''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family

Trechaleidae Trechaleidae (''tre-kah-LEE-ih-dee'') is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890, and includes about 140 described species in 16 genera. They all live in Central America, Central and South America e ...

, named 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 taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern South America, and on some

Caribbean islands Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are re ...

. Unlike the dangerously venomous '' Phoneutria'', bites from these spiders typically have only minor effects on humans, and have been compared to a

bee sting A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may ...

. Members of this genus come in a range of sizes, from

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

lengths less than to large species, with a cephalothorax length of . The larger species are sometimes found far outside their native ranges in shipments of fruits, where they are frequently confused with '' Phoneutria'' spiders.

Description

These spiders hide during the day then come out to hunt during the night. They usually hide in particular plants, usually in bromeliads,

agaves ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for i ...

and the

banana family Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leave ...

. They are medium to large spiders, and are usually a grey, brown or orange color. Sometimes owning a striped pattern. They have relatively longer legs then their bodies.

Retreat

These spiders hide during the day then come out to hunt during the night. They are quite specific with their retreats. They usually hide in bromeliads,

and the

. If these leaves are exposed they would usually stick together leaves or make tunnels by bending or rolling up leaves and pasting them with silk. The inside of the retreat is usually more humid then the outside during the day, usually being at 90% humidity, as drying up is a considerable risk for them.

Hunting

They hunt at night, hunting in the plants leaf, rather than waiting in their retreat. They do this in what we consider total darkness. Instead of using their eyes to see the prey, they use small vibrations, which they may feel up to several meters away. Although the do still have advanced eyes. To feel these vibrations they have specialized organs called metatarsal lyriform organs. Which are located in the metatarsus of the two front legs. These organs consist of tiny slits, which are parallel to one another, looking like a

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

. When the tarsus is moved by the vibration, they compress, which stimulates the nervous system.

Courtship

These spiders own a very unique courtship system. Once it's time to breed the female will leave a dragline made of silk, wherever she walks to. Once the male recognizes the thread of the female, it will start sending vibrations to the plant the string was found on. Being distinct to each species. If the females replies, the male will follow the vibrations to the female.

Species

it contains eleven species: *''

Cupiennius bimaculatus ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' (

Taczanowski Taczanowski (Polish feminine: Taczanowska; plural: Taczanowscy) is the surname of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family from Poznań bearing the Jastrzębiec coat of arms and the motto: ''Plus penser que dire''. They took their name from th ...

, 1874) – Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Ecuador *''

Cupiennius chiapanensis ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' Medina, 2006 – Mexico *''

Cupiennius coccineus ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 – Costa Rica to Colombia *''

Cupiennius cubae ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' Strand, 1909 – Cuba, Costa Rica to Venezuela *''

Cupiennius foliatus ''Cupiennius foliatus'' is a banana spider Banana spider may refer to: * ''Cupiennius'', a South and Central American genus of spiders * ''Phoneutria'', also known as Brazilian wandering spiders, a related South and Central American genus of ext ...

'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 – Costa Rica, Panama *''

Cupiennius getazi ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' Simon, 1891 (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

) – Costa Rica, Panama *''

Cupiennius granadensis ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' (

Keyserling Keyserling is the surname of several members of the noble House of Keyserlingk: * Alexander Keyserling (1815–1891), Russian geologist, paleontologist, botanist and zoologist * Eugen von Keyserling (1833–1889), German arachnologist * Hermann ...

, 1877) – Costa Rica to Colombia *''

Cupiennius remedius ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' Barth & Cordes, 1998 – Guatemala *'' Cupiennius salei'' (Keyserling, 1877) – Mexico, Central America, Hispaniola *''

Cupiennius valentinei ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern Sou ...

'' ( Petrunkevitch, 1925) – Panama *''

Cupiennius vodou ''Cupiennius'', known by the common name bromeliad spiders or as the often confused name banana spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trechaleidae, named by Eugène Simon in 1891. They are found from Mexico to northwestern ...

'' Brescovit & Polotow, 2005 – Hispaniola

References

External links

Cupiennius getazi banana spider
Araneomorphae genera Trechaleidae Spiders of Central America Spiders of Mexico Spiders of South America Taxa named by Eugène Simon {{Trechaleidae-stub