Biology:Micrathena
| Micrathena | |
|---|---|
| |
| Micrathena sagittata in Virginia, USA | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Micrathena Sundevall, 1833[1] |
| Type species | |
| Micrathena aureola (C. L. Koch, 1836)
| |
| Species | |
|
119, see text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Micrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833.[5][6] Micrathena contains more than a hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland-dwelling species. The name is derived from the Greek "micro", meaning "small", and the goddess Athena.[7]
Species with extremely long spines evolved at least eight times in the genus Micrathena and likely function as anti-predator defenses.[8] Gasteracantha orb-weavers also have hardened abdomens with variously shaped spines, but they are not closely related to Micrathena within the orb-weaver family.[9]
These spiders are active during the daytime and build vertical orb webs. Unlike many other orb-weavers, members of Micrathena bite their prey before wrapping it. When laying eggs, females will place the egg sac on vegetation near the web.[5]
Species
(As of April 2019) the genus Micrathena contains 119 species:[1]
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In North America
Although the genus includes over a hundred species, only four are found in the United States and Canada.[10] Among those four species, female spined micrathena (Micrathena gracilis) have five pairs of conical tubercles, female M. mitrata have two short posterior pairs, and female arrow-shaped micrathena (M. sagittata) have three pairs.[5] Only two species are recorded from Canada, being M. sagittata, found primarily in the Pinery Provincial Park, and M. gracilis, which is more widespread.[5][11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Gen. Micrathena Sundevall, 1833". Natural History Museum Bern. http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/356.
- ↑ Magalhaes, I. L. F.; Santos, A. J. (2012). "Phylogenetic analysis of Micrathena and Chaetacis spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) reveals multiple origins of extreme sexual size dimorphism and long abdominal spines". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166: 29.
- ↑ Levi, H. W. (1985). "The spiny orb-weaver genera Micrathena and Chaetacis (Araneae: Araneidae)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 150: 440.
- ↑ Scharff, N. (1991). "On the synonymy of Thaumastobella mourei Mello-Leitão and Ildibaha albomaculata Keyserling (Araneae, Araneidae)". Journal of Arachnology 19: 155.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Genus Micrathena". BugGuide. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1979.
- ↑ Sundevall, C. J. (1833). Conspectus Arachnidum.
- ↑ Ubick, D.; Paquin, P.; Cushing, P.E. et al., eds (2005). Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual. American Arachnological Society.
- ↑ Magalhaes, Ivan L F; Santos, Adalberto J. (September 2012). "Phylogenetic analysis of Micrathena and Chaetacis spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) reveals multiple origins of extreme sexual size dimorphism and long abdominal spines". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166 (1): no. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00831.x. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264723203. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
- ↑ Scharff, Nikolaj; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Blackledge, Todd A.; Agnarsson, Ingi; Framenau, Volker W.; Szűts, Tamás; Hayashi, Cheryl Y.; Dimitrov, Dimitar (23 April 2019). "Phylogeny of the orb‐weaving spider family Araneidae (Araneae: Araneoidea)". Cladistics 36 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1111/cla.12382. PMID 34618955. http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-79166.
- ↑ Hentz, N. M. (1850). "Descriptions and figures of the araneides of the United States". Boston J. Nat. Hist. 6: 18–35, 271–295.
- ↑ "Genus Micrathena". iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6883&subview=map&taxon_id=61289.
Wikidata ☰ Q1165225 entry
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