Arachnura
| Arachnura | |
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| Female A. melanura | |
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| Genus: | Arachnura Vinson, 1863
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| Species | |
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See text. | |
| Diversity | |
| 13 species | |
Arachnura is a genus of orb-weaving spiders of Australasia, with one species found in Africa and Madagascar. These spiders mimic litter, like fallen flowers, twigs or dead leaves. They stay at the middle of their web day and night. Among the common names are Drag-tailed spider, Tailed spider, Scorpion-tailed spider and Scorpion spider. They do curl up their tail when disturbed, but this tail is completely harmless, as they are not closely related to order scorpiones. Bites are rare, and result in minor symptoms such as local pain and swelling.
Females are between 1 and 3 cm long, males reach only 2 mm and are tailless.
A. logio is called Kijiro o-hiki-gumo in Japanese. A. feredayi is commonly called Tailed forest spider. A. higginsi is often found in large numbers near water in Australia.
Name
The genus name is derived from Greek arachne "spider" and ura "tail".
Species
- Arachnura angura Tikader, 1970 — India
- Arachnura caudatella Roewer, 1942 — New Guinea, Queensland
- Arachnura feredayi (L. Koch, 1872) — Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand
- Arachnura heptotubercula Yin, Hu & Wang, 1983 — China
- Arachnura higginsi (L. Koch, 1872) — Australia, Tasmania
- Arachnura logio Yaginuma, 1956 — China, Japan
- Arachnura melanura Simon, 1867 — India to Japan and Sulawesi
- Arachnura perfissa (Thorell, 1895) — Myanmar
- Arachnura pygmaea (Thorell, 1890) — Nias Islands
- Arachnura quinqueapicata Strand, 1911 — Aru Islands
- Arachnura scorpionoides Vinson, 1863 — Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius
- Arachnura simoni Berland, 1924 — New Caledonia
- Arachnura spinosa (Saito, 1933) — Taiwan
References
- Vinson, A. (1863). Aranéides des îles de la Réunion, Maurice et Madagascar. Paris, i-cxx, 1-337.
- Museum Victoria: Scorpion Tailed Spider
- Platnick, Norman I. (2008): The world spider catalog, version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History.
External links
- Pictures of A. logio
- Pictures of A. higginsii with eggsac (Archived 2009-10-25)
- Drawing of A. higginsi
- Pictures of A. melanura
- Picture of male and female A. higginsi
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