Spitting spiders Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Scytodes thoracica | |
Scytodes male, showing pedipalps | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: |
Scytodidae Blackwall, 1864 |
Diversity [1] | |
4 genera, 252 species | |
Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by John Blackwall in 1864. [2] It contains over 250 species in five genera, [1] of which Scytodes is the best-known.
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. [3] [4]
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 10 to 20 millimetres (0.39 to 0.79 in) and the entire attack sequence only lasts 1/700th of a second. [5] 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. [6]
Some species exhibit presocial behaviour, in which mature spiders live together and assist the young with food. [7]
As of January 2024 [update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera: [1]