Comb spiders

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Icon tools.svg

This article has been registered in the quality assurance biology for improvement due to formal or content-related deficiencies . This is done in order to bring the quality of the biology articles to an acceptable level. Please help improve this article! Articles that are not significantly improved can be deleted if necessary.

Read the more detailed information in the minimum requirements for biology articles .

Comb spiders
Ctenus medius

Ctenus medius

Systematics
Class : Arachnids (arachnida)
Order : Spiders (Araneae)
Subordination : Real spiders (Araneomorphae)
Partial order : Entelegynae
Superfamily : Lycosoidea
Family : Comb spiders
Scientific name
Ctenidae
Keyserling , 1877

The comb spiders (Ctenidae) are a family of the real spiders (Araneomorphae) and belong to the superfamily of the Lycosoidea . The family includes 48 genera with 533 species worldwide . (As of April 2019)

features

Outwardly, the comb spiders resemble the wolf spiders , with which they are placed in the superfamily Lycosoidea together with the hunting spiders , the curled-up spiders and other families . They are usually even larger than the wolf spiders and reach a body length of 3–5 cm.

distribution

The species of comb spiders are mainly found in the subtropics and tropics . Tropical comb spiders can sometimes come to Europe by transporting bananas . Usually, however, these are not particularly poisonous species such as the Brazilian wandering spider ( Phoneutria nigriventis ).

Way of life

The spiders live nocturnal on low vegetation such as agaves , bromeliads or on banana trees . However, during the day they usually hide. The German name "Wanderspinnen" for some species, z. B. the Brazilian wandering spider ( Phoneutria nigriventer ), suggests that they do not build safety nets, but wander around looking for prey. Despite this name for some species, they should not be confused with the family of wandering spiders .

They are typical lurker hunters and can jump up to a meter. The prey is killed by a poison bite; small vertebrates can also be captured. The bite of certain species, mainly from the genus Phoneutria , can also be very painful and dangerous for humans. Some species, such as the waterhunting spider , can also walk across the water and even prey on small fish . When alarmed, some comb spiders adopt a characteristic threatening posture. The two pairs of forelegs are stretched upwards and the chelicerae spread.

The females spin a large, flat cocoon in which they lay the eggs and which they attach to stones or bark and guard.

Systematics

The World Spider Catalog currently lists 48 genera and 533 species for comb spiders. (As of April 2019)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Natural History Museum of the Burgergemeinde Bern: World Spider Catalog Version 18.5 - Ctenidae . Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  2. ↑ Claudia Wesseloh: Banana spiders on the pages of the Natural History Museum Karlsruhe , accessed on April 18, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Comb spiders (Ctenidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files