Suborder Neoarachnidae—Jumping Arachnidae (III): Ant spiders
27. Antspider genus
Myrmarachne is a genus of ants in the family Myrmarachne.
(1) Characteristics
Antspiders are species of arachnids, arachnids, jumping spiders, and antspiders. Its shape resembles an ant. It is found on leaves ( commonly found in eucalyptus , boxwood , and tree tree ) , feeding on ants and other small insects. Ant spiders are eight-legged, and it is easy to find that the previous pair of ants mimic the antennae of ants, but they are much thicker than the antennae. Look closely at the head of the ant spider can see the obvious difference from the ant, in addition, the ant spider will jump and spit silk, ant spider sometimes imitates the ant to lift the first pair of steps, but there will always be a time to put down, so the movement pattern of the ant spider and the ant is also a little different.
The body shape and color are ant-shaped, and the head and thorax are narrow and long. There is a tight bond between the head and the thorax and the ventral peduncle is clearly visible. The eye area is almost square in shape. The male spider has extremely well-developed chelicera, is long and stout, and protrudes forward. Female spiders have flat tentacles and are easily mistaken for males. It inhabits mountainous fields and forests, netting on leaves and feeding on ants and other small insects.
When you are climbing mountains in the wild or walking by the woods, if you have a keen eye, you may be aware of a strange "ant", which is generally black and several times larger than the average ant. It crawls around quickly, and once it encounters a "companion", it takes the initiative to step forward to say hello. The moment its "tentacles" hit the other party's tentacles, the other party rushed around as if it had been electrocuted. The "ant" then revealed its nature and stepped forward to catch the other party. It's the antspider – the model of mimicry.
Antspider jumping beads provide an excellent model system for studying how male fighting weapons originated and diversified. Antspiders are the largest genus in the family Hopper family, with more than 200 known species worldwide. They are very much like ants not only in morphology, but also in behavior. Because ants not only have a strong palate and formic acid, but also have a strong social aggression, many predators such as birds and predatory insects and spiders not only do not prey but also avoid ants. In this way, ant spiders can survive by simulating ants to avoid predation and thus gaining protection, a phenomenon called Batesian mimicry.
(2) Joe's ant spider
Myrmarachne joblotii is a species of ant spider in the family Myrmarachne. It is distributed in Japan, North Korea, CIS, Bulgaria, Finland and Jilin, Beijing, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan and other places in China.
(3) Japanese ant spiders
Myrmarachne japonica is a species of ant spider in the family Myrmarachne. It is distributed in Russia, Japan and Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan and other places in China, mostly inhabiting farmland. The type locality of this species is in Japan.
28. Genus Disc Arachnids
Pancorius is a genus of spiders in the family Pancoriidae.
(1) Hainan coil spider
Pancorius hainanensis is a species of spider in the family Pancoridae. In China, it is distributed in Hainan and other places. The type locality of this species is in Hainan.
The additive word "hainanensis" means "Hainan".
(2) Microdisc spiders
The microdisc spider (Pancorius minutus) is a species of spider in the family Pancoriidae. It is found in Vietnam, Nepal and Hainan in China. The type locality of this species is in Vietnam.
The additive word "minutus" means "tiny".
29. Genus Cicada spiders
Phintella ( genus Phintella ) , also known as the black striped fly tiger , is a genus in the family Cymbalidae [1].
(1) Flower-bellied cicada spider
Phintella bifurcilinea is a species of spider in the genus Phintella in the family Phintella.
(1) Morphological characteristics
Females are 5 mm long. The cephalothorax is brown, the cephalic region is dark brown, the sides are approximately parallel, there is a light transverse stripe on the anterior edge of the third eye column, a white stripe on the lateral margin of the thoracic area, a broad white longitudinal band from the middle fossa to the posterior margin, and symmetrical radial black stripes on both sides of the longitudinal band. The eye area is oblong, wider than long, chelicera, yellow-brown stout, claw tips not curved, anterior tooth embankment 2 teeth, posterior tooth embankment 1 tooth. The foot is light brown, with 1 dark spot on the back of the basal segment of the IV foot. The abdomen is light blackish brown, the anterior margin is concave, the posterior end is narrowly pointed, and there is a yellow-white broadband longitudinal front and rear in the middle, a long black stripe in the center of the broad anterior end, a white longitudinal stripe on each side anterior, and two white stripes at the posterior end.
Males are 4 mm long. The cephalothorax is blackish brown and the cephalic area is dark. The anterior edge of the third eye column has white spots. There are white patches in the center and sides of the thoracic area. The chelicerae are slender and not curved. The first 3 pairs of step feet are black-brown, the back of each segment is light color, the back of the tibia has 1 black longitudinal stripe, and the fourth step foot is light brown. The anterior edge of the ventral back is not concave.
(2) Distribution area
It is distributed in Japan, Vietnam and Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places in China, and is mostly found in farmland. The type locality of this species is in Japan.
(2) Macular cicada spider
The yellow-spotted cicada spider (Phintella melloteei), also known as the agile cicada spider, is a species of spider in the genus Phintella in the family Cycadidae.
(1) Morphological characteristics
A. Female spiders
Body length 4~4.5mm. The head and thorax are light grayish white or light orange-yellow. The eye area occupies less than 1/2 of the head and thorax, the posterior side is slightly shorter than the anterior side, the length is greater than the width, the anterior eye column is anteriorly curved, the second eye column is located in the middle of the 1st and 3rd eye columns, and the base of the black eye mounds of the second and posterior eye columns is connected by thin strips. There is a pair of broad eyebrow spots on the chest, thin at the front and thick at the back, not connected at the ends, and inconspicuous in some individuals. The chelicerae are yellowish-white with black bushes of hairs on the inner margin. The jaw lobes and lower lip are yellowish-white or brown. The tentacles, chest plate, and footsteps are yellowish and white. The dorsal surface of the abdomen is light yellowish brown with grey spots. The heart spot is pronounced, with 1 pair of longitudinal bands on the outside, 3 pairs of twill stripes on the back half of the dotted line composed of small gray dots, and 1 black round spot at the end of the abdomen.
B. Male spiders
Body length 4.3~4.5mm. The body color is darker than that of the female, with "mountain" shaped gray spots on the back of the eyes, obvious eyebrow spots, and gray-black on the edges of the head and thorax. The chela are greyish-yellow-brown, the tentacles are gray-black with the 1st and 2nd steps, and the 3rd and IV steps are light grey-yellow with annular stripes. The heart is large, gourd-shaped, with 1 pair of gray-black longitudinal stripes on the outside, 1 stripe just behind, and 3~4 pairs of radial fine stripes on both sides.
(2) Living environment
It is commonly found in drylands, orchards and tea plantations. It is distributed in Japan and China's Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Jilin and other places. Host harmful crops include fruit trees, tea, etc.
30. Genus Hole Arachnids
Portia is a genus of spiders in the family Jumping Arachnidae. Hole spiders belong to the jumping spider family and live by eating other spiders. There are about 5,000 known species of jumping spiders worldwide, of which there are 20 species of hole spiders. Hong Kong said that this species is called the lip-bearded spider, which often extends the 4th step foot to the abdomen and dorsal when roosting, camouflaged as branches or residues, and the hole spider can weave webs and will also go out to hunt, often to other spider webs with tentacles or forefeet to imitate insect vibration to lure spiders out and hunt again.
(1) Appearance characteristics
The body color is brown or black-brown, the whole body is covered with hair bundles, the forehead and the end of the tentacles have white scales, especially the 2 rows of white transverse hair spots at the base of the upper jaw are very conspicuous, the center of the abdomen has a figure-eight black spot and a longitudinal short spot, and the bottom has 2 white spot-like hair bushes.
(2) Life habits
(1) Amazing deception ability
The hole spider's ability to decore is amazing, and almost every prey it targets is difficult to escape.
One of the important abilities of the hole spider is to lure other spiders out of their safe cobweb, on the edge of a spider's web, the hole spider will make various moves, it will shake those silk threads to pretend to be a struggling insect or an invading enemy, if it encounters a spider it has dealt with before, it will know which move to use; If it encounters a spider that it has not seen before, it will come up with all its tricks, perhaps touching the silk web lightly, shaking the silk web vigorously, or jumping up and down like a trampoline, just to move its target to a convenient location for it to attack. Sometimes its target is two or three times larger than its own, and its strategy against this target is to arouse the curiosity of the other party, not to provoke it.
(2) Amazing cognitive ability
Honey Haaland, a spider researcher at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, said the shaking of the silk web showed cognitive abilities that are widely believed to be beyond the small creatures, and he compared the hole spider with other spider web invaders, such as the white-tailed spider with well-developed limbs and a simple mind. "The white-tailed spider also shakes its webs, but it's just an old-fashioned, simple model, it doesn't rack its brains for strategy or experimentation, and it doesn't care what the other side does," Haaland said. It just subdues the other with its big man. The hole spider is a very thin little spider, and it must carefully plan its attack. Extraordinary eyesight and well-thought-out strategies always allow the spider to get a lot of success, and almost every object it targets is difficult to escape, even the big guy it has never seen before. ”
(3) Intelligence
How smart are hole spiders? Apparently, this is just a delusion, scientists have no way to measure the internal consciousness of the hole spider's brain, humans have 100 billion brain cells, mice have about 70 million brain cells, Haaland said that no one can accurately calculate how many brain cells the hole spider has. However, we know that the foramen spider has about 600,000 nerve cells, located between houseflies and bees, the former has 250,000 nerve cells, and the latter has 1 million nerve cells.
(4) "Classic Campaign"
The hole spider quietly crouched on a branch, and soon, the hole spider's bead-like eyes were aimed at a flower skin spider, which is another spider that specializes in eating other spiders and is also a highly poisonous spider.
The flower-skinned spider has poor eyesight and likes to hide itself under a curly leaf or lurk in its own cobweb, waiting for delivery from some unsuspecting guy passing by. But the hole spider has excellent eyesight and is more sensitive to space than cats and pigeons. Quietly sit at a safe distance of about half a meter. The hole spider stared at the flower skin spider, looking for an opportunity to attack.
First, it needs to figure out if there are oocysts on the chelicera. This is the way the flower skin spider protects the egg, every time the venom is sprayed, the flower skin spider must first put down the egg, if the flower skin spider lays eggs, the hole spider will attack from the front, it will quietly crawl to the flower skin spider's web, gently shake the spider silk, lure the flower skin spider out, and then launch a surprise attack.
But this time, the situation is very bad, the flower skin spider has no egg cysts! The spider has no way to carry out its "Plan B." So it crouched on the branches and began to figure out how to catch the delicacy. It spends nearly 15 minutes examining the terrain, its little head pondering how to step over boulders and tree branches.
Finally, Kong Spider made up his mind and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Two hours later, the "silent assassination" began again: it quietly slid down a spider silk attached to the stone above to the flower spider, and its agility was reminiscent of a shot from "Spy". This time, the hole spider got his wish.
(3) Habitat environment
It is generally distributed in low-altitude mountainous areas, commonly inhabiting shady places such as tree trunks and dead wood, and it is not easy to distinguish between them, and some species are distributed in medium-altitude mountainous areas.
Hole spiders have been found in Africa, Australia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam.
In addition to the common hole spider Portia labiata, there are about 20 species such as the tasseled hole spider Portia fimbriata and the Taiwanese hole spider Portia taiwanica heteroidea.
(4) Special-shaped foramen spider
Portia heteroidea is a genus of portoscopic spiders in the family Jumping Arachnidae. In Chinese mainland, it is distributed in Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and other places. The type localities of this species are in Hunan and Sichuan.
(1) Male spiders
body length 6–9 mm, head and thorax tall and raised, eye area yellowish brown; The rest of the cephalothorax is dark brown , and the ventral margin is densely covered with gray-white scaly hairs, forming two lateral margin hair bands. The chelicerae are yellowish brown, with 2 large teeth and 1 small tooth in the anterior causeway, and 4 small teeth in the posterior causeway. The back of the abdomen is dark brown, the front end is slightly pale, brown, covered with white scaly hairs, there are a total of 5 yellow-brown round spots (arranged in 2, 1, 2) in the anterior, middle and posterior parts of the abdomen, and the latter 1 pair of spots are covered with gray-white hair clusters, which are easy to fall off. The antennae are medium-long with a tip slightly beyond the lateral margin of the tarsal vescapitus , accompanied by a membranous guide and inserter. The tibial segment has 3 protrusions, the third tibial process is thicker and shorter, and the end is bluntly rounded.
(2) Female spiders
It is 7–11 mm long and has a brown head and breastplate with a dense margin of white scaly hairs. The eye area is yellowish brown. The chelicerae are orange-red, the jaw lobes, lower lip, and thoracic plate are brown, and the thoracic plate is densely covered with gray-white scaly hairs. The abdomen is oval , grey-brown on the back, densely covered with brown hairs, with 3 or 5 yellowish-brown round spots, covered with gray-yellow tufts of hair. The outer female is oval on the outside, and the longitudinal copulation tube is faintly visible in the middle; The intersection foramen is rounded, with a distinct septum, and the inner surface is pear-shaped.
31. Genus Pseudospiders
Pseudicius, also known as Pseudicius, is a genus of animals in the family Pseudicidae.
(1) Frenulous Pudi spider
The frenulous pudi spider (scientific name: Pseudicius cinctus) is a species of spider in the family Pseudicidae. It is found in Russia, Afghanistan and Xinjiang in China, and is mostly found in woods, orchards, and farmland.
(2) Fox spider
Pseudicius vulpes is a species of spider in the family Pseudicidae. It is distributed in North Korea, CIS, Japan and Heilongjiang, Jilin, Beijing, Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian and other places in China.
32. Genus Broad-breasted Fly Tiger
Rhene is a genus of broad-breasted flyfish in the family Rhene.
(1) Forked broad-breasted fly tiger
The forked broad-breasted fly tiger (Rhene biembolusa) is a species of broad-breasted fly tiger in the family Jumping Arachnidae. In China, it is distributed in Hainan and other places. The type locality of this species is in Hainan.
(2) Indian broad-breasted fly tiger
The Indian broad-breasted fly tiger (Rhene indica) is a species of broad-breasted fly tiger in the family Jumping Arachnidae. It is found in India and Tibet in China, often inhabiting mountains and forests. The type locality of this species is in India. The epithet "indica" means "Indian".
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