Spitting spider

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Cretaceous|present}}

| name = Spitting spiders

| image = Scytodes thoracica (aka).jpg

| image_caption = Scytodes thoracica

| image2 = Scytodes male spitting spider South Africa 9502s.jpg

| image2_caption = Scytodes male, showing pedipalps

| taxon = Scytodidae

| authority = Blackwall, 1864

| range_map = Distribution.scytodidae.1.png

| diversity = 4 genera, 252 species

| diversity_ref =

}}

Spitting spiders are a family of araneomorph spiders, the family Scytodidae, first described by John Blackwall in 1864.{{cite book| last=Blackwall| first=J.| year=1864| title=A history of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland| publisher=Ray Society, London| pages=175–384}} It contains over 250 species in five genera, of which Scytodes is the best-known.

Description

Scytodidae spiders are haplogyne, meaning they lack hardened female genitalia. They have six eyes, like most spiders in this group, arranged in three pairs. They possess long legs and a dome-shaped cephalothorax, and are usually yellow or light brown with black spots or marks. Their domed head and three eye groups tend to resemble a human skull, giving them the occasional common name "skull spiders".{{cite web |title=SCYTODIDAE Spitting spiders |url=https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2310 |website=Arachne.org.au |access-date=25 April 2024}}{{cite web |title=Spitting spider |url=https://dnr.illinois.gov/education/wildaboutpages/wildaboutinvertebrates/wildaboutspiders/family-scytodidae/waspspittingspider.html |website=Illinois Department of Natural Resources |access-date=25 April 2024}}

Hunting technique

Scytodidae catch their prey by spitting a fluid that congeals on contact into a venomous and sticky mass. The fluid contains both venom and spider silk in liquid form, though it is produced in venom glands in the chelicerae. The venom-laced silk both immobilizes and envenoms prey such as silverfish. In high-speed footage the spiders can be observed swaying from side to side as they "spit", catching the prey in a criss-crossed "Z" pattern; it is criss-crossed because each of the chelicerae emits half of the pattern. The spider usually strikes from a distance of {{convert|10|to|20|mm}} and the entire attack sequence only lasts 1/700th of a second.{{Cite book |last=Piper |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Piper |year=2007 |title=Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals |publication-place=Westport, Conn. |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-33922-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe }} After making the capture, the spider typically bites the prey with venomous effect, and wraps it in the normal spider fashion with silk from the spinnerets.{{cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1=C. |first2=L.S. |last2=Rayor |date=1985 |title=Predatory behavior of spitting spiders (Araneae, Scytodidae) and the evolution of prey wrapping |journal=Journal of Arachnology |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=231–241 |jstor=3705028 }}

Pre social behaviour

Some species exhibit presocial behaviour, in which mature spiders live together and assist the young with food.{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Jeremy |date=2010 |title=Taxon page for Scytodes socialis Miller, 2006. |url=http://araneae.lifedesks.org/pages/34605 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331171641/http://araneae.lifedesks.org/pages/34605 |archive-date=2012-03-31 }}

Genera

File:Scytodes.fusca.female.-.tanikawa.jpg, female]]

{{as of|2024|01}}, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:{{cite web| title=Family: Scytodidae Blackwall, 1864| website=World Spider Catalog| access-date=2024-01-12| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern| url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/family/84}}

Dictis L. Koch, 1872 — Asia, Oceania, North America and Seychelles
Scyloxes Dunin, 1992 — Tajikistan
Scytodes Latreille, 1804 — South America, Africa, Asia, North America, Caribbean, Central America, Oceania, Spain
Stedocys Ono, 1995 — China, Malaysia, Thailand

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20031208183121/http://www.arachnology.org/Arachnology/Pages/Araneae.html Arachnology Home Pages: Araneae]
[http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Scytodidae/Scytodidae.htm Info about Spitting spider Scytodes thoracica]
[http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog81-87/index.html Platnick, N.I. 2003. World Spider Catalog]

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Category:Taxa named by John Blackwall