Cheiracanthium

Cheiracanthium
C. punctorium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Family:	Miturgidae
Genus:	Cheiracanthium C. L. Koch, 1839
Species
C. inclusum C. japonicum C. lawrencei C. mildei C. mordax C. punctorium C. socotrense C. virescens many more
Diversity
194 species

Cheiracanthium is a genus of spiders in the Miturgidae family. Certain species are commonly called "yellow sac spider". They are usually pale in colour, and have an abdomen that can range from yellow to beige. Both sexes range from 5 to 10 mm.

While not really dangerous, some species are responsible for painful bites, such as C. punctorium in Europe, C. mildei in Europe and North America, C. inclusum in the Americas, C. lawrencei in South Africa and C. japonicum in Japan.

Distribution

Cheiracanthium is mainly an Old World genus, with many species found from northern Europe to Japan, from Southern Africa to India and Australia. The only species to occur in the New World are C. inclusum and C. mildei. While the former also occurs in Africa and Réunion, the latter is found in the Holarctic region and Argentina.

References

• Howell, W. Mike & Jenkins, Ronald L. (2004): Spiders of the US: A photographic guide. ISBN 0-536-75853-0
• Platnick, Norman I. (2007): The world spider catalog, version 8.0. American Museum of Natural History.