Aelurillus

Aelurillus
male A. v-insignitus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Aelurillinae
Genus: Aelurillus
Simon, 1884
Type species
Araneus litera v insignitus
Clerck, 1757
Species

see text

Diversity
68 species

Aelurillus is a genus of the spider family Salticidae (jumping spiders).

Description

Aelurillus are typically about 7 mm long in females, and up to five mm in males. They are stout, squat-shaped and rather furry, with females often uniformly mottled sandy brown, while males are often black, sometimes with a pattern and with light, annulated legs.[1]

Habits

Spiders in this genus mainly catch and feed on ants (myrmecophagy).

A Southeast Asian Aelurillus species has been observed to jump around 30-40 times its body length straight onto the back of a large gnaphosid spider and kill it.[2]

They like hot, dry, stony places or small bare open areas with dead twigs or similar amongst low vegetation.[1]

Distribution

Aelurillus occurs in the Palaearctic and Africa, with a few species known from India (A. improvisus, A. minimontanus) and Sri Lanka (A. kronestedti, A. quadrimaculatus). Aelurillus subfestivus is found in Japan.

Species

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Murphy & Murphy 2000: 273
  2. Murphy & Murphy 2000: 344

References

Further reading

External links

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