Velvet spider
| Velvet spiders | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| male Eresus kollari | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Araneomorphae |
| Superfamily: | Eresoidea |
| Family: | Eresidae C. L. Koch, 1851 |
| Genera | |
|
see text |
|
| Diversity | |
| 10 genera, 102 species | |
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|
The velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 100 species in 10 genera) of almost totally Old World spiders (exception: a few species are known from Brazil). The characteristics of this family of spiders are that they are entelegyne (have a genital plate in the female), eight-eyed araneomorph spiders that build unkempt webs. With the exception of Wajane, they are cribellate (use wooly silk). Some species are nearly eusocial, lacking only a specialized caste system and a queen. They cooperate in brood rearing, unlike almost most other spiders except for some African agelenid spiders in the genus Agelena and a few others.
Wayane is grouped together with Penestomus as the subfamily Penestominae.
[edit] Genera
The categorization into subfamilies follows Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog.
- Eresinae C. L. Koch, 1851
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- Adonea Simon, 1873 — Mediterranean
- Dorceus C. L. Koch, 1846 — Africa
- Dresserus Simon, 1876 — Africa
- Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 — Palearctic to Morocco
- Gandanameno Lehtinen, 1967 — Africa
- Paradonea Lawrence, 1968 — Africa
- Seothyra Purcell, 1903 — Africa
- Stegodyphus Simon, 1873 — Africa, Madagascar, Brazil, Eurasia
- Penestominae C. L. Koch, 1851
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- Penestomus Simon, 1902 — South Africa
- Wajane Lehtinen, 1967 — South Africa
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Lehtinen, P.T. (1967): Classification of the cribellate spiders and some allied families, with notes on the evolution of the suborder Araneomorpha. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 4: 199-468.
- Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. (1989): The African species of the subfamily Penestominae (Araneae: Eresidae): with description of two new species. Phytophylactica 21: 131-134.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eresidae |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Eresidae |
