Misumenops

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Misumenops
Crab Spider - Mesumenops bellulus, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Key Largo, Florida.jpg
Misumenops bellulus
Misumenops rubrodecoratus 299837105 540201321.jpg
female M. rubrodecoratus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Misumenops
F. O. P-Cambridge, 1900
Diversity
more than 50 species

Misumenops is a common genus of crab spider with more than 50 described species. [1]

Contents

The majority of the species of Misumenops, more than 80, have been transferred to 13 genera: Ansiea , Demogenes , Diaea , Ebelingia , Ebrechtella , Henriksenia , Heriaeus , Mecaphesa , Micromisumenops , Misumena , Misumenoides , Misumessus , and Runcinioides . [1] [2]

Distribution

Most species of this genus occur in the Americas from Canada to Argentina, with only a few exceptions:

Description

These are small spiders, measuring 2–7 mm in body length. The body colour ranges from yellow to pale green, though the green coloration fades to yellow when preserved in alcohol. Some specimens display red or brown patterns or lines on the carapace and abdomen, and legs I and II are sometimes banded with red or brown. [3]

The carapace is as wide as it is long, low and slightly convex in profile, with the surface clothed with numerous erect spiniform setae. The eyes are arranged in two recurved rows, with the lateral eyes larger than the median eyes and situated on conjoined tubercles. The clypeus is vertical and bears four pairs of long primary setae on its margin. The sternum is heart-shaped. [3]

The abdomen is round in dorsal view and flattened, clothed with numerous erect spiniform setae. The anterior two pairs of legs are approximately equal in length and thickness, but are longer and stronger than the posterior pairs. The prolateral surface of femora I and II bears strong setae, while the ventral surface of the tibiae and metatarsi has a double row of macro-setae. Males exhibit sexual dimorphism in shape, size and colour. [3]

Name

The genus name is derived from the related crab spider genus Misumena and the Greek ending ops "looks like". This ending is often used to denote closely related or similar looking genera.

Species

As of October 2025, this genus includes 54 species and one subspecies: [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gen. Misumenops F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  2. Lehtinen, P. T.; Marusik, Y. M. (2008). "A redefinition of Misumenops F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 (Araneae, Thomisidae) and review of the New World species". Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society. 14: 173–198.
  3. 1 2 3 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Thomisidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-Mo. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 50. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513274. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.