; smooth or, rarely, provided with small, slightly distinct, tubercles; widely separated from the cephalic border.
Lateral pores small, oval, and marginal. Anal piece large, transverse-oval or semicircular, much wider than long, and much wider than the reflected borders of the eighth segment.
Mandibles short, similar in the two sexes ; first joint furnished at the base below with an acute tooth. Palpi simple ; femur, patella, and tibia without any process and without projecting angles ; maxillary lobe provided at the base with two strong, conical teeth.
Maxillary lobe of the second pair of feet very long, nearly straight from the base, not attenuated, directed mesad nearly horizontally, and united on the ventro-meson to the lobe from the opposite side without forming a sensible angle; the two together lightly arched on the cephalic border, and forming an even curve.
Sternal piece large, slightly contracted between the fourth pair of coxae, gradually enlarging and obtusely truncate cephalad. The feet are very long and slender; tibia of the second pair with a few false articulations. Palpal claw denticulate. Many Leiobunum species tend to form clusters of several, but some up to 1,000 and more individuals.
They swarm out at night to hunt on their own. When disturbed, they move their bodies up and down in a fast rhythmic motion, with individuals moving away from the disturbance. The first juvenile stages seem to live on the ground below rocks and debris.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerat
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Family: Sclerosomatidae
Genus: Leiobunum
C. L. Koch, 1839
Heteropoda (Giant huntsman spiders)
Heteropoda Tetrica
Heteropoda Tetrica
Heteropoda is a genus of spiders in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. Heteropoda spiders are good hunters with powerful mouthparts.
Heteropoda (Giant huntsman spiders) are distributed in tropical Asia and Australia. These spiders catch and eat insects. But in a laboratory study one species readily ate fish and tadpoles when offered, and H. venatoria has been known to eat scorpions and bats.
Heteropoda tetrica Thorell, 1897 is revised according to morphological and biogeographical features. The species is distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).
It is highly abundant in various natural and disturbed habitats. No forms could be separated by biogeographical or by discontinuous morphological traits. Therefore the material examined is considered as belonging to one biospecies with highly variable morphology of copulatoryorgans. An extended diagnosis and illustrations of variation in copulatory organs are provided.
The huntsman spider. Spiders of the Genus Heteropoda are called huntsman spider, giant crab spider and the banana spider.
Huntsman spiders because these spiders wandering around hunting for insects.
Giant Crab spiders because they can walk side way. And Giant in order not to confuse with the species Crab spiders which are small.
Banana Spiders due to its occasional appearance in marketed bananas, is a cosmotropical species introduced into U.S., from tropical countries like Philippines which exported large quantity of bananas to US.
Huntsman spiders do not use webs to capture prey. Their strong chelicerae (mouthparts) and Fangs (The sharp teeth ) are used to capture the insects to feed.
Poison is injected into the prey from glands extending from the chelicerae into the cephalothorax.
All spiders have venom, According to records Heteropoda venom is not considered medically significant though bites can be rather painful.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Latreille, 1804
Heteropoda (Giant huntsman spiders) are distributed in tropical Asia and Australia. These spiders catch and eat insects. But in a laboratory study one species readily ate fish and tadpoles when offered, and H. venatoria has been known to eat scorpions and bats.
Heteropoda tetrica Thorell, 1897 is revised according to morphological and biogeographical features. The species is distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).
It is highly abundant in various natural and disturbed habitats. No forms could be separated by biogeographical or by discontinuous morphological traits. Therefore the material examined is considered as belonging to one biospecies with highly variable morphology of copulatoryorgans. An extended diagnosis and illustrations of variation in copulatory organs are provided.
The huntsman spider. Spiders of the Genus Heteropoda are called huntsman spider, giant crab spider and the banana spider.
Huntsman spiders because these spiders wandering around hunting for insects.
Giant Crab spiders because they can walk side way. And Giant in order not to confuse with the species Crab spiders which are small.
Banana Spiders due to its occasional appearance in marketed bananas, is a cosmotropical species introduced into U.S., from tropical countries like Philippines which exported large quantity of bananas to US.
Huntsman spiders do not use webs to capture prey. Their strong chelicerae (mouthparts) and Fangs (The sharp teeth ) are used to capture the insects to feed.
Poison is injected into the prey from glands extending from the chelicerae into the cephalothorax.
All spiders have venom, According to records Heteropoda venom is not considered medically significant though bites can be rather painful.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Latreille, 1804
Pardosa
Wolf Spider
Wolf Spider
Pardosa is a large genus of wolf spiders, with more than 500 described species that are found in all regions of the world.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Genus: Pardosa
C. L. Koch, 1847
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Genus: Pardosa
C. L. Koch, 1847
Parawixia dehaani
Common garden spider or Orb weaver spider
Common garden spider or Orb weaver spider
Parawixia dehaani, known in Australia as the abandoned-web orb-weaver, is a species of orb weaver spider from the family Araneidae which is widely distributed in Australasia and eastern Asia. It is common in gardens, leading to it sometimes being known by the name common garden spider. The specific name is sometimes spelt dehaanii.
The female Parawixia dehaani is a large, dark brown spider with variable patterns on the abdomen. The most noticeable field characteristic is the triangular abdomen having corners with sharp spikes.
The species is found from India to the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia and Singapore. It has also been recorded in Pakistan.
Parawixia dehaani besides being found in gardens, it can aslo be found in disturbed areas and nearby bushland.
Parawaixia dehaani is nocturnal and feeds mainly on moths. During the day the spider shelters under a leaf in the vegetation. It builds a vertical orb web with an open hub, which often looks damaged, with sections missing, hence the Australian common name, abandoned-web orb-weaver. When disturbed the spiders falls to the ground and plays dead with its legs retracted. Bats have been recorded as being captured by this spider. Tho it is venomous but the bite is not dangerous to humans.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Parawixia
Species: P. dehaani
Binomial name Parawixia dehaani
(Doleschall, 1859)
The female Parawixia dehaani is a large, dark brown spider with variable patterns on the abdomen. The most noticeable field characteristic is the triangular abdomen having corners with sharp spikes.
The species is found from India to the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia and Singapore. It has also been recorded in Pakistan.
Parawixia dehaani besides being found in gardens, it can aslo be found in disturbed areas and nearby bushland.
Parawaixia dehaani is nocturnal and feeds mainly on moths. During the day the spider shelters under a leaf in the vegetation. It builds a vertical orb web with an open hub, which often looks damaged, with sections missing, hence the Australian common name, abandoned-web orb-weaver. When disturbed the spiders falls to the ground and plays dead with its legs retracted. Bats have been recorded as being captured by this spider. Tho it is venomous but the bite is not dangerous to humans.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Parawixia
Species: P. dehaani
Binomial name Parawixia dehaani
(Doleschall, 1859)
Cteniza sauvagesi
Trapdoor spider
Trapdoor spider
Cteniza sauvagesi is a trapdoor spider first described in 1788 by Pietro Rossi. These spiders have found mainly on the large islands, on roadside banks and in the littoral zone. They are darkly colored with a shiny head and can reach 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length.
Their trap-door burrows are lined with gossamer, more so than those of Nemesiidae. The trap's lid is cork-like and can be up to a centimeter in diameter. When the spider notices prey (probably by detecting vibration), it lunges out, to grab it before immediately retreating. The spider always stays inside its burrow with its hindlegs, in order not to lock itself out. The only time it leaves is to search for a mate. When the male finds a female's burrow, he will quaver on the lid with his legs until the female appears.
A hungry individual will wait halfway outside its burrow for a meal. Male trapdoor spiders can overcome the female's aggressive reactions to their approach, but it is not known how. Females never travel far from their burrows, especially if they have an egg sac. During this time, the female will capture food and regurgitate it to feed her spiderlings. Enemies of the trapdoor spider include certain pompilids (spider wasps), which seek out the burrows and manage to gain entrance. They sting the owner and lay their eggs (usually one per spider) on its body. When the egg hatches, the larva devours the spider alive.
Unlike other mygalomorph spiders, the Ctenizidae have a rastellum on the chelicera. Resembling "teeth" or "barbs" on each fang, this modification is used to dig and gather soil while constructing a burrow. They use their pedipalps and first legs to hold the trapdoor closed when disturbed.
There are about 50 species of Ctenizidae.
Genera of Ctenizidae are found in Europe, Asia and South Africa. They may be more common than thought because of their cryptic habits. They do tend to be localized in distribution and as such may be subject to extinction because of local habitat destruction. Most species live in burrows rather than webs. They make silk hinged doors that blend with their habitat. Not all members of the family use trapdoors.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Ctenizidae
Genus: Cteniza
Species: C. sauvagesi
Binomial name Cteniza sauvagesi
(Rossi, 1788)
Their trap-door burrows are lined with gossamer, more so than those of Nemesiidae. The trap's lid is cork-like and can be up to a centimeter in diameter. When the spider notices prey (probably by detecting vibration), it lunges out, to grab it before immediately retreating. The spider always stays inside its burrow with its hindlegs, in order not to lock itself out. The only time it leaves is to search for a mate. When the male finds a female's burrow, he will quaver on the lid with his legs until the female appears.
A hungry individual will wait halfway outside its burrow for a meal. Male trapdoor spiders can overcome the female's aggressive reactions to their approach, but it is not known how. Females never travel far from their burrows, especially if they have an egg sac. During this time, the female will capture food and regurgitate it to feed her spiderlings. Enemies of the trapdoor spider include certain pompilids (spider wasps), which seek out the burrows and manage to gain entrance. They sting the owner and lay their eggs (usually one per spider) on its body. When the egg hatches, the larva devours the spider alive.
Unlike other mygalomorph spiders, the Ctenizidae have a rastellum on the chelicera. Resembling "teeth" or "barbs" on each fang, this modification is used to dig and gather soil while constructing a burrow. They use their pedipalps and first legs to hold the trapdoor closed when disturbed.
There are about 50 species of Ctenizidae.
Genera of Ctenizidae are found in Europe, Asia and South Africa. They may be more common than thought because of their cryptic habits. They do tend to be localized in distribution and as such may be subject to extinction because of local habitat destruction. Most species live in burrows rather than webs. They make silk hinged doors that blend with their habitat. Not all members of the family use trapdoors.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Ctenizidae
Genus: Cteniza
Species: C. sauvagesi
Binomial name Cteniza sauvagesi
(Rossi, 1788)
Thelyphonus sp
The whip scorpion
The whip scorpion
Uropygi is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as whip scorpions or vinegaroons (also spelled vinegarroons and vinegarones). They are often called uropygids.
The name "whip scorpion" refers to their resemblance to true scorpions and possession of a whiplike tail, and "vinegaroon" refers to their ability when attacked to discharge an offensive, vinegar-smelling liquid, which contains acetic acid.
The order may also be called Thelyphonida. Both names, Uropygi and Thelyphonida, may be used either in a narrow sense for the order of whip scorpions, or in a broad sense which includes the order
Schizomida.
Thelyphonidae is the sole family in the Uropygi order of arachnids. These arachnids can reach a length of 18–85 millimetres (0.71–3.35 in). The body consists of a cephalothorax coated with chitin and of an abdomen divided into 12 segments.
They have six legs used for movement, two long antenniform front legs that they use to feel around for prey and detect vibrations, and two large pedipalps modified into claws that they use to crush their prey. They have a long, thin, whip-like tail, the origin of the common name whipscorpion.
Its preys on various insects, worms, and slugs.
Although they may look formidable, they lack venom and are harmless. Although the vinegaroons lack venom, they have the ability to spray you from an opening near the tail, with acetic acid (vinegar), and a solvent that attacks the exoskeleton of insects.
The spray is 85% concentrated acetic acid/vinegar, hence the common name “Vinegaroon.” The heavy pinching mouthparts (modified pedipalps) can also inflict a painful bite. Although very unlikely to attack humans, it can certainly defend itself if provoked.” The Vinegaroon is a nocturnal predator with poor eyesight.
Thelyphonus is the type genus of whip scorpions or 'vinegaroons' in the subfamily Thelyphoninae, with species found in Southeast Asia.
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Uropygi
Family : Thelyphonidae
Subfamily : Thelyphoninae
Genus : Thelyphonus
Latreille, 1802
The name "whip scorpion" refers to their resemblance to true scorpions and possession of a whiplike tail, and "vinegaroon" refers to their ability when attacked to discharge an offensive, vinegar-smelling liquid, which contains acetic acid.
The order may also be called Thelyphonida. Both names, Uropygi and Thelyphonida, may be used either in a narrow sense for the order of whip scorpions, or in a broad sense which includes the order
Schizomida.
Thelyphonidae is the sole family in the Uropygi order of arachnids. These arachnids can reach a length of 18–85 millimetres (0.71–3.35 in). The body consists of a cephalothorax coated with chitin and of an abdomen divided into 12 segments.
They have six legs used for movement, two long antenniform front legs that they use to feel around for prey and detect vibrations, and two large pedipalps modified into claws that they use to crush their prey. They have a long, thin, whip-like tail, the origin of the common name whipscorpion.
Its preys on various insects, worms, and slugs.
Although they may look formidable, they lack venom and are harmless. Although the vinegaroons lack venom, they have the ability to spray you from an opening near the tail, with acetic acid (vinegar), and a solvent that attacks the exoskeleton of insects.
The spray is 85% concentrated acetic acid/vinegar, hence the common name “Vinegaroon.” The heavy pinching mouthparts (modified pedipalps) can also inflict a painful bite. Although very unlikely to attack humans, it can certainly defend itself if provoked.” The Vinegaroon is a nocturnal predator with poor eyesight.
Thelyphonus is the type genus of whip scorpions or 'vinegaroons' in the subfamily Thelyphoninae, with species found in Southeast Asia.
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Arthropoda
Subphylum : Chelicerata
Class : Arachnida
Order : Uropygi
Family : Thelyphonidae
Subfamily : Thelyphoninae
Genus : Thelyphonus
Latreille, 1802
Hasarius adansoni
Adanson's house jumper
Adanson's house jumper
Hasarius adansoni, known commonly as Adanson's house jumper, is a species of jumping spider common and associated with people in most of the warmer parts of the world.
Females grow up to 8 millimeters in length, males up to 6 millimeters.
The males are mostly black, with a red "mask" and pedipalps that are partly white. A white crescent is present on the back part of the abdomen, and another one on the front part of the opisthosoma. There are two small white dots on the posterior back, and two even smaller ones towards the end. These white areas - especially on the pedipalps - have a nacre-like iridescence.
Females are dark brown, with a lighter and somewhat rufous opisthosoma.
These spiders build a silken retreat at night, which is about twice the length of the animal. Although the same retreat is sometimes reused, others are built in the vicinity.
Males have been seen to feed on immature females, although this may be by accident.
This species was originally described as Attus adansonii by Audouin in 1826, then redescribed in officially recognised literature another 86 times by 2012, often being placed in other genera. The first placement into Hasarius was made by the French arachnologist Eugène Simon in 1871.
The species is named after the French naturalist Michel Adanson.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Hasarius
Species: H. adansoni
Binomial name Hasarius adansoni
(Audouin, 1826)
Females grow up to 8 millimeters in length, males up to 6 millimeters.
The males are mostly black, with a red "mask" and pedipalps that are partly white. A white crescent is present on the back part of the abdomen, and another one on the front part of the opisthosoma. There are two small white dots on the posterior back, and two even smaller ones towards the end. These white areas - especially on the pedipalps - have a nacre-like iridescence.
Females are dark brown, with a lighter and somewhat rufous opisthosoma.
These spiders build a silken retreat at night, which is about twice the length of the animal. Although the same retreat is sometimes reused, others are built in the vicinity.
Males have been seen to feed on immature females, although this may be by accident.
This species was originally described as Attus adansonii by Audouin in 1826, then redescribed in officially recognised literature another 86 times by 2012, often being placed in other genera. The first placement into Hasarius was made by the French arachnologist Eugène Simon in 1871.
The species is named after the French naturalist Michel Adanson.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Hasarius
Species: H. adansoni
Binomial name Hasarius adansoni
(Audouin, 1826)
Menemerus bivittatus
Menemerus bivittatus is a spider in the Salticidae family commonly known as the gray wall jumper. It is a pantropical species and is usually found on the walls of buildings or on tree trunks where it stalks its prey.
Gray wall jumpers are dorso-ventrally flattened and are covered with short dense, grayish-white hairs.
There are tufts of dark brown bristles near the large, forward-facing eyes. The spiders are about nine millimetres long, the male being slightly smaller than the female.
The male has a blackish longitudinal dorsal stripe with a brownish-white stripe on either side of the abdomen. The carapace and chelicerae are also black and white and the legs have transverse bandings of the same colours.
The female is generally paler and more brown, with a larger carapace and abdomen. Her carapace is edged with two black bands and a thin white stripe and her abdomen is edged with broad black stripes on each side which unite at the posterior end. Her legs are banded but are paler than those of the male. Immature spiders resemble the female.
The female gray wall jumper builds an eggsac in a crack or other concealed position in which she lays 25 to 40 eggs in a purse-like silken case. She guards the eggs until they hatch in about three weeks time after which the young spiders disperse.
Both young and old spiders feed mainly on small flies which alight on walls. They do not build a web but instead, stalk their prey before launching an attack by leaping on the victim. They have high visual acuity and their large eyes are able to focus on objects and detect different colours. They use their highly coordinated jumping ability to capture their prey and to move from one place to another. They are capable of capturing insects such as crane flies that are at least twice their own size.
Male spiders of this species possess a stridulatory apparatus which consists of several long bristles on the palpal femur and a series of horizontal ridges on the outer side of the chelicerae. Sound is generated when the spider rubs these ridges up and down against the palpal teeth. This is believed to be part of a courtship display by the male.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Menemerus
Species: M. bivittatus
Binomial name Menemerus bivittatus
Dufour, 1831
Gray wall jumpers are dorso-ventrally flattened and are covered with short dense, grayish-white hairs.
There are tufts of dark brown bristles near the large, forward-facing eyes. The spiders are about nine millimetres long, the male being slightly smaller than the female.
The male has a blackish longitudinal dorsal stripe with a brownish-white stripe on either side of the abdomen. The carapace and chelicerae are also black and white and the legs have transverse bandings of the same colours.
The female is generally paler and more brown, with a larger carapace and abdomen. Her carapace is edged with two black bands and a thin white stripe and her abdomen is edged with broad black stripes on each side which unite at the posterior end. Her legs are banded but are paler than those of the male. Immature spiders resemble the female.
The female gray wall jumper builds an eggsac in a crack or other concealed position in which she lays 25 to 40 eggs in a purse-like silken case. She guards the eggs until they hatch in about three weeks time after which the young spiders disperse.
Both young and old spiders feed mainly on small flies which alight on walls. They do not build a web but instead, stalk their prey before launching an attack by leaping on the victim. They have high visual acuity and their large eyes are able to focus on objects and detect different colours. They use their highly coordinated jumping ability to capture their prey and to move from one place to another. They are capable of capturing insects such as crane flies that are at least twice their own size.
Male spiders of this species possess a stridulatory apparatus which consists of several long bristles on the palpal femur and a series of horizontal ridges on the outer side of the chelicerae. Sound is generated when the spider rubs these ridges up and down against the palpal teeth. This is believed to be part of a courtship display by the male.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Menemerus
Species: M. bivittatus
Binomial name Menemerus bivittatus
Dufour, 1831
Heteropoda venatoria
Huntsman spider
Huntsman spider
Male
Heteropoda venatoria is a species of spider in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. It is native to the tropical regions of the world, and it is present in some subtropical areas as an introduced species. Its common names include giant crab spider, or cane spider.
The adult has a flat, brown body 2 to 2.5 cm (0.8 to 1 inch) long, 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) wide, including the legs.
The female may be slightly larger than the male, particularly in the abdomen, but the male has longer legs and larger tips on its pedipalps.
The clypeus, the area just in front of the eyes, is cream or yellowish, and the carapace behind the eyes has a wide band which is usually tan in the female and cream in the male. The body is not very hairy, but the legs have erectile setae, each of which is marked with a black dot.
The female produces an egg sac up to about 2.5 centimeters wide and carries it with its pedipalps under its body. Egg sacs are variable in size, usually containing over 100 eggs, with larger ones holding over 400. The spiderlings undergo their first molt while still in the sac. In one small laboratory sample, the life span of the male averaged 465 days, and that of the female was 580 days.
As part of its courtship behavior, the male produces a sound by vibrating its abdomen while keeping its feet firmly planted. This is faintly audible to humans as a "buzz" or "hum".
The spider is not considered dangerous, but it does deliver enough venom to give a painful bite.
The spider feeds on insects, which includes various species of butterflies and moths such as Deilephila elpenor. The spider captures them directly instead of spinning webs. After capturing its prey, the spider injects them with venom. The venom of this spider contains the toxin HpTX2, a potassium channel blocker.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Species: H. venatoria
Binomial name Heteropoda venatoria
Linnaeus, 1767
The adult has a flat, brown body 2 to 2.5 cm (0.8 to 1 inch) long, 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) wide, including the legs.
The female may be slightly larger than the male, particularly in the abdomen, but the male has longer legs and larger tips on its pedipalps.
The clypeus, the area just in front of the eyes, is cream or yellowish, and the carapace behind the eyes has a wide band which is usually tan in the female and cream in the male. The body is not very hairy, but the legs have erectile setae, each of which is marked with a black dot.
The female produces an egg sac up to about 2.5 centimeters wide and carries it with its pedipalps under its body. Egg sacs are variable in size, usually containing over 100 eggs, with larger ones holding over 400. The spiderlings undergo their first molt while still in the sac. In one small laboratory sample, the life span of the male averaged 465 days, and that of the female was 580 days.
As part of its courtship behavior, the male produces a sound by vibrating its abdomen while keeping its feet firmly planted. This is faintly audible to humans as a "buzz" or "hum".
The spider is not considered dangerous, but it does deliver enough venom to give a painful bite.
The spider feeds on insects, which includes various species of butterflies and moths such as Deilephila elpenor. The spider captures them directly instead of spinning webs. After capturing its prey, the spider injects them with venom. The venom of this spider contains the toxin HpTX2, a potassium channel blocker.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Species: H. venatoria
Binomial name Heteropoda venatoria
Linnaeus, 1767
Phlogiellus inermis
Tarantula
Tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders belonging to the family Theraphosidae.
Currently, about 1,000 species have been identified.
The term tarantula is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas".
Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. New World species kept as pets have urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eye
Currently, about 1,000 species have been identified.
The term tarantula is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas".
Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. New World species kept as pets have urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eye
Phlogiellus inermis is a small, semi-arboreal species of tarantula from south-east Asia. It is known as the Singapore tarantula.
These small, primarily brown spiders have a leg-span of up to 1.75 inches.
Scientific name: Phlogiellus inermis
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
These small, primarily brown spiders have a leg-span of up to 1.75 inches.
Scientific name: Phlogiellus inermis
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
Pirata piraticus
Wolf Spider
Wolf Spider
Pirata piraticus is a species of wolf spider in the family Lycosidae. It is found in North America, Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, a range from Russia, Central Asia, China, Japan.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Genus: Pirata
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
Phylum: Arthropoda
Genus: Pirata
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
Nephila pilipes
Golden silk orb-weavers
Golden silk orb-weavers
Nephila pilipes is a species of golden orb-web spider. It can be found in Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. It is commonly found in primary and secondary forests and gardens.
Kingdom: Animalia
Family: Araneidae
Scientific name: Nephila pilipes
Phylum: Arthropoda
Higher classification: Golden silk orb-weavers
Order: Spider
Kingdom: Animalia
Family: Araneidae
Scientific name: Nephila pilipes
Phylum: Arthropoda
Higher classification: Golden silk orb-weavers
Order: Spider
Oxyopes salticus
Lynx Spider
Lynx Spider
Oxyopes salticus is a species of lynx spider, commonly known as the Striped Lynx Spider, first described by Hentz in 1845. Its habitat tends to be grasses and leafy vegetation; grassy, weedy fields, and row crops. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Oxyopes salticus
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
Family: Oxyopidae
Scientific name: Oxyopes salticus
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Spider
Rank: Species
Family: Oxyopidae
Salticus scenicus
Zebra Spider
Zebra Spider
The zebra back spider (Salticus scenicus) is a common jumping spider of the Northern Hemisphere. Like other jumping spiders it does not build a web. It uses its four pairs of large eyes to locate and stalk its prey before pouncing on it.
Their common name refers to their vivid black-and-white colouration, whilst their scientific name derives from Salticus from the Latin for “dancing”, in reference to their agility, and the Greek scenicus, translating to “theatrical” or “of a decorative place,” in reference to the flashy, zebra-like coloration of the species.
Female zebra spiders are 5–9 mm long, while males are 5–6 mm. Male zebra spiders also have distinctly larger chelicerae than females.
Spiders in the family Salticidae have especially enlarged anterior median eyes (AME), though the anterior and posterior lateral eyes (ALE, PLE) are also large when compared to the very small posterior median eyes (PME). In total there are eight eyes, with the very large anterior median eyes primarily responsible for its excellent binocular vision. These small spiders are black with white hairs that form stripes.
Zebra spiders tend to hunt smaller spiders and other arthropods. They have been observed feeding on mosquitos that are almost twice their length. They have also been observed taking on prey items up to 3 times the length of the spider, such as some of the smaller species of moth. Like other jumping spiders, these spiders use their large front eyes to locate and stalk their prey. They move slowly towards their prey until they are close enough to pounce on top of their victim, and their hunting behaviour has been described as cat-like. Using their acute eyesight, they are able to accurately judge the distances they need to jump.
They orient towards prey detected by their lateral eyes whenever the angle subtended by such prey exceeds 5.5°. The velocity of the prey is not involved in the determination of reactive distance, but only moving objects elicit orientation. The probability that orientation is followed by stalking is a function of both prey size and velocity. The zebra spider's stalk velocity declines progressively as it nears its (stationary) prey.
Before jumping, they glue a silk thread to the surface that they are jumping from so that if they miss the target, they can climb up the thread and try again - However, they may 'abseil' with a silk thread if they wish to descend from a height safely, for instance they have been documented 'abseiling' from ceilings. They ignore unappetising insects such as ants.
There are no extensor muscles at the 'hinge joints' of the spider leg, instead joints extension is due to the haemocoelic blood pressure in the leg. The most significant evidence that this extension is due to hydraulic forces is that the leg spines become erect during the jump, a result of increased body pressure which can be demonstrated on many spiders. The zebra spider's jump is almost entirely due to the sudden straightening of the fourth pair of legs. The mean jumping velocity is estimated to be between 0.64–0.79 m/s (2.1–2.6 ft/s)
When these spiders meet, the male carries out a courtship dance involving waving his front legs and moving his abdomen up and down. The better the dance the more likely the female will want to mate, with success guaranteed if the male can exhibit a perfect shuffle.[citation needed] Females will stay with their egg sacs and will guard the young after they hatch. After the spiderlings have had their second moult they will leave the mother and fend for themselves.
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Salticus
Species: S. scenicus
Binomial name Salticus scenicus
Their common name refers to their vivid black-and-white colouration, whilst their scientific name derives from Salticus from the Latin for “dancing”, in reference to their agility, and the Greek scenicus, translating to “theatrical” or “of a decorative place,” in reference to the flashy, zebra-like coloration of the species.
Female zebra spiders are 5–9 mm long, while males are 5–6 mm. Male zebra spiders also have distinctly larger chelicerae than females.
Spiders in the family Salticidae have especially enlarged anterior median eyes (AME), though the anterior and posterior lateral eyes (ALE, PLE) are also large when compared to the very small posterior median eyes (PME). In total there are eight eyes, with the very large anterior median eyes primarily responsible for its excellent binocular vision. These small spiders are black with white hairs that form stripes.
Zebra spiders tend to hunt smaller spiders and other arthropods. They have been observed feeding on mosquitos that are almost twice their length. They have also been observed taking on prey items up to 3 times the length of the spider, such as some of the smaller species of moth. Like other jumping spiders, these spiders use their large front eyes to locate and stalk their prey. They move slowly towards their prey until they are close enough to pounce on top of their victim, and their hunting behaviour has been described as cat-like. Using their acute eyesight, they are able to accurately judge the distances they need to jump.
They orient towards prey detected by their lateral eyes whenever the angle subtended by such prey exceeds 5.5°. The velocity of the prey is not involved in the determination of reactive distance, but only moving objects elicit orientation. The probability that orientation is followed by stalking is a function of both prey size and velocity. The zebra spider's stalk velocity declines progressively as it nears its (stationary) prey.
Before jumping, they glue a silk thread to the surface that they are jumping from so that if they miss the target, they can climb up the thread and try again - However, they may 'abseil' with a silk thread if they wish to descend from a height safely, for instance they have been documented 'abseiling' from ceilings. They ignore unappetising insects such as ants.
There are no extensor muscles at the 'hinge joints' of the spider leg, instead joints extension is due to the haemocoelic blood pressure in the leg. The most significant evidence that this extension is due to hydraulic forces is that the leg spines become erect during the jump, a result of increased body pressure which can be demonstrated on many spiders. The zebra spider's jump is almost entirely due to the sudden straightening of the fourth pair of legs. The mean jumping velocity is estimated to be between 0.64–0.79 m/s (2.1–2.6 ft/s)
When these spiders meet, the male carries out a courtship dance involving waving his front legs and moving his abdomen up and down. The better the dance the more likely the female will want to mate, with success guaranteed if the male can exhibit a perfect shuffle.[citation needed] Females will stay with their egg sacs and will guard the young after they hatch. After the spiderlings have had their second moult they will leave the mother and fend for themselves.
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Salticus
Species: S. scenicus
Binomial name Salticus scenicus
Thiania Bhamoensis
Male fighting spider
Male fighting spider
Thiania bhamoensis is a species of jumping spider.
The species is iridescent green-blue. Females are more green, males more blue. From the front view, the female's face are black. And the males are white.
These spiders build a silken retreat by binding a pair of green leaves together, where they rest, moult and lay their eggs, which is unusual for a jumping spider. Making a single rivet to attach the leaves takes about half an hour. About four to ten rivets are arranged in a roughly elliptical manner. These nests are built by both sexes and juveniles. Although T. bhamoensis can be found on many kinds of plants, it most often chooses Crinum asiaticum (spider lily).
The white elliptical egg sacs are about two to three times the size of the spider and are attached inside the nest.
Twelve different displays were identified during fights between males, including pushing, possibly to assess the weight of the other male.
Because two males will readily fight each other, either in a natural setting, or if put together, they are commonly known as "fighting spider" in South-east Asia.
These spiders are commonly kept in matchboxes with a piece of green leaf and a spat of saliva for moisture. A spider that wins fight after fight gets the status of "first king". A common belief is that the darkest males are most aggressive.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Thiania
Species: T. bhamoensis
Binomial name Thiania bhamoensis
The species is iridescent green-blue. Females are more green, males more blue. From the front view, the female's face are black. And the males are white.
These spiders build a silken retreat by binding a pair of green leaves together, where they rest, moult and lay their eggs, which is unusual for a jumping spider. Making a single rivet to attach the leaves takes about half an hour. About four to ten rivets are arranged in a roughly elliptical manner. These nests are built by both sexes and juveniles. Although T. bhamoensis can be found on many kinds of plants, it most often chooses Crinum asiaticum (spider lily).
The white elliptical egg sacs are about two to three times the size of the spider and are attached inside the nest.
Twelve different displays were identified during fights between males, including pushing, possibly to assess the weight of the other male.
Because two males will readily fight each other, either in a natural setting, or if put together, they are commonly known as "fighting spider" in South-east Asia.
These spiders are commonly kept in matchboxes with a piece of green leaf and a spat of saliva for moisture. A spider that wins fight after fight gets the status of "first king". A common belief is that the darkest males are most aggressive.
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Thiania
Species: T. bhamoensis
Binomial name Thiania bhamoensis