Interesting Facts
Description
Family Thomisidae
Crab spiders hold their legs outstretched to the sides, in the manner of their crustacean namesake, and can move forwards, sideways, or backward . They have short, broad bodies and 8 small eyes sometimes located on raised bumps . The second pair of legs is often much heavier and longer than the third and fourth pairs. Crab spiders do not build any sort of web, they prowl the ground and climb flowers and plants in search of prey . Many are masters of camouflage and simply await their prey on flowers, much like ambush bugs. [1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Protostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Ecdysozoa
()
- A.M.A. Aguinaldo et al., 1997 ex T. Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Superphylum:
Panarthropoda
()
- Cuvier
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
()
- Latreille, 1829
- Arthropods
- Subphylum:
Arachnomorpha
()
- Heider, 1913
- Infraphylum:
Cheliceriformes
()
- Superclass:
Chelicerata
()
- Epiclass:
Euchelicerata
()
- Subclass:
Micrura
()
- Order:
Araneae
()
- C. Clerck, 1757
- Spiders
- Suborder:
Opisthothelae
()
- Pocock, 1892
- Infraorder:
Araneomorphae
()
- Smith, 1902
- Superfamily:
Thomisoidea
()
- Family:
Thomisidae
()
- Sundevall, 1833
- Crab Spiders
- Genus:
Pherecydes
()
- O. P.-Cambridge, 1883
- Specific name:
nicolaasi
- Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1980
- Scientific name: - Pherecydes nicolaasi Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1980
- Specific name:
nicolaasi
- Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1980
- Genus:
Pherecydes
(
- Family:
Thomisidae
(
- Superfamily:
Thomisoidea
(
- Infraorder:
Araneomorphae
(
- Suborder:
Opisthothelae
(
- Order:
Araneae
(
- Subclass:
Micrura
(
- Epiclass:
Euchelicerata
(
- Superclass:
Chelicerata
(
- Infraphylum:
Cheliceriformes
(
- Subphylum:
Arachnomorpha
(
- Phylum:
Arthropoda
(
- Superphylum:
Panarthropoda
(
- Infrakingdom:
Ecdysozoa
(
- Branch:
Protostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
First described: Dippenaar-Schoeman, A. S. The crab-spiders of
southern Africa
(Araneae: Thomisidae). 2. The genera Pherecydes
Pickard-Cambridge, 1883 and Smodicinus Simon, 1895. J.
ent. Soc. sth. Afr. 43: 327-340., 1980b.
Last scrutiny: 05-Jan-2008
Similar Species
Members of the genus Pherecydes
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 0 species and subspecies in this genus:
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Dippenaar-Schoeman, A. S. The crab-spiders of southern Africa (Araneae: Thomisidae). 2. The genera Pherecydes Pickard-Cambridge, 1883 and Smodicinus Simon, 1895. J. ent. Soc. sth. Afr. 43: 327-340., 1980b.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 16, 2012.
- Platnick, N.I. (from World Spider Catalog).
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- SpidCat: The World Spider Catalog. Release date: January 7, 2008
- The World Spider Catalog, 5.0, 2004.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3603682
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Ara-030956
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 243130
Footnotes
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Bassaniana&search=Search [back]
