Ero

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: Mimetoidea

Familia: Mimetidae
Subfamilia: Mimetinae
Genus: Ero
Species: E. aphana – E. cachinnans – E. cambridgei – E. canala – E. canionis – E. capensis – E. catharinae – E. comorensis – E. eburnea – E. felix – E. flammeola – E. furcata – E. furuncula – E. galea – E. gemelosi – E. goeldii – E. gracilis – E. humilithorax – E. japonica – E. juhuaensis – E. kompirensis – E. koreana – E. laeta – E. lata – E. lawrencei – E. leonina – E. lodingi – E. lokobeana – E. luzonensis – E. madagascariensis – E. melanostoma – E. pensacolae – E. quadrituberculata – E. salittana – E. septemspinosa – E. spinifrons – E. spinipes – E. tasmaniensis – E. tenebrosa – E. tuberculata – E. valida
Name

Ero Koch, 1836

Type species: Aranea tuberculata De Geer, 1778

References
Primary references
Additional references

Barrientos, J.A. , Moya-Laraño, J., García-Sarrión, R., Uribarri, I., Melic, A., Prieto, C.E., Moraza, M.L. & Zaragoza, J.A. 2017. Arácnidos del Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar (Almería, España). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 30: 107-138. Reference page. .
Lissner, J. 2016: A new Ero (Araneae: Mimetidae) from caves and Mesovoid Shallow Substratum in Majorca, Spain. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 29: 3-7. full article (PDF). Reference page.

Links

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

Vernacular names
English: Ero

Ero is a genus of pirate spiders first described in 1836.[1] They resemble comb-footed spiders due to their globular abdomen, which is higher than it is long.[2]
Description
Ero sp. egg sac, Poland

The upper side of their abdomen bears one or two pairs of conical tubercles and some curved bristle-like hairs. The anterior medial eyes project on small tubercles. Leg 1 is nearly twice as long as leg 4.

Their egg sacs are uniquely shaped elongated globes, about four millimetres in diameter. They are suspended from vegetation on a silken thread, and are made from an inner layer of yellowish brown silk and an outer layer of dark coloured, loosely woven silk, giving it a "woolly" appearance. The sacs are not guarded by the female, so when the juveniles hatch, they have to fend for themselves. Since Ero species are nocturnal, the adults are not often seen and the egg sacks often reveal their presence before specimens are found.[2]
Feeding behaviour

Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They attack potential victims by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It quickly retreats as the prey spider becomes paralysed. When its prey is immobile, it feeds by sucking out the victim's body fluids.[3]
Species

The World Spider Catalog lists these species:[4]

Ero aphana (Walckenaer, 1802) — Palearctic (St. Helena, Queensland, Western Australia, introduced)
Ero cachinnans Brignoli, 1978 — Bhutan
Ero cambridgei Kulczyński, 1911 — Palearctic
Ero canala Wang, 1990 — China
Ero canionis Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 — USA
Ero capensis Simon, 1895 — South Africa
Ero catharinae Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
Ero comorensis Emerit, 1996 — Comoro Islands, Seychelles
Ero eburnea Thaler, 2004 — Ivory Coast
Ero felix Thaler & van Harten, 2004 — Yemen
Ero flammeola Simon, 1881 — Portugal to Corfu, Canary Islands
Ero furcata (Villers, 1789) — Palearctic
Ero furuncula Simon, 1909 — Vietnam
Ero galea Wang, 1990 — China
Ero ganglia Yin & Bao, 2012 — China
Ero gemelosi Baert & Maelfait, 1984 — Galapagos Islands
Ero goeldii Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
Ero gracilis Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
Ero humilithorax Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
Ero japonica Bösenberg & Strand, 1906 — Russia, China, Korea, Japan
Ero jiafui Yin & Bao, 2012 — China
Ero juhuaensis Xu, Wang & Wang, 1987 — China
Ero kompirensis Strand, 1918 — Japan
Ero laeta Barrientos, 2017 — Portugal, Spain
Ero lata Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
Ero lawrencei Unzicker, 1966 — South Africa
Ero leonina (Hentz, 1850) — USA
Ero lodingi Archer, 1941 — USA
Ero lokobeana Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
Ero madagascariensis Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
Ero melanostoma Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
Ero pensacolae Ivie & Barrows, 1935 — USA
Ero quadrituberculata Kulczynski, 1905 — Madeira
Ero salittana Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
Ero spinifrons Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
Ero spinipes (Nicolet, 1849) — Chile, Argentina
Ero tenebrosa Lissner, 2018 — Canary Islands
Ero tuberculata (De Geer, 1778) — Palearctic
Ero valida Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil

References

Koch, C. L. (1836). Herrich-Schäffer, G. A. W. (ed.). "Arachniden". Deutschlands Insecten. Heft: 134–141.
"Family: Mimetidae (Pirate Spiders)". Spiders of Europe and Greenland. Archived from the original on 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
Nieuwenhuys, Ed. "Spider enemies". Retrieved 2019-02-27.
"Gen. Ero". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-02-27.