Selenopidae, also called wall crab spiders, wall spiders and flatties, is a family of nocturnal, free-ranging, araneomorph

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s first described by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

in 1897. It contains over 281 species in nine genera, of which '' Selenops'' is the most well-known. This family is just one of several families whose English name includes the phrase "crab spider". These spiders are often called "Flatties" due to their flattened dorsal profile. The

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

name for these spiders is "Muurspinnekop," which translates directly to "wall spider." The name Selenopidae comes from the greek moon goddess,

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...

, as their eyes resemble the moon.

Description

They are a variety of colors, including shades of grey, brown, yellow, and orange, with darker markings on the cephalothorax and spots or mottling on the abdomen, and annulations on the legs of most species. It is thought they mimic both lichens or rocks in their area. They are very flat dorsoventrally, and have two tarsal claws and laterigrade legs. Each of their legs face a different direction. Like most other

Entelegynae The Entelegynae or entelegynes are a subgroup of araneomorph spiders, the largest of the two main groups into which the araneomorphs were traditionally divided. Females have a genital plate ( epigynum) and a "flow through" fertilization system; ...

, they have eight eyes arranged in two rows; one with six and one with two. Although they are usually sedentary, their running and striking speeds place them among the world’s fastest animals, making them difficult to capture, while their coloring often makes them difficult to see. Their spin is the fastest leg-driven turning maneuver of any terrestrial animal, being able to strike their prey in an eighth of a second (three times the speed of a blink); therefore, the spiders' spins are being used by researchers in robotics applications. Dr. Zeng of UC Merced claims that the flattie spiders' "outward stance," which "tracks parallel to the ground" allows them to spin rapidly, giving them a "wider range of unrestricted motion."

Habitat

They occur worldwide, from sea level to over , and are primarily tropical and subtropical, though several species are found in deserts. They are commonly found on walls or under rocks. '' Selenops'' is the most widely distributed and ''

Anyphops ''Anyphops'' is a genus of Selenopidae, wall spiders that was first described by P. L. G. Benoit in 1968. Species it contains sixty-four species, found in Africa and on Saint Helena: *''Anyphops alticola, A. alticola'' (Lawrence, 1940) – South ...

'' is found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining genera have more specific distributions. At least one (possibly extinct) species of ''Garcorops'', '' G. jadis'', is known only from subfossil

copal Copal is a tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree '' Protium copal'' ( Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, copal includ ...

Genera

South African Flattie Spider From Kruger National Park

, 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: *'' Amamanganops'' Crews & Harvey, 2011 — Philippines *''

'' Benoit, 1968 — Africa *'' Garcorops'' Corronca, 2003 — Comoros, Madagascar *'' Godumops'' Crews & Harvey, 2011 — Papua New Guinea *'' Hovops'' Benoit, 1968 — Madagascar *'' Karaops'' Crews & Harvey, 2011 — Australia *'' Makdiops'' Crews & Harvey, 2011 — India, Nepal *'' Selenops'' Latreille, 1819 — Asia, North America, Caribbean, South America, Africa, Central America *'' Siamspinops'' Dankittipakul & Corronca, 2009 — Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q11714 Araneomorphae families

Description

Habitat

Genera

See also

References

External links