''Tidarren'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of tangle-web spiders first described by

Ralph Vary Chamberlin Ralph Vary Chamberlin (January 3, 1879October 31, 1967) was an American biologist, ethnographer, and historian from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a faculty member of the University of Utah for over 25 years, where he helped establish the School ...

Wilton Ivie Vaine Wilton Ivie (March 28, 1907 – August 8, 1969) was an American arachnologist, who described hundreds of new species and many new genera of spiders, both under his own name and in collaboration with Ralph Vary Chamberlin. He was employed by ...

in 1934. Males are much smaller than females, and they amputate one of their palps before maturation, entering their adult life with only one palp. Though it is uncertain why they do this, it may be done to increase mobility, as the palps are disproportionately large compared to the size of the body. It may also be done because only one palp is needed. Females of the

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

i species '' T. argo'' tear off the single remaining palp before feeding on males. The palp remains attached to the female's epigynum for about four hours, continuing to function despite being separated from the male's body.

Species

it contains twenty-four species: *'' Tidarren aethiops'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Congo *'' Tidarren afrum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon, Uganda *'' Tidarren apartiolum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar *'' Tidarren argo'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2001 — Yemen, Chad *'' Tidarren circe'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Namibia *'' Tidarren cuneolatum'' (Tullgren, 1910) — Cape Verde Is., Canary Is., Africa, Yemen *'' Tidarren dasyglossa'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar *'' Tidarren dentigerum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen *'' Tidarren ephemerum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar *'' Tidarren gracile'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen *'' Tidarren griswoldi'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon *'' Tidarren haemorrhoidale'' (Bertkau, 1880) — USA to Argentina *'' Tidarren horaki'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar *'' Tidarren konrad'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen *'' Tidarren lanceolatum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Congo *'' Tidarren levii'' Schmidt, 1957 — Congo *'' Tidarren mixtum'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) — Mexico to Costa Rica *'' Tidarren obtusum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar *'' Tidarren perplexum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon, Congo *'' Tidarren scenicum'' (Thorell, 1899) — Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, South Africa *'' Tidarren sheba'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen *'' Tidarren sisyphoides'' (Walckenaer, 1841) — USA to Argentina, Caribbean *'' Tidarren ubickorum'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — South Africa *'' Tidarren usambara'' Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Tanzania

References

External links

Theridiidae Araneomorphae genera Taxa named by Ralph Vary Chamberlin Taxa named by Wilton Ivie {{Theridiidae-stub