''Deinopis'', also known as net-casting spiders, gladiator spiders and ogre-faced spiders,
[ is a ]genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of net-casting spiders that was first described by W. S. MacLeay in 1839.Greek
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(''deinos''), meaning "fearful", and ''opis'', meaning "appearance", referring to their ogre-like faces. The spelling "''Dinopis''" is also found, but is regarded as an "unjustified emendation".
Net-casting
Spiders in the genus ''Deinopis'' catch their prey in an unusual fashion. They first spin a small upright rectangular cribellate
Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates.
In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or ...
web. This is then detached from its supporting threads and held horizontally above the ground by the spider's long front two pairs of legs while the spider hangs almost vertically. Passing prey is then captured by dropping the "net" over it.
Eyes
The two posterior median eyes are enlarged and forward-facing. These eyes have a wide field of view and are able to gather available light more efficiently than the eyes of cats and owls, and are 2000 times more sensitive to light than human photoreceptors. This is despite the fact that they lack a reflective layer (tapetum lucidum
The ; ; : tapeta lucida) is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrates and some other animals. Lying immediately behind the retina, it is a retroreflector. It Reflection (physics), reflects visible light back through the retina, increas ...
); instead, each night, a large area of light-sensitive membrane is manufactured within the eyes, and destroyed at dawn, with the membrane being converted into vesicles which are then lysed in the inter-rhabdomeral cytoplasm. To aid further in netting prey, the spider places white fecal spots on the surface below the net and uses them for aiming. Spiders also lack ears, but Deinopis use hairs and receptors (slit sensilla The slit sensilla, also known as the slit sense organ, is a small mechanoreceptory organ or group of organs in the exoskeleton of arachnids which detects physical deformation or strain due to forces experienced by the animal. The organ appears in ...
e) on their legs to distinguish sounds at a distance of up to 2 meters.
Species
it contains twenty species:Simon
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* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
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* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, 1906 – Brazil
*'' D. bituberculata'' Franganillo, 1930 – Cuba
*'' D. bucculenta'' Schenkel, 1953 – Venezuela
*'' D. cylindracea'' C. L. Koch, 1846 – Colombia
*'' D. diabolica'' Kraus, 1956 – El Salvador
*'' D. fastigata'' Simon, 1906 – Brazil
*'' D. granadensis'' Keyserling Keyserling is the surname of several members of the noble House of Keyserlingk:
* Alexander Keyserling (1815–1891), Russian geologist, paleontologist, botanist and zoologist
* Eugen von Keyserling (1833–1889), German arachnologist
* Hermann Gr ...
, 1879 – Colombia
*'' D. guasca'' Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Brazil
*'' D. guianensis'' Taczanowski
Taczanowski (Polish feminine: Taczanowska; plural: Taczanowscy) is the surname of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family from Poznań bearing the Jastrzębiec coat of arms and the motto: ''Plus penser que dire''. They took their name from their ...
, 1874 – French Guiana
*'' D. lamia'' MacLeay, 1839 (type
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* ...
) – Cuba, Puerto Rico
*'' D. longipes'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – Mexico to Panama
*'' D. pallida'' Mello-Leitão, 1939 – Brazil
*'' D. pardalis'' Simon, 1906 – Brazil
*'' D. plurituberculata'' Mello-Leitão, 1925 – Brazil
*'' D. rodophthalma'' Mello-Leitão, 1939 – Brazil
*'' D. seriata'' Simon, 1906 – Brazil
*'' D. spinosa'' Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
, 1889 – USA, St. Vincent, Venezuela
*'' D. tuboculata'' Franganillo, 1926 – Cuba
References
External links
Deinopis
at BugGuide
BugGuide (or BugGuide.net) is a website and online community of naturalists, both amateur and professional, who share observations of arthropods such as insects, spiders, and other related creatures. The website consists of informational guide p ...
*
Video of Gladiator spider constructing the net and catching its prey
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2704272
Araneomorphae genera
Deinopidae