Misumenoides Explained
Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae.[1] Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders.[2]
Species
, the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species:
- Misumenoides annulipes – Mexico, Guatemala
- Misumenoides athleticus – Mexico, Brazil
- Misumenoides bifissus – Guatemala
- Misumenoides blandus – Guatemala, Panama
- Misumenoides carminatus – Argentina
- Misumenoides chlorophilus – Argentina
- Misumenoides corticatus – Brazil
- Misumenoides crassipes – Colombia
- Misumenoides dasysternon – Chile
- Misumenoides decipiens – Venezuela
- Misumenoides depressus – Guatemala
- Misumenoides eximius – Argentina
- Misumenoides formosipes – Canada, United States
- Misumenoides fusciventris – Brazil
- Misumenoides gerschmanae – Argentina
- Misumenoides illotus – Brazil
- Misumenoides magnus – Mexico to Colombia
- Misumenoides nicoleti – Chile
- Misumenoides nigripes – Brazil
- Misumenoides nigromaculatus – Brazil
- Misumenoides obesulus – Mexico
- Misumenoides parvus – Mexico to Colombia
- Misumenoides paucispinosus – Brazil, Guyana
- Misumenoides proseni – Argentina
- Misumenoides quetzaltocatl – Mexico
- Misumenoides roseiceps – Brazil
- Misumenoides rubrithorax – Guyana
- Misumenoides rubroniger – Brazil
- Misumenoides rugosus – Guatemala, Panama
- Misumenoides similis – Brazil
- Misumenoides tibialis – Panama, Brazil
- Misumenoides variegatus – Argentina
- Misumenoides vigilans – Guatemala
- Misumenoides vulneratus – Brazil
The female Misumenoides formosipes, while similar to Misumena vatia, is not as large, and can be distinguished by the inverted 'V' marking on its back (with the point of the V closer to the cephalothorax) and the 'mask' over its eyes. In most respects this spider behaves like the goldenrod spider, also commonly hunting in goldenrod sprays in the fall. It tends to take smaller prey, however, avoiding the bumblebees and large butterflies in favor of honeybees, large flies and small butterflies such as skippers. Male M. formosipes are quite distinctive, being much smaller than females and having a greenish cephalothorax, yellow-orange abdomen, and long, red to reddish-black front legs. They are found on a wide variety of plants as they wander in search of females in late summer and early fall.
External links
Notes and References
- Biswas . V. . 2020 . A newly recorded crab-spider genus Misumenoides F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 (Araneae: Thomisidae) from Khulna, Bangladesh . Journal of Biodiversity Conservation and Bioresource Management . en . 6 . 1 . 77–82 . 10.3329/jbcbm.v6i1.51376 . 2412-2416. free .
- Schmalhofer . Victoria R. . 1999 . Thermal Tolerances and Preferences of the Crab Spiders Misumenops asperatus and Misumenoides formosipes (Araneae, Thomisidae) . The Journal of Arachnology . 27 . 2 . 470–480 . 0161-8202.
