ray spider

{{short description|Family of spiders}}

{{Automatic taxobox

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

| name = Ray spiders

| image = Wendilgarda.sp.female.-.tanikawa.jpg

| image_caption = Wendilgarda, female

| taxon = Theridiosomatidae

| authority = Simon, 1881

| range_map = Distribution.theridiosomatidae.1.png

| subdivision_ranks =

| subdivision =

| diversity = 20 genera, 132 species

}}Theridiosomatidae, commonly known as ray spiders, are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1881.{{cite book| last=Simon| first=E.| author-link=Eugène Simon| year=1881| title=Les arachnides de France. Tome cinquième, première partie}} The family includes 137 species divided between 20 genera. They are most recognizable for their construction of cone-shaped webs.{{cite book |first=B.J. |last=Kaston |author-link=B. J. Kaston |title=How to Know the Spiders |edition=3rd |series=Pictured key nature series |publisher=Wm C. Brown Company Publishers |location=Dubuque, IA |date=1972 |isbn=9780697048981 |oclc=668250654 }}

The cephalothorax of Theridiosomatidae includes one pair of labio-sternal glands which seems a characteristic of the family and could be considered as a variation of segmental glands opening on the base of prosomatic appendages in various Spiders. This organ is composed of a cuticular sack-like reservoir opening on the sternum via a "pit", and of a cluster of functional units belonging to the class 3 of arthropodian epidermal glands. Each unit includes a large adenocyte provided with characteristic foliaceous microvilli (heart-shaped in Naatlo) and numerous mitochondria, an excretory duct terminating to a pore (located on an "apophysis" in Wendilgarda) and canal cells. Present in immature and both sexes, the labiosternal gland elaborates a golgian semiochemical, either a pheromone for intraspecific communication, or an allomone improving the prey capture.Labiosternal glands were discovered and named by André Lopez(1985,1988,1993)(external link :"archentoflor")

Genera

{{as of|2023|04}}, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:{{cite web |title=Family: Theridiosomatidae Simon, 1881 |url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/family/102 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

  • Andasta Simon, 1895 – Seychelles, Malaysia, Sri Lanka
  • Baalzebub Coddington, 1986 – Central America, Brazil, Australia, China
  • Chthonopes Wunderlich, 2011 – Laos
  • Chthonos Coddington, 1986 – Ecuador, Brazil, Peru
  • Coddingtonia Miller, Griswold & Yin, 2009 – Malaysia, Laos
  • Cuacuba Prete, Cizauskas & Brescovit, 2018
  • Epeirotypus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894 – Mexico, Costa Rica
  • Epilineutes Coddington, 1986 – Mexico, Brazil
  • Karstia Chen, 2010 – China
  • Menglunia Zhao & Li, 2012 – China
  • Naatlo Coddington, 1986 – Central America, South America, Trinidad and Tobago
  • Ogulnius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1882 – South America, Caribbean, Panama, Asia
  • Parogulnius Archer, 1953 – United States
  • Plato Coddington, 1986 – South America, Trinidad
  • Sennin Suzuki, Hiramatsu & Tatsuta, 2022 – Japan
  • Sinoalaria Zhao & Li, 2014 – China
  • Tagalogonia Labarque & Griswold, 2014 – Philippines
  • Theridiosoma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 – South America, Africa, Oceania, North America, Asia, Central America, Jamaica
  • Wendilgarda Keyserling, 1886 – Asia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Central America, Brazil, Mexico, Caribbean
  • Zoma Saaristo, 1996 – China, Seychelles

{{div col end}}

= Fossil species =

  • Eoepeirotypus Wunderlich 2004 Baltic amber, Eocene
  • Eotheridiosoma Wunderlich 2004 Bitterfeld amber, Baltic amber, Eocene
  • Palaeoepeirotypus Wunderlich 1988 Dominican amber, Miocene
  • Umerosoma Wunderlich 2004 Baltic amber, Eocene
  • †"Baalzebub" mesozoicum {{small|Penney 2014}} - Vendée amber, France, Turonian{{Cite journal|date=2014-12-01|title=A fossil ray spider (Araneae: Theridiosomatidae) in Cretaceous amber from Vendée, France|journal=Paleontological Contributions|doi=10.17161/pc.1808.15982|issn=1946-0279|doi-access=free|hdl=1808/15982|hdl-access=free}} later considered to be stem-theridiosomatid{{Cite journal|last1=Magalhaes|first1=Ivan L. F.|last2=Azevedo|first2=Guilherme H. F.|last3=Michalik|first3=Peter|last4=Ramírez|first4=Martín J.|date=February 2020|title=The fossil record of spiders revisited: implications for calibrating trees and evidence for a major faunal turnover since the Mesozoic|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12559|journal=Biological Reviews|language=en|volume=95|issue=1|pages=184–217|doi=10.1111/brv.12559|pmid=31713947|s2cid=207937170|issn=1464-7931}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}