Mimetus
Encyclopedia
Mimetus is a genus
of pirate spider
s in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide.
, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace
and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5-1.7 times that of the posterior pair.
s. It then retreats and the prey
spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of pirate spider
Pirate spider
The family Mimetidae, commonly called pirate spiders, are spiders which typically feed on other spiders.The family Mimetidae contains roughly 200 species divided among 12 genera, of which Mimetus and Ero are the most common. Mimetids are usually yellow and brown and are usually 3 to 7 mm long...
s in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide.
Description
Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, TheridiidaeTheridiidae
Theridiidae is a large family of spiders, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders. The diverse family includes over 2200 species in over 100 genera) of three-dimensional space-web-builders found throughout the world...
, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace
Carapace
A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5-1.7 times that of the posterior pair.
Behaviour
Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxinToxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
s. It then retreats and the prey
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.
Species
The World Spider Catalog lists these species:- Mimetus aktius Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 — USA
- Mimetus arushae Caporiacco, 1947 — Tanzania
- Mimetus banksi Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Mimetus bifurcatus Reimoser, 1939 — Costa Rica
- Mimetus bigibbosus O. P.-Cambridge, 1894 — Mexico, Panama
- Mimetus bishopi Caporiacco, 1949 — Kenya
- Mimetus brasilianus Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
- Mimetus caudatus Wang, 1990 — China
- Mimetus comorensis Schmidt & Krause, 1994 — Comoro Islands
- Mimetus cornutus Lawrence, 1947 — South Africa
- Mimetus crudelis O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Guatemala
- Mimetus debilispinis Mello-Leitão, 1943 — Brazil
- Mimetus dimissus Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico, Antigua
- Mimetus echinatus Wang, 1990 — China
- Mimetus epeiroides Emerton, 1882 — USA
- Mimetus fernandi Lessert, 1930 — Congo
- Mimetus haynesi Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — USA
- Mimetus hesperus Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- Mimetus hieroglyphicus Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil, Paraguay
- Mimetus hirsutus O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Mexico
- Mimetus hispaniolae Bryant, 1948 — Hispaniola
- Mimetus indicus Simon, 1906 — India
- Mimetus insidiator Thorell, 1899 — West Africa, São Tomé, Canary Islands
- Mimetus keyserlingi Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Peru, Brazil
- Mimetus labiatus Wang, 1990 — China
- Mimetus laevigatus (Keyserling, 1863) — Mediterranean to Central Asia
- Mimetus madacassus Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
- Mimetus margaritifer Simon, 1901 — Malaysia
- Mimetus marjorieae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
- Mimetus melanoleucus Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
- Mimetus monticola (Blackwall, 1870) — Sicily, Syria, Egypt
- Mimetus natalensis Lawrence, 1938 — South Africa
- Mimetus nelsoni Archer, 1950 — USA
- Mimetus notius Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- Mimetus penicillatus Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
- Mimetus portoricensis Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico
- Mimetus puritanus Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- Mimetus rapax O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Costa Rica, Panama
- Mimetus ridens Brignoli, 1975 — Philippines
- Mimetus rusticus Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Mimetus ryukyus Yoshida, 1993 — Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands
- Mimetus saetosus Chickering, 1956 — Panama
- Mimetus sinicus Song & Zhu, 1993 — China
- Mimetus strinatii Brignoli, 1972 — Sri Lanka
- Mimetus syllepsicus Hentz, 1832 — USA, Mexico
- Mimetus syllepsicus molestus Chickering, 1937 — Mexico
- Mimetus testaceus Yaginuma, 1960 — China, Korea, Japan
- Mimetus tillandsiae Archer, 1941 — USA
- Mimetus triangularis (Keyserling, 1879) — Peru, Brazil
- Mimetus trituberculatus O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Panama
- Mimetus tuberculatus Liang & Wang, 1991 — China
- Mimetus variegatus Chickering, 1956 — Panama
- Mimetus verecundus Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Mimetus vespillo Brignoli, 1980 — Sulawesi