Castianeira

Castianeira; Temporal range: Neogene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Castianeira longipalpa in Maryland, United States
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Corinnidae
Genus:	Castianeira; Keyserling, 1879
Type species
	; Keyserling, 1879
Species
	127, see text
Synonyms
	Geotrecha Emerton, 1890; Micariaulax Becker, 1879; Pedo O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896; Thargalia Karsch, 1880; Tylophora Pavesi, 1880;

Castianeira is a genus of ant-like corinnid sac spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1879.^[5] They are found in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas, but are absent from Australia. Twenty-six species are native to North America,^[6] and at least twice as many are native to Mexico and Central America.^[1]

Description[]

Spiders of this genus have eight eyes in two procurved rows, the upper row slightly wider than the lower row. This distinguishes them from species of Micaria that almost always have straight rows of eyes.^[6] The opisthosoma is not constricted,^[7] and has an elongate to oval shape to mimic that of ants. In addition to the ant-like coloration, the abdomen has white scale-like setae. The rear pair of legs are the longest, and the front pair are second longest.^[8]

Mimicry[]

Some species mimic specific groups of ants, while others only have generic body modifications to look more ant-like, such as an elongated body or a carapace pattern that creates the illusion of a third body segment. Some mimic ant behavior as well, waving their front two legs as if they were antennae or bobbing their abdomen to look more ant-like.^[9] Certain species found in Texas mimic fire ants to prey on them, while some species use Batesian mimicry, appearing like velvet ants to take advantage of their aposematism in order to deter predators.^[8]

Ant mimicry[]

Known ant-spider mimicry:

C. cingulata – short carpenter ants
C. longipalpus – myrmicine or ponerine ants
C. memnonia – Pachycondyla obscuricornis Emery
C. rica – Atta sp, Odontomachus sp, and others
C. trilineata – reddish carpenter ants (Latreille)

Species[]

As of April 2019 it contains 127 species:^[1]

Reiskind, 1969 – Panama
Gajbe, 2003 – India
Muma, 1945 – New England (USA)
Reiskind, 1969 – Costa Rica, Panama
Mello-Leitão, 1922 – Brazil
Berland, 1922 – Kenya
Gravely, 1931 – India
Reiskind, 1969 – Southern California and Arizona
C. alteranda Gertsch, 1942 – Central USA, Canada (Saskatchewan and British Columbia)
Butt & Beg, 2001 – Pakistan
C. amoena (C. L. Koch, 1841) – USA, Mexico
(Pavesi, 1880) – Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt
Yin, Xie, Gong & Kim, 1996 – China
Mello-Leitão, 1942 – Argentina
Charitonov, 1946 – Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
C. athena Reiskind, 1969 – Southern California, Mexico
Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Brazil
Reiskind, 1969 – Mexico
(Simon, 1877) – Portugal, Spain
Simon, 1901 – East Africa
Biswas, 1984 – India
(Simon, 1890) – East Africa
Keyserling, 1891 – Brazil
Caporiacco, 1940 – Ethiopia
Mello-Leitão, 1946 – Paraguay
Mello-Leitão, 1947 – Brazil
(Pavesi, 1883) – Ethiopia, East Africa
Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Brazil
(Banks, 1929) – Panama
C. cingulata (C. L. Koch, 1841) – USA, Canada
Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Argentina
Rubio, Zapata & Grismado, 2015 – Argentina
C. crocata (Hentz, 1847) – USA
C. crucigera (Hentz, 1847) – USA
(Banks, 1926) – Cuba, Panama, USA (Southern tip of Texas and Florida)
Simon, 1896 – Brazil
Yin, Xie, Gong & Kim, 1996 – China
Simon, 1910 – Sierra Leone
Chickering, 1937 – Panama
C. descripta (Hentz, 1847) – Eastern USA, Canada
C. dorsata (Banks, 1898) – Southern Arizona, Mexico
Strand, 1915 – Israel
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898) – Mexico to Panama
Mello-Leitão, 1922 – Brazil
(Becker, 1879) – Mexico
Hu, Song & Zheng, 1985 – China
Yin, Xie, Gong & Kim, 1996 – China
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898 – Mexico
C. floridana (Banks, 1904) – Florida, Cuba
Simon, 1910 – Equatorial Guinea (Bioko)
Sankaran, Malamel, Joseph & Sebastian, 2015 – India
Berland, 1922 – Kenya
Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Brazil
C. gertschi Kaston, 1945 – USA, Canada
Reiskind, 1969 – Panama
Gravely, 1931 – India
Song, Zhu & Wu, 1997 – China
Tikader, 1981 – India
(Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra)
Strand, 1916 – East Africa
Mello-Leitão, 1930 – Brazil
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898) – Mexico
Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Brazil
Mello-Leitão, 1926 – Brazil
C. longipalpa (Hentz, 1847) – USA, Canada
Petrunkevitch, 1911 – Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898 – Mexico
Mello-Leitão, 1922 – Brazil
Keyserling, 1891 – Brazil
Simon, 1896 – Madagascar
(C. L. Koch, 1841) – Panama
(Banks, 1898) – New Mexico, Mexico
(Simon, 1886) – Senegal
Mello-Leitão, 1926 – Brazil
(Simon, 1877) – Morocco, Algeria
Gertsch, 1933 – Arizona, Mexico
Keyserling, 1891 – Brazil
C. occidens Reiskind, 1969 – Mexico, Southwest United States
(Keyserling, 1891) – Brazil
Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Brazil
(Gertsch, 1935) – Southern Texas, Mexico
Simon, 1910 – Guinea-Bissau
Mello-Leitão, 1942 – Argentina
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898) – Mexico
Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Brazil
Mello-Leitão, 1948 – Guyana
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) – Andes
Reimoser, 1934 – India
(Simon, 1905) – Indonesia (Java), Philippines
Chamberlin, 1916 – Peru
Reiskind, 1969 – Mexico to Costa Rica
Reiskind, 1969 – Southern Arizona, Mexico
Keyserling, 1879 (type) – Colombia
Denis, 1958 – Afghanistan
Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
Simon, 1896 – Brazil
(Taczanowski, 1874) – French Guiana
Schmidt, 1971 – Brazil
Mello-Leitão, 1947 – Brazil
Mello-Leitão, 1926 – Brazil
Gong, 1983 – China, Korea, Japan
(Banks, 1929) – Mexico to Panama
(Karsch, 1879) – Congo
Mello-Leitão, 1945 – Argentina
Kraus, 1955 – El Salvador
Simon, 1896 – Bolivia, Paraguay
Simon, 1896 – Brazil
Simon, 1897 – Paraguay
C. thalia Reiskind, 1969 – California, Oregon
Simon, 1910 – São Tomé and Príncipe
Patel & Patel, 1973 – India, China
Yin, Xie, Gong & Kim, 1996 – China
C. trilineata (Hentz, 1847) – USA, Canada
Reiskind, 1969 – Panama
Kraus, 1955 – El Salvador
Keyserling, 1891 – Brazil
C. variata Gertsch, 1942 – USA, Canada
(Banks, 1898) – Mexico, Guatemala
(Pavesi, 1895) – Ethiopia
Mello-Leitão, 1922 – Brazil
Roewer, 1951 – Brazil
Gertsch, 1942 – Eastern United States
C. walsinghami (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) – USA, Canada
Mello-Leitão, 1941 – Argentina
Reiskind, 1969 – Mexico
Simon, 1897 – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
(Chamberlin & Woodbury, 1929) – Utah

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Gen. Castianeira Keyserling, 1879". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Simon, E (1897). Histoire naturelle des araignées. pp. 167–172. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
^ Pickard-Cambridge, F. O. (1899), "Arachnida - Araneida and Opiliones", Biologia Centrali-Americana, Zoology, p. 81
^ Keyserling, E. (1887). "Neue Spinnen aus America. VII". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 37: 376.
^ Keyserling, E. (1879). "Neue Spinnen aus Amerika". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. 29: 293–349.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Genus Castianeira". BugGuide. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
^ Ubick, D.; Paquin, P.; Cushing, P.E.; Roth, V., eds. (2005). Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual. American Arachnological Society. ISBN 0-9771439-0-2.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Reiskind, J. (1969). "The spider subfamily Castianeirinae of North and Central America (Araneae, Clubionidae)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 138: 188–257.
^ "Ant Mimic Spider". Brandeis University. Retrieved 2019-05-18.