Mimetus Ridens

''Mimetus'' is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide.

Description

Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5-1.7 times that of the posterior pair.Spiders of Europe and Greenland
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Behaviour

Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.Spider enemies
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Species

The World Spider Catalog lists these species:

* ''Mimetus aktius'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 — USA
* '' Mimetus arushae'' Caporiacco, 1947 — Tanzania
* '' Mimetus banksi'' Chickering, 1947 — Panama
* '' Mimetus bifurcatus'' Reimoser, 1939 — Costa Rica
* '' Mimetus bigibbosus'' O. P.-Cambridge, 1894 — Mexico, Panama
* ''Mimetus bishopi'' Caporiacco, 1949 — Kenya
* '' Mimetus brasilianus'' Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
* ''Mimetus caudatus'' Wang, 1990 — China
* '' Mimetus comorensis'' Schmidt & Krause, 1994 — Comoro Islands
* ''Mimetus cornutus'' Lawrence, 1947 — South Africa
* ''Mimetus crudelis'' O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Guatemala
* ''Mimetus debilispinis'' Mello-Leitão, 1943 — Brazil
* ''Mimetus dimissus'' Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico, Antigua
* ''Mimetus echinatus'' Wang, 1990 — China
* ''Mimetus epeiroides'' Emerton, 1882 — USA
* ''Mimetus fernandi'' Lessert, 1930 — Congo
* ''Mimetus haynesi'' Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — USA
* ''Mimetus hesperus'' Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
* ''Mimetus hieroglyphicus'' Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil, Paraguay
* ''Mimetus hirsutus'' O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Mexico
* ''Mimetus hispaniolae'' Bryant, 1948 — Hispaniola
* '' Mimetus indicus'' Simon, 1906 — India
* '' Mimetus insidiator'' Thorell, 1899 — West Africa, São Tomé, Canary Islands
* '' Mimetus keyserlingi'' Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Peru, Brazil
* '' Mimetus labiatus'' Wang, 1990 — China
* '' Mimetus laevigatus'' (Keyserling, 1863) — Mediterranean to Central Asia
* '' Mimetus madacassus'' Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
* '' Mimetus margaritifer'' Simon, 1901 — Malaysia
* '' Mimetus marjorieae'' Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
* '' Mimetus melanoleucus'' Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
* '' Mimetus monticola'' (Blackwall, 1870) — Sicily, Syria, Egypt
* '' Mimetus natalensis'' Lawrence, 1938 — South Africa
* '' Mimetus nelsoni'' Archer, 1950 — USA
* '' Mimetus notius'' Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
* '' Mimetus penicillatus'' Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
* '' Mimetus portoricensis'' Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico
* ''Mimetus puritanus'' Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
* '' Mimetus rapax'' O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Costa Rica, Panama
* ''Mimetus ridens'' Brignoli, 1975 — Philippines
* '' Mimetus rusticus'' Chickering, 1947 — Panama
* ''Mimetus ryukyus'' Yoshida, 1993 — Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands
* '' Mimetus saetosus'' Chickering, 1956 — Panama
* '' Mimetus sinicus'' Song & Zhu, 1993 — China
* '' Mimetus strinatii'' Brignoli, 1972 — Sri Lanka
* '' Mimetus syllepsicus'' Hentz, 1832 — USA, Mexico
* '' Mimetus syllepsicus molestus'' Chickering, 1937 — Mexico
* '' Mimetus testaceus'' Yaginuma, 1960 — China, Korea, Japan
* ''Mimetus tillandsiae'' Archer, 1941 — USA
* '' Mimetus triangularis'' (Keyserling, 1879) — Peru, Brazil
* '' Mimetus trituberculatus'' O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Panama
* '' Mimetus tuberculatus'' Liang & Wang, 1991 — China
* '' Mimetus variegatus'' Chickering, 1956 — Panama
* '' Mimetus verecundus'' Chickering, 1947 — Panama
* '' Mimetus vespillo'' Brignoli, 1980 — Sulawesi
* ''Mimetus parvulus'' - India
* '' Mimetus spinatus'' - India
* ''Mimetus guiyang'' - China
* ''Mimetus lanmeiae'' - China

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3314592

Mimetidae
Araneomorphae genera
Taxa named by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz
Spiders of Asia
Spiders of Africa
Spiders of North America
Spiders of South America