Scytodidae

Scytodes thoracica, copyright Tone Killick.

Belongs within: Scytodoidea.

The Scytodidae, spitting spiders, are a cosmopolitan (mostly tropical) group of spiders that capture prey by spraying it with gluey silk (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007). The species Dictis striatipes, Scytodes longipes and S. thoracica have become widely introduced outside their native ranges in association with humans.

Characters (from Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007): Small to medium-sized; three tarsal claws; ecribeelate; haplogyne; six eyes in three diads; thoracic region domed, containing prosomal glands producing gluey silk; legs long and slender; body decorated with symmetrical dark pattern.

Scytodidae [Retitelariae]
    |--Phalangopus subtilis Menge 1854 D06
    |--Scyloxes Dunin 1992 JD-S07
    |--Soeuria Saaristo 1997 JD-S07
    |--Stedocys Ono 1995 JD-S07
    |    `--S. leopoldi R14
    |--Dictis Koch 1872 JD-S07
    |    |--D. domestica (Doleschall 1859) [=Scytodes domestica; incl. D. fumida Thorell 1891] T94
    |    `--D. striatipes Koch 1872 PVD10
    `--Scytodes Latreille 1804 PVD10
         |--*S. thoracica Latreille 1802 C01, PVD10 [=Aranea thoracica C01, Segestria (Scytodes) thoracica G20]
         |--S. bergeri Strand 1915 J98
         |--S. distincta Lucas 1846 E12
         |--S. fusca D95
         |--S. intricata R14
         |--S. itapevi Brescovit & Rheims 2000 FM11
         |--S. longipes B06
         |--S. marmorata Koch 1872 S99
         |--S. pallida Doleschall 1859 D59
         |--S. piliformis Wunderlich 1988 S93
         |--S. planithorax Wunderlich 1988 S93
         |--S. propinqua Stoliczka 1869 S69
         `--S. stridulans Wunderlich 1988 S93

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B06] Banks, N. 1906. Arachnida from the Bahamas. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 22: 185–189.

[C01] Cambridge, F. O. P. 1901. A revision of the genera of the Araneae or spiders with reference to their type species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 51–65.

[D59] Doleschall, C. L. 1859. Tweede Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel. Verhandelingen der Natuurkundige Vereeniging in Nederlandsch Indie [Acta Societatis Scientiarum Indo-Neêrlandicae] 5 (5): 1–60, pls 1–18.

[D95] Downes, M. F. 1995. Australasian social spiders: what is meant by 'social'? Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 52: 25–32.

[D06] Dunlop, J. A. 2006. Baltic amber harvestman types (Arachnida: Opiliones: Eupnoi and Dyspnoi). Fossil Record 9 (2): 167–182.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[FM11] Freire-Jr, G. de B., & P. C. Motta. 2011. Effects of experimental fire regimes on the abundance and diversity of cursorial arachnids of Brazilian savannah (cerrado biome). Journal of Arachnology 39 (2): 263–272.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[J98] Jäger, P. 1998. Das Typenmaterial der Spinnentiere (Arachnida: Acari, Amblypygi, Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones, Scorpiones, Uropygi) aus dem Museum Wiesbaden. Jahrbuecher des Nassauischen Vereins fuer Naturkunde 119: 81–91.

[JD-S07] Jocqué, R., & A. S. Dippenaar-Schoeman. 2007. Spider Families of the World. Royal Museum for Central Africa: Tervuren (Belgium).

[PVD10] Paquin, P., C. J. Vink & N. Dupérré. 2010. Spiders of New Zealand: annotated family key and species list. Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln (New Zealand).

[R14] Ramírez, M. J. 2014. The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 390: 1–374.

[S93] Selden, P. A. 1993. Arthropoda (Aglaspidida, Pycnogonida and Chelicerata). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 297–320. Chapman & Hall: London.

[S99] Simon, E. 1899. Ergebnisse einer Reise nach dem Pacific (Schauinsland 1896–1897. Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie un Biologie der Thiere 12 (4): 411–437.

[S69] Stoliczka, F. 1869. Contribution to the knowledge of Indian Arachnoidea. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 38 pt 2 (4): 201–251, pls 18–20.

[T94] Thorell, T. 1894. Förteckning öfver Arachnider från Java och närgränsande öar, insamlade af docenten D:r Carl Aurivillius; jemte beskrifingar å några sydasiatiska och sydamerikanska Spindlar. Bihang till K. Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 20 pt 4 (4): 1–63.

Last updated: 25 January 2022.