Mysmenopsis
Encyclopedia
Mysmenopsis is a kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae
. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae
. M. archeri lives on webs of a species in the family Pholcidae, M. capae and M. cienga have been observed living in Cyrtophora
(Araneidae) webs. One reason why diplurid webs are preferred seems to be that they are persistent in time and space, sometimes spanning several years.
The monotypic genus Isela is closely related.
Mysmenopsis furtiva from Jamaica
lives as a kleptoparasite and commensal in webs of Ischnothele xera. It steals portions of its host's prey, but also consumes minute trapped insects that are not sought after by the host. In order not to be recognized, it moves only slowly when the host does not move; else it synchronizes its rapid movements with the movements of the host. M. furtiva has been observed to feed on one end of a prey animal, while the host feeds on the other. When feeding, its legs and pedipalps remain motionless, but its abdomen sways slowly and slightly. One feeding bout can double its abdominal volume. The host shows anti-kleptoparasite behavior, amongst others by adding silk between the kleptoparasite and the feeding site.
The closely related M. furtiva and M. monticola parasitize two spider species that are also closely related, and it is believed that the two groups coevolved
.
Mysmenidae
The Mysmenidae are a spider family with almost 100 described species in more than twenty genera.-Distribution:Species occur in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, New Guinea and several islands.-Genera:* Acrobleps Hickman, 1979...
. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae
Dipluridae
Funnel-web tarantulas , are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chelicerae that move up and down in a stabbing motion...
. M. archeri lives on webs of a species in the family Pholcidae, M. capae and M. cienga have been observed living in Cyrtophora
Cyrtophora
The Tent-web spiders , although technically orb-web spiders , do not build orb webs. Their tent-like, highly complex non-sticky web is sometimes considered a precursor of the simplified orb-web. These webs are aligned horizontally, with a network of supporting threads above them. These spiders...
(Araneidae) webs. One reason why diplurid webs are preferred seems to be that they are persistent in time and space, sometimes spanning several years.
The monotypic genus Isela is closely related.
Mysmenopsis furtiva from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
lives as a kleptoparasite and commensal in webs of Ischnothele xera. It steals portions of its host's prey, but also consumes minute trapped insects that are not sought after by the host. In order not to be recognized, it moves only slowly when the host does not move; else it synchronizes its rapid movements with the movements of the host. M. furtiva has been observed to feed on one end of a prey animal, while the host feeds on the other. When feeding, its legs and pedipalps remain motionless, but its abdomen sways slowly and slightly. One feeding bout can double its abdominal volume. The host shows anti-kleptoparasite behavior, amongst others by adding silk between the kleptoparasite and the feeding site.
The closely related M. furtiva and M. monticola parasitize two spider species that are also closely related, and it is believed that the two groups coevolved
Co-evolution
In biology, coevolution is "the change of a biological object triggered by the change of a related object." Coevolution can occur at many biological levels: it can be as microscopic as correlated mutations between amino acids in a protein, or as macroscopic as covarying traits between different...
.
Species
- Mysmenopsis archeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Brazil
- Mysmenopsis atahualpa Baert, 1990 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis beebei (Gertsch, 1960) — Trinidad
- Mysmenopsis capac Baert, 1990 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis cidrelicola (Simon, 1895) — Venezuela
- Mysmenopsis cienaga Müller, 1987 — Colombia, Peru
- Mysmenopsis cymbia (Levi, 1956) — USA
- Mysmenopsis dipluramigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama
- Mysmenopsis femoralis Simon, 1897 — (St. Vincent
- Mysmenopsis funebris Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent
- Mysmenopsis furtiva Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
- Mysmenopsis gamboa Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama
- Mysmenopsis huascar Baert, 1990 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis ischnamigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Trinidad, Peru
- Mysmenopsis ixlitla (Levi, 1956) — Mexico
- Mysmenopsis kochalkai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Colombia
- Mysmenopsis mexcala Gertsch, 1960 — Mexico
- Mysmenopsis monticola Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
- Mysmenopsis pachacutec Baert, 1990 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis palpalis (Kraus, 1955) — Mexico, Honduras
- Mysmenopsis penai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Ecuador
- Mysmenopsis schlingeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis tengellacompa Platnick, 1993 — Costa Rica
- Mysmenopsis tibialis (Bryant, 1940) — Cuba
- Mysmenopsis viracocha Baert, 1990 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis wygodzinskyi Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
- Mysmenopsis yupanqui Baert, 1990 — Peru