| Oecobius navus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Oecobiidae |
| Genus: | Oecobius |
| Species: | O. navus |
| Binomial name | |
| Oecobius navus | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Oecobius navus is a small cosmopolitan cribellate spider species found across the world. [1]
Both adult males and females are approximately the same size, with a body length of 2–2.5 mm (0.08–0.10 in). The carapace is almost circular, pale brown, with a dark patch in the centre which sometimes extends to the ocular region, and a thin black marginal line. The abdomen is coloured a yellowish brown, with black spots over smaller white flecking. Their posterior spinnerets are long, with a tubule between them. The legs are short, and coloured as the carapace; they vary from being unmarked to having distinct, dark annulations. They have eight eyes, however the posterior median eyes are reduced to being flat, irregular silver patches. The other six eyes are grouped into two pairs of three. [2]
Oecobius navus is native to Europe and Northern Africa, [1] however it has also been introduced to South Africa, China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and the Americas. It builds flat webs with lateral openings with a diameter of about 3 cm under rocks, on ceilings and along the corners of walls with protruding signaling threads. [3]
As with other Oecobiids, O. navus have an unusual hunting method; they run around their prey, using the anal tubule and spinnerets to coat it in ribbons of sticky silk. Once their prey is fully trapped in the silk, the spider bites it. [4]
Prior to copulation, the male constructs a tubular mating web above the female's retreat. He then attempts to entice the female inside; if she joins him inside, they mate. As with many spider species, the female may cannibalize the male during or after copulation. The female spins several small egg sacs, each containing 3–10 eggs, and abandons them. [4]
Although this species is sometimes called O. annulipes, there is also a species of that name that only occurs in Algeria. Common names for these spiders are wall spider, baseboard spider and stucco spider.[ citation needed ]
Nursery web spiders (Pisauridae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890. Females of the family are known for building special nursery webs. When their eggs are about to hatch, a female spider builds a tent-like web, places her egg sac inside, and stands guard outside, hence the family's common name. Like wolf spiders, however, nursery web spiders are roaming hunters that don't use webs for catching prey.
Atypidae, also known as atypical tarantulas or purseweb spiders, is a spider family containing only three genera. They are accomplished ambush predators that spend most of their time in a sock-like, silken retreat on the ground from where they kill their prey.
Leucorchestris arenicola, commonly called the dancing white lady spider, is a huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae and genus Leucorchestris. It is commonly found in the Namib desert of Namibia. It is often mistaken with the similarly named Carparachne aureoflava, or more commonly known as the wheel spider from the same location. L. arenicola relies on seismic vibrations, called drumming, for communication. It taps its foremost legs on the sand to send messages to other white lady spiders. Male L. arenicola will travel over 50 m in one night searching for a mate. If they find a mate, they must be extremely careful, for drumming the wrong message can be deadly. One of the major features that characterizes its nocturnal behavior is its specialized vision, using eight eyes in different orientations to capture a panoramic view of the surroundings. L. arenicola spiders use temporal summation in order to be able to see dim lighting during night-time wanderings. The species was first described by Reginald Frederick Lawrence in 1962, who described all the species in the genus Leucorchestris.
Wall spider is the common name for members of the genus Oecobius in the family Oecobiidae. The members of these several species are all small spiders that make small flat webs over crevices in walls and in similar spaces. They are cribellate spiders, meaning that they produce silk through a sieve-like plate of many parallel spigots, so that it emerges in a bundle of many invisibly fine parallel fibres with no adhesive covering to glue them together. Instead the bundles partly into separate onto woolly cables that readily entangle small prey items, such as ants, that run into them. The spider sits in middle of the web, and when it is disturbed by suitable prey, it runs out and circles the prey with more silk to tangle it further. It subdues the prey by biting it, and carries one or more items bundled in silk, seeking a refuge where it can feed.
Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider with a holarctic distribution. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider, as it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays and milkweed plants. They are called crab spiders because of their unique ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards. Both males and females of this species progress through several molts before reaching their adult sizes, though females must molt more to reach their larger size. Females can grow up to 10 mm (0.39 in) while males are quite small, reaching 5 mm (0.20 in) at most. Misumena vatia are usually yellow or white or a pattern of these two colors. They may also present with pale green or pink instead of yellow, again, in a pattern with white. They have the ability to change between these colors based on their surroundings through the molting process. They have a complex visual system, with eight eyes, that they rely on for prey capture and for their color-changing abilities. Sometimes, if Misumena vatia consumes colored prey, the spider itself will take on that color.
The anatomy of spiders includes many characteristics shared with other arachnids. These characteristics include bodies divided into two tagmata, eight jointed legs, no wings or antennae, the presence of chelicerae and pedipalps, simple eyes, and an exoskeleton, which is periodically shed.
Porrhothele antipodiana, the black tunnelweb spider, is a species of mygalomorph spider that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the most common and widespread of several species in the genus Porrhothele, and is especially common in the greater Wellington region where the vagrant mature males are often encountered in or around dwellings. This species is one of New Zealand's most studied spiders. In New Zealand, the common name "tunnelweb spider" is also often used to refer to members of the genus Hexathele. Neither should be confused with their distant relatives, the highly venomous Australian funnel-web spiders.
Maevia inclemens or the dimorphic jumping spider is a relatively common and colorful jumping spider of North America. In the males there are two forms, a very rare phenomenon in zoology. These use different courting displays, and differ in appearance: the "tufted" morph has a black body and pedipalps ("palps"), three black tufts across its "head", and pale legs; and the "gray" morph has black and white stripes all over its body and legs, orange palps, and no tufts. However, each form accounts for 50% of the adult males, and they are equally successful in mating. A female of Maevia inclemens is 6.5 to 8.0 millimetres long, while males are 4.75 to 6.50 millimetres long.
Hexathele hochstetteri, commonly known as the banded tunnelweb spider, is a spider in the family Hexathelidae, found only in New Zealand. It is common on the North Island, and uncommon on the South Island.
Portia schultzi is a species of jumping spider which ranges from South Africa in the south to Kenya in the north, and also is found in West Africa and Madagascar. In this species, which is slightly smaller than some other species of the genus Portia, the bodies of females are 5 to 7 mm long, while those of males are 4 to 6 mm long. The carapaces of both sexes are orange-brown with dark brown mottling, and covered with dark brown and whitish hairs lying over the surface. Males have white tufts on their thoraces and a broad white band above the bases of the legs, and these features are less conspicuous in females. Both sexes have tufts of orange to dark orange above the eyes, which are fringed with pale orange hairs. Males' abdomens are yellow-orange to orange-brown with blackish mottling, and on the upper sides are black and light orange hairs, and nine white tufts. Those of females are pale yellow and have black markings with scattered white and orange-brown hairs on the upper side. P. schultzi has relatively longer legs than other Portia, and a "lolloping" gait.
Pisaurina mira, also known as the American nursery web spider, is a species of spider in the family Pisauridae. They are often mistaken for wolf spiders (Lycosidae) due to their physical resemblance. P. mira is distinguished by its unique eye arrangement of two rows.
Pardosa amentata, otherwise known as the wolf spider or spotted wolf spider is a species of spider in the genus Pardosa belonging to the family of wolf spiders, Lycosidae. The species has a widespread distribution in central Europe and northwestern Europe and are commonly found on the British Isles. The species hunts its prey on the ground rather than weaving a web.
Hyptiotes paradoxus, also known as the triangle spider, is a cribellate orbweaver in the family Uloboridae.
Anelosimus jabaquara is a species of spider found in subtropical, humid, lowland forests in Brazil. Anelosimus jabaquara was first described by Herbert W. Levi in 1956. These spiders cooperate to spin and repair the colonial web, capture prey, and care for the brood. Colony size is small, and the sex ratio is biased towards females.
Erigone atra is a species of dwarf spider or money spider, in the family Linyphiidae. It is commonly found in North America, Europe, parts of Russia, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. This spider is one of the most common Erigone spiders. E. atra is an important spider for agriculture, as it preys on pests such as aphids which are commonly found on crops. E. atra spiders are aeronautical spiders, as they travel via ballooning. This technique, sometimes referred to as kiting, allows E. atra spiders to traverse large distances and find new habitats when environmental or human stresses create unfit living environments. E. atra is difficult to differentiate from other congeneric species because of their similar sizes and coloring.
Tetragnatha versicolor is a species of long-jawed orb weaver in the spider family Tetragnathidae. It is found throughout North America, Canada, Central America, and Cuba, but are most common in the United States. T. versicolor is heavily concentrated in New England and the west coast in states like California and Washington. T. versicolor is considered a habitat generalist, and can thrive in many different environments. While they can be found in places like Grasslands, Wetlands, Forests, etc., they prefer dryer areas like normal trees and shrubs. Unlike other spiders in the genus Tetragnatha, T. versicolor will rarely reside near aquatic environments. T. versicolor will typically be colored dark yellow or pale orange and average around 5 mm for males and 6.5 mm for females in length, which is very small for a spider. They are much longer than they are wide, making them very distinct. In addition, T. versicolor can be distinguished from other spiders in Tetragnatha by the distinct separation of the anterior/posterior eyes and the appearance of their reproductive organs. As an orb weaver spider, T. versicolor creates a web to hunt for prey. It will wait at night for prey to stumble into its web and use vibrational signals throughout the web to sense trapped prey. In terms of mating behavior, T. versicolor lacks a distinct courting ritual and will mate with any others in the proximity. Mating behavior is heavily affected by female mating history. In terms of interactions with humans, the bite of T. versicolor is venomous, but not known to cause significant harm.
Agelenopsis pennsylvanica, commonly known as the Pennsylvania funnel-web spider or the Pennsylvania grass spider, is a species of spider in the family Agelenidae. The common name comes from the place that it was described, Pennsylvania, and the funnel shape of its web. Its closest relative is Agelenopsis potteri.
Schizocosa stridulans is a sibling species of S. ocreata and S. rovneri and is part of the wolf spider family. The name of the genus comes from the epigynum structure being lycosid and having a split T excavation. This spider is well-known for its specific leg ornamentation and courtship rituals and that is how it has been differentiated from its related species. The S. stridulans take systematic steps during its courtship ritual, which involves two independent signals. More specifically, female spiders will leave silk and pheromones to communicate that they are ready to mate.
Pardosa pseudoannulata, a member of a group of species referred to as wolf-spiders, is a non-web-building spider belonging to the family Lycosidae. P. pseudoannulata are wandering spiders that track and ambush prey and display sexual cannibalism. They are commonly encountered in farmlands across China and other East Asian countries. Their venom has properties that helps it function as an effective insecticide, and it is, therefore, a crucial pesticide control agent.
Nesticus cellulanus, also known as the cavity spider or comb-footed cellar spider, is a species of scaffold web spider. It is found throughout Europe and Turkey, and has been introduced to North America.