|
Palpimanoidea
The Palpimanoidea or palpimanoids, also known as assassin spiders, are a group of araneomorph spiders, originally treated as a superfamily. As with many such groups, its circumscription has varied. , the following five families were included: * Archaeidae * Huttoniidae * Mecysmaucheniidae * Palpimanidae * Stenochilidae Many palpimanoids specialize in preying on other spiders, hence the name "assassin spiders". They have various adaptations for catching prey, including enlarged spade-like front legs, and heads raised up on a "neck" with long chelicerae ("jaws"). Fossils suggest that the group was once widespread, but most species are now found in the Southern Hemisphere. Morphological studies support the monophyly of the group, although molecular studies have produced different results. Description Many palpimanoids, particularly members of the families Archaeidae, Huttoniidae and Stenochilidae, specialize in preying on other spiders, hence the description "assassin spiders". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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; males have complex palpal bulbs. Molecular phylogenetic studies have supported the monophyly of Entelegynae (whereas the other traditional subgroup, the Haplogynae, has been shown not to be monophyletic). The clade contains both cribellate and ecribellate spiders. Characterization The Entelegynae are characterized primarily by the nature of the female genital system. The ancestral ( plesiomorphic) system is found in non-entelegyne spiders, where there is a single external genital opening in the female's abdomen. One or more males inject sperm from their palpal bulbs via this opening; the sperm is usually stored in special spermathecae (absent in some spiders, e.g. ''Pholcus''). When eggs are released from the ovaries, sperm is also releas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Araneoidea
Araneoidea is a taxon of araneomorph spiders, termed "araneoids", treated as a superfamily. As with many such groups, its circumscription has varied; in particular some families that had at one time moved to the Palpimanoidea have more recently been restored to Araneoidea. A 2014 treatment includes 18 families, with the araneoids making up about 26% of the total number of known spider species; a 2016 treatment includes essentially the same taxa, but now divided into 17 families. Taxonomy Many of the differences in circumscription concern the relationship between Araneoidea and Palpimanoidea. In 1984, Raymond R. Forster and Norman I. Platnick proposed that some groups previously considered araneoid actually belonged in the distantly related Palpimanoidea, including the families Holarchaeidae, Micropholcommatidae, Mimetidae and Pararchaeidae. Subsequent phylogenetic studies have rejected this proposal, firmly placing these four families in Araneoidea (some included in other famil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Araneomorphae
The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their close kin), where they point straight down. Araneomorphs comprise the vast majority of living spiders. Distinguishing characteristics Most spider species are Araneomorphae, which have fangs that face towards each other, increasing the orientations they can employ during prey capture. They have fewer book lungs (when present), and the females typically live one year. The Mygalomorphae have fangs that face towards the ground, and which are parallel to the long axis of the spider's body, thus they have only one orientation they can employ during prey capture. They have four pairs of book lungs, and the females often live many years. Image:Atrax robustus.jpg, This ''Atrax robustus'' shows the orientation of Myglamorphae fangs. Image:Che ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huttoniidae
Huttoniidae is a family of ecribellate araneomorph spiders containing a single genus, ''Huttonia'', itself containing a single described species, ''Huttonia palpimanoides''. It is known only from New Zealand. Very few specimens of the genus were known until it was discovered that they primarily inhabited dead fronds of rainforest ferns. Taxonomy It was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1880. Originally placed with the ant spiders, it was moved to a family of its own, Huttoniidae, in 1984, in the superfamily Palpimanoidea. Fossils of this family have been found in Cretaceous (Campanian) amber from Alberta and Manitoba, Canada. This extended the known geological age of the Huttoniidae back about 80 million years, supporting the theory of ''H. palpimanoides'' being an ousted relict species. They are probably most closely related to the now extinct family, Spatiatoridae. Although only one species is described, about twenty more undescribed species In taxonomy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagonomegopidae
Lagonomegopidae is an extinct family of spiders known from the Cretaceous period. Members of the family are distinguished by a large pair of eyes, positioned on the anterolateral flanks of the carapace, with the rest of the eyes being small. They have generally been considered members of Palpimanoidea, but this has recently been questioned. Members of the family are known from the late Early Cretaceous (Albian) to near the end of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Eurasia, North America and the Middle East, which was then attached to Africa as part of Gondwana. They are generally assumed to have been free living hunters as opposed to web builders. Diagnosis Per Guo and Selden, 2019 For the meaning of technical words, refer to the Glossary of spider terms. Relationships A phylogenetic analysis conducted in 2021 found that Lagonomegopidae formed the sister group to extant Palpimanoidea. Paleobiology Langonomegopids preserved with associated egg sacs and spiderlings indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeidae
Archaeidae, also known as assassin spiders and pelican spiders, is a spider family with about ninety described species in five genera. It contains small spiders, ranging from long, that prey exclusively on other spiders. They are unusual in that they have "necks", ranging from long and slender to short and fat. The name "pelican spider" refers to these elongated jaws and necks used to catch their prey. Living species of Archaeidae occur in South Africa, Madagascar and Australia, with the sister family Mecysmaucheniidae occurring in southern South America and New Zealand. Assassin spiders were first known from 40 million year old amber fossils which were found in Europe in the 1840s, and were not known to have living varieties until 1881, when the first living assassin spider was found in Madagascar. The fossil record of this family was first identified from Baltic amber dating to the Eocene, although many taxa from these deposits have been reassigned to Mecysmaucheniidae, Malka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mimetidae
Pirate spiders, members of the family Mimetidae, are araneomorph spiders which typically feed on other spiders. The family Mimetidae contains roughly 200 species divided among 12 genera, of which '' Mimetus'' and ''Ero'' are the most common. Mimetids are usually yellow and brown and are usually long. Mimetids can be recognized by the rows of spine-like hairs on their long front legs; the rows consist of a long spine, followed by a series of progressively shorter ones. Mimetidae usually hunt by picking at the strands on their prey's web to simulate the movements of either a trapped insect or a potential mate. When their prey comes to investigate, they are instead captured and eaten. Some mimetids have been observed to feed on insects as well. The spider-feeding habit presents problems in mating, and little is known about how the males court females to avoid being eaten. However, some male mimetids in the genus ''Gelanor'', found in South America, have enormously long appendag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Robert Forster
Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand arachnologist and museum director. He was a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand. Biography Forster was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1922, and was educated at Victoria University College, gaining BSc, MSc(Hons) and DSc degrees. Forster was an entomologist at the National Museum in Wellington from 1940 to 1947, with an interruption for military service during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945 he served first in the army and then as a naval radar mechanic.Ray Forster obituary . International Society of Arachnology. Retrieved 14 February 2013. He was appointed zoologist and assistant director at Canterbury Mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman I
Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norman conquest of southern Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries ** Norman dynasty, a series of monarchs in England and Normandy ** Norman architecture, romanesque architecture in England and elsewhere ** Norman language, spoken in Normandy ** People or things connected with the French region of Normandy Arts and entertainment * ''Norman'' (film), a 2010 drama film * '' Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer'', a 2016 film * ''Norman'' (TV series), a 1970 British sitcom starring Norman Wisdom * ''The Normans'' (TV series), a documentary * "Norman" (song), a 1962 song written by John D. Loudermilk and recorded by Sue Thompson * "Norman (He's a Rebel)", a song by Mo-dettes from ''The Story So Far'', 1980 Businesses * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pararchaeidae
Malkaridae is a small family of araneomorph spiders first described by Valerie Todd Davies in 1980. In 2017, the family Pararchaeidae was brought into synonymy with Malkaridae. Genera , the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera: *''Anarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — Australia *'' Carathea'' Moran, 1986 — Australia *''Chilenodes'' Platnick & Forster, 1987 — Chile, Argentina *''Flavarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — Australia *''Forstrarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — New Zealand *''Malkara'' Davies, 1980 — Australia *''Nanarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — Australia *''Ozarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — Australia, New Zealand *''Pararchaea'' Forster, 1955 — New Zealand *''Perissopmeros'' Butler, 1932 — Australia *''Westrarchaea'' Rix, 2006 — Australia *''Whakamoke ''Whakamoke'' is a genus of Polynesian shield spiders. It was first described by Gustavo Hormiga and N. Scharff in 2020, and it has only been found in New Zealand. Species it contains seven species: *'' W. guacamole'' Hormiga & Scharff, 2020 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Mimetidae")