Mimetus
| Mimetus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| , female | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Mimetidae |
| Genus: | Mimetus Hentz, 1832 |
| Species | |
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See text. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Mimetus is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae.[1] They are found worldwide.
Description[]
Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5-1.7 times that of the posterior pair.[2]
Behaviour[]
Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.[2][3]
Species[]
The World Spider Catalog lists these species:[1]
- Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 — USA
- Caporiacco, 1947 — Tanzania
- Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Mimetus bifurcatus Reimoser, 1939 — Costa Rica
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1894 — Mexico, Panama
- Caporiacco, 1949 — Kenya
- Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
- Wang, 1990 — China
- Schmidt & Krause, 1994 — Comoro Islands
- Lawrence, 1947 — South Africa
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Guatemala
- Mello-Leitão, 1943 — Brazil
- Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico, Antigua
- Wang, 1990 — China
- Mimetus epeiroides Emerton, 1882 — USA
- Lessert, 1930 — Congo
- Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — USA
- Mimetus hesperus Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil, Paraguay
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Mexico
- Bryant, 1948 — Hispaniola
- Simon, 1906 — India
- Thorell, 1899 — West Africa, São Tomé, Canary Islands
- Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Peru, Brazil
- Wang, 1990 — China
- (Keyserling, 1863) — Mediterranean to Central Asia
- Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
- Simon, 1901 — Malaysia
- Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
- Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
- (Blackwall, 1870) — Sicily, Syria, Egypt
- Lawrence, 1938 — South Africa
- Archer, 1950 — USA
- Mimetus notius Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
- Petrunkevitch, 1930 — Puerto Rico
- Mimetus puritanus Chamberlin, 1923 — USA
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Costa Rica, Panama
- Brignoli, 1975 — Philippines
- Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Yoshida, 1993 — Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands
- Chickering, 1956 — Panama
- Song & Zhu, 1993 — China
- Mimetus strinatii Brignoli, 1972 — Sri Lanka
- Hentz, 1832 — USA, Mexico
- Chickering, 1937 — Mexico
- Yaginuma, 1960 — China, Korea, Japan
- Archer, 1941 — USA
- (Keyserling, 1879) — Peru, Brazil
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1899 — Panama
- Liang & Wang, 1991 — China
- Chickering, 1956 — Panama
- Chickering, 1947 — Panama
- Brignoli, 1980 — Sulawesi
References[]
- ^ a b c "Gen. Mimetus Hentz, 1832", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2021-01-07
- ^ a b Spiders of Europe and Greenland
- ^ Spider enemies
- Mimetidae
- Araneomorphae genera
- Spiders of Asia
- Spiders of Africa
- Spiders of North America
- Spiders of South America