Argyrodes

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Superphylum: Ecdysozoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Classis: Arachnida
Ordo: Araneae
Subordo: Araneomorphae
Infraordo: Araneomorphi
Series: Entelegynae
Superfamilia: Araneoidea
Familia: Theridiidae
Subfamilia: Argyrodinae
Genus: Argyrodes
Species: A. abscissus - A. alannae - A. ambalikae - A. amboinensis - A. andamanensis - A. antipodianus - A. apiculatus - A. argentatus - A. argyrodes - A. atriapicatus - A. bandanus - A. benedicti - A. binotatus - A. bonadea - A. borbonicus - A. callipygus - A. calmettei - A. chionus - A. chiriatapuensis - A. coactatus - A. cognatus - A. convivans - A. cylindratus - A. cyrtophorae - A. delicatulus - A. dipali - A. elevatus - A. exlineae - A. fasciatus - A. fissifrons - A. fissifrontellus - A. flavescens - A. flavipes - A. fragilis - A. gazedes - A. gazingensis - A. gemmatus - A. gouri - A. gracilis - A. hawaiiensis - A. huangsangensis - A. ilipoepoe - A. incertus - A. incisifrons - A. incursus - A. insectus - A. jamkhedes - A. kratochvili - A. kualensis - A. kulczynskii - A. kumadai - A. laha - A. lanyuensis - A. lepidus - A. levuca - A. maculiger - A. margaritarius - A. mellissi - A. mertoni - A. meus - A. miltosus - A. minax - A. miniaceus - A. modestus - A. nasutus - A. neocaledonicus - A. nephilae - A. parcestellatus - A. pluto - A. praeacutus - A. projeles - A. rainbowi - A. reticola - A. rhomboides - A. rostratus - A. samoensis - A. scapulatus - A. scintillulanus - A. sextuberculosus - A. strandi - A. stridulator - A. sublimis - A. sundaicus - A. tenuis - A. tripunctatus - A. unimaculatus - A. vatovae - A. viridis - A. vittatus - A. weyrauchi - A. wolfi - A. yunnanensis - A. zhui - A. zonatus

Name

Argyrodes Simon, 1864

Type species: Linyphia argyrodes Walckenaer, 1842

Synonyms

Conopistha Karsch, 1881
Argyrodina Strand, 1926
Microcephalus Restrepo, 1944

References

Exline, H. & H. W. Levi. 1962. American spiders of the genus Argyrodes (Araneae, Theridiidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 127: 75-204.
Rivera, M.; Gillespie, R.G. 2010: New species of endemic kleptoparasitic spiders of the genus Argyrodes (Araneae: Theridiidae) in the Hawaiian Islands. Pacific science, 64: 221–231. doi: 10.2984/64.2.221

links

Platnick, N. I. 2008. The World Spider Catalog, version 9.0. American Museum of Natural History. [1]

Vernacular names
English: Dewdrop spiders
한국어: 더부살이거미속
日本語: イソウロウグモ

Spiders of the genus Argyrodes (Theridiidae), also called dewdrop spiders, occur worldwide. They are best known as kleptoparasites: they steal other spiders' prey. They invade and reside in their host's web even though they can spin their own webs.[1] However, the relationship can sometimes be commensal or even mutual since the dewdrop spider can feed on small trapped insects that are not eaten by the host.[2] Some species can even prey upon the host.[1] Many species are black with silvery markings. Most species are relatively small. For example, A. incursus has a body length of 3–4.5 mm[3] while A. fissifrons has a body length of about 12 mm.[2]

Distribution

Most Argyrodes are found in the tropics although 15 species are found in the United States.[1] Dewdrop spiders prefer large webs and clustered webs compared to small and isolated ones. Large webs tend to have more kleptoparasites than smaller ones. Isolated webs tend to have lesser number of kleptoparasites compared to clustered webs of the same size.[4]

Name

The genus name is derived from Greek argyros "silver" and -odes "like".

Footnotes

^ a b c Guarisco 1999
^ a b Tso 2000
^ "Red-spotted Argyrodes". Australian Museum. 2003. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
^ Agnarsson 2003

References

Information, picture, Australian distribution of A. incursus
Guarisco, Hank (October 1999). "Distributional Status and Natural History Observations of the Genus Argyrodes (Araenae: Theridiidae) in Kansas". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 102 (3–4): 138–141. doi:10.2307/3627875. JSTOR 3627875.
Tso, I-Min; Lucia Liu Severinghaus (2000). "Argyrodes fissifrons Inhabiting Webs of Cyrtophora Hosts: Prey Size Distribution and Population Characteristics". Zoological Studies 39 (3): 236–242. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
Agnarsson, Ingi (2003). "Spider webs as habitat patches-the distribution of kleptoparasites (Argyrodes, Theridiidae), among host webs (Nephilia, Tetragnathidae)". The Journal of Arachnology 31 (3): 344–349. doi:10.1636/s02-21. Archived from the original on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2007-05-21.