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SCYTODIDAE Spitting spiders

Spitting spiders catch their prey by spitting a fluid that congeals on contact into a venomous sticky mass. They cover their prey in a crisscrossed pattern emitted from pores in the chelicerae. The whole attack sequence is over in a little under 1/700th of a second. These spiders are haplogyne (they lack hardened female genitalia) and have six eyes arranged as three pairs. They have a dome-shaped carapace and a characteristic flecked pattern of spots. The biggest genus is Scytodes.

Dictis striatipes

Dictis striatipes L. Koch, 1872 Stripey-legs Spitting Spider
This widespread and common spider is found from China to northern Australia, commonly associated with humans. The male is about 5mm body length and... 

Scytodes fusca

Scytodes fusca Walckenaer, 1837 Dark Spitting Spider
A cosmopolitan or world-wide spider found in warmer regions, mostly tropical southern hemisphere, with long, thin legs and a relatively massive... 

Scytodes tardigrada

Scytodes tardigrada Thorell, 1881 Slow Walker
A six eyed spider from North Queensland, Iron Range. (This spider shares it name with a phylum, Tardigrada. Tardigrades are small, water-dwelling,... 

 


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