Stenolemus bituberus is a species of thread-legged insect (Emesinae

Emesinae

Emesinae, or thread-legged bugs, are a subfamily of the Reduviidae . They are conspicuously different from the other reduviids by their very slender body form. They are stalking, predaceous insects that can be collected on palm fronds, cliffs, spider webbing, or near lights at night...

) found across much of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. This species spends nearly its entire life (moulting, feeding, mating) in spider webs. It preys upon a variety of spiders, including webs and nests of spiders of Achaearanea

Achaearanea

Achaearanea is a genus of spiders in the Theridiidae family.-Taxonomy:This genus used to include the extremely abundant common house spider, which was transferred to genus Parasteatoda in 2006, together with many other species. A. veruculata and many more species were moved to genus Cryptachaea in...

, Badumna

Badumna

Badumna is a genus of spiders from Australasia.-Species:* Badumna arguta * Badumna bimetallica * Badumna blochmanni...

, Pholcus

Pholcus

The spider genus Pholcus contains the Daddy long-legs spider P. phalangioides.Confusion often arises because the name "Daddy longlegs" is also applied to two other unrelated arthropods: the Harvestman and the Crane Fly....

, and Stiphidion, and the families Salticidae and Uloboridae. This species is found in a broader diversity of spider webs than any other species in Stenolemus.

Behavior

S. bituberus has two attack methods: stalking and luring. Stalking involves the slow approach of S. bituberus to a prey, followed by a period of tapping the prey with antennae

Antenna (biology)

Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....

 (usually for an extended period of 3 minutes), and then sudden stabbing the spider with the its rostrum

Rostrum (anatomy)

The term rostrum is used for a number of unrelated structures in different groups of animals:*In crustaceans, the rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes....

, or beak. "Luring" involves plucking of the strands of the spider web by S. bituberus. The prey comes over to investigate and S. bituberus again taps with antennae before stabbing with the rostrum.