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Theridiosoma

Dupérré, Nadine;Tapia, Elicio

EntityQ3523820· pop 12· linked from 6 articles

Theridiosoma

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Theridiosoma is a genus of ray spiders that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1879. They use their web as a high speed slingshot to actively hunt for prey.

Species

Common Eastern Ray Spider

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. ClassArachnida
  4. OrderAraneae
  5. FamilyTheridiosomatidae
Observations1,621
Observations recorded2,724

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
192
With media
1
Family
Theridiosomatidae
Collections
MCZ, MNRJ, INHS, EMEC, FMNH
Recorded in
Costa Rica, Brasil, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Honduras

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
ray spider
Image
Theridiosoma gemmosum.jpg
Show 5 more facts
Commons category
Theridiosoma
taxon name
Theridiosoma
taxon rank
genus
taxon author citation
O.P.-Cambridge, 1879
taxonomic type
Theridiosoma gemmosum
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

6 sections
Contents
  • Description
  • Distribution and habitat
  • Behaviour
  • Species
  • References
  • Further reading

Theridiosoma is a genus of ray spiders that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1879. They use their web as a high speed slingshot to actively hunt for prey.

== Description == Mature spiders in this genus have a body length of 0.5–2.5 mm. The carapace ranges from dark brown to light tan, sometimes with distinct markings around the eye region or fovea, The sternum is smooth, with sparse bristles, and is usually darker towards the margin. A pit organ is present on the anterior margin of the sternum, at both corners. The abdomen is ovoid in shape, and taller than wide or long; the dorsal side of the abdomen often bears a light, thin median band and/or symmetrical light spots, the ventral side is dark. The metatarsi of the legs are typically shorter than the tibiae. As with other spiders in the family, the tibiae of the 3rd and 4th legs bear a group of long, vibration-sensitive trichobothria. Species in this genus exhibit only slight sexual dimorphism; males are similar to females in colouration but are slightly smaller, with proportionally longer legs.

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

Gallery (3)