| Cupiennius salei | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cupiennius salei juvenile in northern Honduras | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Trechaleidae |
| Genus: | Cupiennius |
| Species: | C. salei
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cupiennius salei | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Ctenus salei Keyserling | |
Cupiennius salei, from the genus Cupiennius also commonly called the Tiger bromeliad spider, which are large bodied, actively-hunting spiders that are part of the family Trechaleidae.
In the mid-1950s it was realised that the spider is an ideal model for biological research because of their large size, predictable behaviour, and ease of breeding in laboratories. From an initial 1963 publication on its biological characteristics, their venom has also become one of the most studied among spiders, which now known to include complex Neurotoxins, such as cupiennins and CSTX.[1][2]
As with most spiders which also use venom to subdue prey, the bite of Cupiennius salei is not medically significant for humans, therefore they are not be considered dangerous. In particular, a peptide called CsTx-1 is highly potent for paralysing their prey which is mostly small insects.[3][4]
They are visually similar to another group called wandering spiders (but also see that diverse kinds often get mistakenly called banana spiders[5]).
- ^ Kuhn-Nentwig L, Schaller J, Nentwig W (2004). "Biochemistry, toxicology and ecology of the venom of the spider Cupiennius salei (Ctenidae)". Toxicon. 43 (5): 543–553. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.02.009. PMID 15066412.
- ^ McGregor AP, Hilbrant M, Pechmann M, Schwager EE, Prpic NM, Damen WG (2008). "Cupiennius salei and Achaearanea tepidariorum: Spider models for investigating evolution and development". BioEssays. 30 (5): 487–498. doi:10.1002/bies.20744. PMID 18404731.
- ^ Kuhn-Nentwig L, Fedorova IM, Lüscher BP, Kopp LS, Trachsel C, Schaller J, Vu XL, Seebeck T, Streitberger K, Nentwig W, Sigel E, Magazanik LG (2012). "A venom-derived neurotoxin, CsTx-1, from the spider Cupiennius salei exhibits cytolytic activities". J Biol Chem. 287 (30): 25640–25649. doi:10.1074/jbc.M112.339051. PMC 3408166. PMID 22613721.
- ^ Prpic NM, Schoppmeier M, Damen WG (2008). "The American Wandering Spider Cupiennius salei". Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2008 (10): pdb.emo103. doi:10.1101/pdb.emo103. PMID 21356686.
- ^ Vetter RS, Crawford RL, Buckle DJ (2014). "Spiders (Araneae) Found in Bananas and Other International Cargo Submitted to North American Arachnologists for Identification". Journal of Medical Entomology. 51 (6): 1136–1143. doi:10.1603/me14037. PMID 26309299. S2CID 27097945.