Uliodon

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Uliodon
Uliodon 11.JPG
A Uliodon species
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Zoropsidae
Genus: Uliodon
L. Koch, 1873

Uliodon is a genus of spiders endemic to New Zealand and possibly Australia. They are commonly referred to as vagrant spiders. Vagrant spiders vary in colour from dark brown to almost black, they typically have a body length of 20mm and a 50mm leg span. When alive, the interior of the male's pedipalp are brightly coloured (usually orange). [1]

Contents

They are nocturnal hunters, feeding on ground-dwelling invertebrates. During the day they are found under logs and rocks. [2] [3] They can be found in a variety of habitats: native forest and plantations, or more open habitat, but also scree slopes and occasionally in houses. [1]

Reproduction

After mating, the female prepares a chamber lined with silk beneath a log or stone on the forest floor, or inside a rotten log, where they construct a rather large and round egg sac that they guard until the young hatch and disperse. [4] The genus is apparently widespread throughout the country. [1]

Taxonomy

As of October 2015, three or possibly four species of Uliodon are accepted. However, the three known species are not recognisable based on published descriptions. [1]

The males of Uliodon albopunctatus and Uliodon cervinus are undescribed. [1]

In 2003, Robert Raven and Kylie Stumkat considered that the genus was endemic to New Zealand, transferring all the Australian species they reviewed to other genera, and transferred Uliodon from the family Miturgidae to the Zoropsidae. [5] A further species, found in Australia and not reviewed by Raven and Stumkat, is listed by the World Spider Catalog as of October 2015: [6]

Another 40 undescribed species are suspected and may represent several distinct genera. [1]

Species transferred to other genera include: [6]

Toxicology

Not considered dangerous. However, when mishandled, these spiders tend to inflict a painful bite given their large size. The bites are usually without further consequences, but Watt (1971) [7] reported a case of a bad reaction (pain, swollen skin and stiff joints). [1]

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Australian funnel-web spider Family of mygalomorph spiders

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Desidae Family of spiders

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Miturgidae Family of spiders

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Hexathelidae Family of spiders

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Zoropsidae Family of spiders

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Migidae Family of spiders

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Zorinae Subfamily of spiders

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<i>Porrhothele antipodiana</i> Black tunnelweb spider from New Zealand

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<i>Stanwellia</i> Genus of spiders

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<i>Steatoda capensis</i> Species of spider

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Spiders of New Zealand

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Cantuaria is a genus of South Pacific armored trapdoor spiders that was first described by Henry Roughton Hogg in 1902. From 1985 to 2006 it was merged with former genus Misgolas, now Arbanitis.

<i>Nyssus</i> Genus of spiders

Nyssus is a genus of corinnid sac spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805.

Mituliodon is a genus of spiders in the family Miturgidae. It was first described in 2003 by Raven & Stumkat. As of 2017, it contains only one species, Mituliodon tarantulinus, found in Timor and Australia.

Migas is a genus of spiders in the family Migidae. Most species are found only in New Zealand.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paquin, P; Vink, C.J; Duperre, N (2010). Spiders of New Zealand: annotated family key & species list. Lincoln, New Zealand: Manaaki Whenua Press.
  2. ↑ Clunie, L. (2004). "Bug identification - vagrant spider". Landcare Research New Zealand Limited . Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  3. ↑ "Vagrant spiders". Te Papa Tongarewa . Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Forster, R.R; Forster, L.M (1999). Spiders of New Zealand and their worldwide kin. Otago, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.
  5. ↑ Raven, R.J.; Stumkat, K. (2003). "Problem solving in the spider families Miturgidae, Ctenidae and Psechridae (Araneae) in Australia and New Zealand" (PDF). Journal of Arachnology. 31: 105–121. doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2003)031[0105:psitsf]2.0.co;2 . Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Gen. Uliodon L. Koch, 1873". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Watt, J.C (1971). The toxic effects of the bite of a clubionid spider. New Zealand Entomologist. p. 87.


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