''Mysmenopsis'' is a
kleptoparasitic
Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when f ...
genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family
Mysmenidae
Mysmenidae is a spider family with about 135 described species in thirteen genera. The family is one of the least well known of the orb-weaving spiders because of their small size () and cryptic behaviour. These spiders are found in humid habitats ...
. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family
Dipluridae
The family Dipluridae, known as curtain-web spiders (or confusingly with other distantly related ones as funnel-web tarantulas) are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chelicerae (fangs) tha ...
. ''M. archeri'' lives on webs of a species in the family
Pholcidae
The Pholcidae are a family of araneomorph spiders. The family contains over 1,800 individual species of pholcids, including those commonly known as cellar spider, daddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spid ...
, ''M. capac'' and ''M. cienaga'' have been observed living in ''
Cyrtophora
''Cyrtophora'', the tent-web spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895. Although they are in the "orb weaver" family, they do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometim ...
'' (
Araneidae) webs. One reason why diplurid webs are preferred seems to be that they are persistent in time and space, sometimes spanning several years.
The monotypic genus ''
Isela
''Isela'' is a genus of spiders in the family Mysmenidae
Mysmenidae is a spider family with about 135 described species in thirteen genera. The family is one of the least well known of the orb-weaving spiders because of their small size () and ...
'' is closely related.
''Mysmenopsis furtiva'' from
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
lives as a kleptoparasite and
commensal
Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...
in webs of ''
Ischnothele xera
''Ischnothele'', also known as scatter-web spiders is a genus of spiders in the family Ischnothelidae. It was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1875.
Species
it contained the following species:
*'' Ischnothele annulata'' Tullgren, 1905 †...
''. It steals portions of its host's prey, but also consumes minute trapped insects that are not sought after by the host. In order not to be recognized, it moves only slowly when the host does not move; else it synchronizes its rapid movements with the movements of the host. ''M. furtiva'' has been observed to feed on one end of a prey animal, while the host feeds on the other. When feeding, its legs and pedipalps remain motionless, but its abdomen sways slowly and slightly. One feeding bout can double its abdominal volume. The host shows anti-kleptoparasite behavior, amongst others by adding silk between the kleptoparasite and the feeding site.
The closely related ''M. furtiva'' and ''M. monticola'' parasitize two spider species that are also closely related, and it is believed that the two groups
coevolved
In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well ...
.
Species
it contains fifty-two species, found in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
:
* ''
Mysmenopsis alvaroi''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis amazonica''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis angamarca
''Mysmenopsis'' is a kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae. ''M. archeri'' lives on webs of a species in the family Pholci ...
''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis archeri''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Brazil
* ''
Mysmenopsis atahualpa''
Baert, 1990 — Peru, Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis awa''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis baerti''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis bartolozzii''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis beebei''
(Gertsch, 1960) — Trinidad
* ''
Mysmenopsis capac''
Baert, 1990 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis chiquita''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis choco''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis cidrelicola''
(Simon, 1895) — Venezuela
* ''
Mysmenopsis cienaga''
Müller, 1987 — Colombia, Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis corazon''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis cube
''Mysmenopsis'' is a kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae. ''M. archeri'' lives on webs of a species in the family Pholci ...
''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis cymbia
''Mysmenopsis'' is a kleptoparasite, kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae. ''M. archeri'' lives on webs of a species in t ...
''
(Levi, 1956) — USA
* ''
Mysmenopsis dipluramigo''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Colombia
* ''
Mysmenopsis femoralis''
Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent
* ''
Mysmenopsis fernandoi''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis funebris''
Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent
* ''
Mysmenopsis furtiva''
Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
* ''
Mysmenopsis gamboa''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama
* ''
Mysmenopsis guanza''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis guayaca''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis huascar''
Baert, 1990 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis hunachi''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis ischnamigo''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Trinidad, Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis ixlitla''
(Levi, 1956) — Mexico
* ''
Mysmenopsis junin''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis kochalkai''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Colombia
* ''
Mysmenopsis lasrocas''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis lloa''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis mexcala''
Gertsch, 1960 — Mexico
* ''
Mysmenopsis monticola''
Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
* ''
Mysmenopsis onorei''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis otokiki''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis otonga''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis pachacutec''
Baert, 1990 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis palpalis''
(Kraus, 1955) — Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
* ''
Mysmenopsis penai''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Ecuador, Colombia
* ''
Mysmenopsis pululahua''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis salazarae''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis schlingeri''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis shushufindi''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis tengellacompa''
Platnick, 1993 — Costa Rica
* ''
Mysmenopsis tepuy''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis tibialis''
(Bryant, 1940) — Cuba
* ''
Mysmenopsis tungurahua''
Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador
* ''
Mysmenopsis viracocha''
Baert, 1990 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis wygodzinskyi''
Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
* ''
Mysmenopsis yupanqui''
Baert, 1990 — Peru
References
* Chickering, A.M. (1960). The Female of ''Lucarachne beebei'' Gertsch (Araneae: Symphytognathidae). ''
Psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'' 67:95-9
PDF* Platnick, N.I. & Shadab, M.U. (1978). A review of the spider genus ''Mysmenopsis'' (Araneae, Mysmenidae). ''American Museum Novitates'' 2661
PDFAbstract* Coyle, F.A. & Meigs, T.E. (1989). Two new species of kleptoparasitic ''Mysmenopsis'' (Araneae, Mysmenidae) from Jamaica. ''Journal of Arachnology'' 17(1):59-7
PDF* Coyle, F.A., O'Shields, T.C. & Perlmutter, D.G. (1991). Observations on the behavior of the kleptoparasitic spider, ''Mysmenopsis furtiva'' (Araneae, Mysmenidae). ''Journal of Arachnology'' 19(1):62-6
PDF
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3331694
Mysmenidae
Spiders of North America
Spiders of South America
Araneomorphae genera