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Dysderidae

Specimen image via iDigBio · BY

EntityQ10063· pop 24· linked from 308 articles

Dysderidae

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Also known as Dysderid, woodlouse hunters, sowbug-eating spiders, cell spiders, Dysderids

The Dysderidae, also known as woodlouse hunters, sowbug-eating spiders, and cell spiders, are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837. They are found primarily in Eurasia, extending into North Africa with very few species occurring in South America. Dysdera crocata is introduced into many regions of the world.

Species

dysderids

FAMILY

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. ClassArachnida
  4. OrderAraneae
  5. FamilyDysderidae
Observations recorded48,846

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
22
With media
2
Family
Dysderidae
Collections
CHAS, LACM, PSUC, FMNH, NHMUK, SAM
Recorded in
United States, Greece, South Africa, Iran, French Polynesia, Namibia, Australia, United Kingdom

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • Genera
  • References
  • External links

The Dysderidae, also known as woodlouse hunters, sowbug-eating spiders, and cell spiders, are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837. They are found primarily in Eurasia, extending into North Africa with very few species occurring in South America. Dysdera crocata is introduced into many regions of the world.

Dysderids generally have six eyes, and are haplogyne, i.e. the females lack a sclerotized epigyne. There is a substantial number of genera, but two of them, Dysdera and Harpactea, account for a very large number of the species and are widespread across the family's range. One species, Dysdera crocata (the woodlouse hunter), has been transported over much of the planet together with its preferred foods—woodlice. Dysdera also feeds on beetles. These spiders have very large chelicerae, which they use to pierce the armored bodies of woodlice and beetles. There are also some reports that they have a mildly toxic venom that can cause local reactions in humans.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dysderidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.