Palpimanidae, also known as palp-footed spiders, is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

araneomorph The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their ...

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s first described by

Tamerlan Thorell Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (3 May 1830 – 22 December 1901) was a Swedish arachnologist. Thorell studied spiders with Giacomo Doria at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genoa. He corresponded with other arachnologists, such as Octaviu ...

in 1890. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

and one in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, but not

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. They are not common and there is a high degree of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Description

The most obvious features of the Palpimanidae are the front legs, which are disproportionately powerful and heavily

sclerotised Sclerotin is a component of the cuticle of various Arthropoda, most familiarly insects. It is formed by cross-linking members of particular classes of protein molecules, a biochemical process called sclerotization, a form of tanning in which qu ...

. The abdomen is round to oval, evenly sprinkled with short straight hairs that in some species are sufficiently dense to form a close-fitting coat, though most species look nearly smooth. Usually the cephalothorax is somewhat less obviously hairy. The abdomen is evenly rounded without conspicuous sculpting, and in many species is elongated into an olive shape twice as long as the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

, giving the spider a vaguely torpedo-shaped appearance. Instead of having six spinnerets like most spiders, the Palpimanidae have only two. Colour patterns generally are subdued and simple. A few genera, such as ''Diaphorocellus'' have light patches on a dark abdomen. Most others are brownish or reddish to dark in general colour, but as a rule the cephalothorax is more heavily sclerotised and darker than the abdomen, as well as glossier. There are eight eyes in two rows of four, but in some species the outer anterior and posterior eyes are close together, which has caused some people to think there are just six eyes. In some species the chelicerae have stimulatory organs, microscopic ridges, with pegs that scrape over them when they rub the chelicerae together. The probable function is to signal to each other in mating, though it might have some defensive role as well.

Biology

The behaviour of the Palpimanidae is in general poorly investigated. All species produce ecribellate silk. They certainly are ground dwellers and do not spin webs, though they many do spin shelters for themselves in holes or under rocks. ''Palpimanus gibbulus'' at least, lives in leaf litter or under stones in dry soils. Many or most species go wandering at night, either hunting or seeking mates. They generally keep their very strong first legs held up in front of themselves while walking slowly at night, and on encountering possible prey they may feel it gently before grabbing it very rapidly and powerfully, as shown in some on-line video material.

Genera

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepts the following genera: *'' Anisaedus'' Simon, 1893 — Tanzania, South America *'' Badia'' Roewer, 1961 — Senegal *'' Boagrius'' Simon, 1893 — Tanzania, Malaysia, Indonesia *'' Chedima'' Simon, 1873 — Morocco *'' Chedimanops'' Zonstein & Marusik, 2017 — Congo *'' Diaphorocellus'' Simon, 1893 — Africa *'' Fernandezina'' Birabén, 1951 — South America *'' Hybosida'' Simon, 1898 — Seychelles *'' Hybosidella'' Zonstein & Marusik, 2017 — Cameroon *'' Ikuma'' Lawrence, 1938 — Namibia *'' Levymanus'' Zonstein & Marusik, 2013 — Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates *'' Notiothops'' Platnick, Grismado & Ramírez, 1999 — Chile *'' Otiothops'' MacLeay, 1839 — Caribbean, South America, Panama, India *''

Palpimanus ''Palpimanus'' is a genus of palp-footed spiders that was first described by L. Dufour in 1820. Species it contains thirty-six species, found in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Argentina: *'' Palpimanus aegyptiacus'' Kulczyński, 1909 – Egypt, Ch ...

'' Dufour, 1820 — Asia, Africa, Argentina, Europe *'' Sarascelis'' Simon, 1887 — Africa, Singapore *'' Scelidocteus'' Simon, 1907 — Africa *'' Scelidomachus'' Pocock, 1899 — Yemen *'' Steriphopus'' Simon, 1887 — Asia, Seychelles

Fossil genera

* '' Cretapalpus'' Downen & Selden, 2021,

Crato Formation The Crato Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Aptian) age in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin. It is an important Lagerstätte (undisturbed fossil accumulation) for palaeontologists. The strata were laid down mostly during ...

, Brazil, Early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

(

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ag ...

)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10972 Araneomorphae families