Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) is a family of araneomorph

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 d ...

s first described by

John Blackwall John Blackwall (20 January 1790 – 11 May 1881) was an English naturalist with a particular interest in spiders. Life Blackwall was born in Manchester on 20 January 1790. He lived at Hendre House near Llanrwst in north Wales from 1833 until ...

in 1864. It contains over 250

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

in five

genera 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 ...

, of which '' Scytodes'' is the best-known.

Description

recluse spiders The recluse spiders (''Loxosceles'' (), also known as brown spiders, fiddle-backs, violin spiders, and reapers, is a genus of spiders that was first described by R. T. Lowe in 1832. They are venomous spiders known for their bite, which sometimes ...

and coneweb spiders, they have six

eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and c ...

arranged in three pairs and are haplogyne, meaning they have less complex female genitalia. They differ from these families in having a dome-shaped carapace and in their characteristic flecked pattern of spots.

Hunting technique

Scytodidae catch their prey by spitting a fluid that congeals on contact into a

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a ...

and sticky mass. The fluid contains both venom and

spider silk Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. They can a ...

in liquid form, though it is produced in venom glands in the

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as " jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or simila ...

. The venom-laced silk both immobilizes and envenoms prey such as

silverfish The silverfish (''Lepisma saccharinum'') is a species of small, primitive, wingless insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). Its common name derives from the insect's silvery light grey colour, combined with the fish-like appearance ...

. In high-speed footage the spiders can be observed swaying from side to side as they "spit", catching the prey in a criss-crossed "Z" pattern; it is criss-crossed because each of the

emits half of the pattern. The spider usually strikes from a distance of and the entire attack sequence only lasts 1/700th of a second. After making the capture, the spider typically bites the prey with venomous effect, and wraps it in the normal spider fashion with silk from the spinnerets.

Presocial behaviour

Some species exhibit presocial behaviour, in which mature spiders live together and assist the young with food.

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: *'' Dictis'' L. Koch, 1872 — Asia, Australia *'' Scyloxes'' Dunin, 1992 — Tajikistan *'' Scytodes'' Latreille, 1804 — South America, Africa, Asia, North America, Caribbean, Central America, Oceania, Spain *'' Soeuria'' Saaristo, 1997 — Seychelles *'' Stedocys'' Ono, 1995 — China, Malaysia, Thailand

References

External links