''Stenolemus bituberus'' is a species of thread-legged insect (

Emesinae The Emesinae, or thread-legged bugs, are a subfamily of the Reduviidae (i.e., assassin bugs). They are conspicuously different from the other reduviids by their very slender body form. They are stalking, predatory insects that can be collected on ...

) found across much of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. This species spends nearly its entire life (moulting, feeding, mating) in spider webs. It preys upon a variety of spiders, including webs and nests of spiders of ''

Achaearanea ''Achaearanea'' is a genus of Theridiidae, comb-footed spiders that was first described by Embrik Strand in 1929. It used to include the extremely abundant common house spider, which was transferred to genus ''Parasteatoda'' in 2006, together wi ...

'', '' Badumna'', ''

Pholcus ''Pholcus'' is a genus of spiders of long-bodied cellar spider and allies in the family Pholcidae, with 375 described species as of January 2023. It includes the cellar spider '' P. phalangioides'', often called the "daddy longlegs". This may ca ...

'', and '' Stiphidion'', and the families

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

and

Uloboridae Uloboridae is a family of non- venomous spiders, known as cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers. Their lack of venom glands is a secondarily evolved trait. Instead, they wrap their prey thoroughly in silk, cover it in regurgitated digestiv ...

. This species is found in a broader diversity of spider webs than any other species in ''Stenolemus''.

Behavior

''Stenolemus bituberus'' has two attack methods: stalking and luring. Stalking involves the slow approach of ''S. bituberus'' to a prey, followed by a period of tapping the prey with antennae (usually for an extended period of 3 minutes), and then suddenly stabbing the spider with its

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

, or beak. "Luring" involves plucking of the strands of the spider web by ''S. bituberus''. The prey comes over to investigate and ''S. bituberus'' again taps with antennae before stabbing with the rostrum.

References

* Reduviidae Hemiptera of Australia Insects described in 1874 {{Cimicomorpha-stub