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Micrathena

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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]

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. ^ a b c "Gen. Micrathena Sundevall, 1833". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Levi, H. W. (1985). "The spiny orb-weaver genera Micrathena and Chaetacis (Araneae: Araneidae)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 150: 440.
  4. ^ Scharff, N. (1991). "On the synonymy of Thaumastobella mourei Mello-Leitão and Ildibaha albomaculata Keyserling (Araneae, Araneidae)". Journal of Arachnology. 19: 155.
  5. ^ a b c d "Genus Micrathena". BugGuide. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  6. ^ Sundevall, C. J. (1833). Conspectus Arachnidum.
  7. ^ Ubick, D.; Paquin, P.; Cushing, P.E.; Roth, V., eds. (2005). Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual. American Arachnological Society.
  8. ^ 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. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  9. ^ 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. hdl:1956/22200. PMID 34618955. S2CID 149824795.
  10. ^ Hentz, N. M. (1850). "Descriptions and figures of the araneides of the United States". Boston J. Nat. Hist. 6: 18–35, 271–295.
  11. ^ "Genus Micrathena". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
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Micrathena: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Micrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. 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.

Species with extremely long spines evolved at least eight times in the genus Micrathena and likely function as anti-predator defenses. Gasteracantha orb-weavers also have hardened abdomens with variously shaped spines, but they are not closely related to Micrathena within the orb-weaver family.

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.

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