Deinopidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Classis: Arachnida
Ordo: Araneae
Subordo: Opisthothelae
Infraordo: Araneomorphae
Taxon: Neocribellatae
Series: Entelegynae
Superfamilia: Uloboroidea

Familia: Deinopidae
Genera (2 + 1†): Asianopis – Deinopis – Menneus – †Palaeomicromenneus

[source: Catalogue of Life: 2012 Annual Checklist, modified to agree with Coddington et al. (2012), i.e., minus (2) Avella – Avellopsis
; plus (1) †Palaeomicromenneus
]
Name

Deinopidae Koch, 1850

References
Primary references

Koch, C.L. 1850: Übersicht des Arachnidensystems. Nürnberg, Heft 5, pp. 1-77.

Additional references

Coddington, J.A.; Kuntner, M.; Opell, B.D. 2012: Systematics of the spider family Deinopidae with a revision of the genus Menneus. Smithsonian contributions to zoology, (636) abstract and full article (PDF) Reference page.
Lin Y.J., Shao, L., Hänggi, A., Caleb, J.T., Koh, J.K.H., Jäger, P. & Li, S.Q. 2020. Asianopis gen. nov., a new genus of the spider family Deinopidae from Asia. ZooKeys 911: 67-99. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.911.38761. Open access. Reference page.

Vernacular names
中文: 鬼面蛛科

Deinopidae, also known as net casting spiders, is a family of cribellate[1] spiders first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1850.[2] It consists of stick-like elongated spiders that catch prey by stretching a web across their front legs before propelling themselves forward. These unusual webs will stretch two or three times their relaxed size, entangling any prey that touch them. The posterior median eyes have excellent night vision, allowing them to cast nets accurately in low-light conditions. These eyes are larger than the others, and sometimes makes these spiders appear to only have two eyes. Ogre-faced spiders (Deinopis) are the best known genus in this family. The name refers to the perceived physical similarity to the mythological creature of the same name. This family also includes the humped-back spiders (Menneus).[3]

They are distributed through tropics worldwide from Australia to Africa and the Americas. In Florida, Deinopis often hangs upside down from a silk line under palmetto fronds during the day. At night, it emerges to practice its unusual prey capture method on invertebrate prey. Its eyes are able to gather available light more efficiently than the eyes of cats and owls, and are able to do this despite the lack of a reflective layer (tapetum lucidum); instead, each night, a large area of light-sensitive membrane is manufactured within the eyes, and since arachnid eyes do not have irises, it is rapidly destroyed again at dawn.[4][5]
Genera
Main article: List of Deinopidae species

Two genera formerly included in this family, Avella O. P-Cambridge, 1877 and Avellopsis Purcell, 1904, are now placed in Menneus. As of November 2021, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[3]

Asianopis Lin & Li, 2020 – Asia
Deinopis Macleay, 1839 – Every continent, except Europe and Antarctica
Menneus Simon, 1876 – Africa, Australia

See also

List of Deinopidae species

References
Wikispecies has information related to Deinopidae.

Coddington, J.A.; Levi, H.W. (1991). "Systematics and Evolution of Spiders (Araneae)". Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 22: 565–592. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.22.110191.003025.
Koch, C. L. (1850). Übersicht des Arachnidensystems. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.39561.
"Family: Deinopidae C. L. Koch, 1850". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Archived from the original on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
"How spiders see the world". Australian Museum. 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
Blest, A. D. (1978). "The rapid synthesis and destruction of photoreceptor membrane by a dinopid spider: a daily cycle". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 200 (1141): 463–483.