Ant spider

Ant spiders
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Female Mallinella fulvipes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Opisthothelae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Zodariidae
Thorell, 1881[1]
Diversity[2]
90 genera, 1259 species
Male Palindroma morogorom
Female Mallinella shimojanai

Ant spiders are members of the family Zodariidae. They are small to medium-sized eight-eyed spiders found in all tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia-New Guinea, New Zealand, Arabia and the Indian subcontinent.[3] Most species are daytime hunters and live together with ants, mimicking their behavior and sometimes even their chemical traits.[3] Although little is known about most zodariids, members of the genus Zodarion apparently feed only on ants; a number of other genera in the family are apparently also ant (or termite) specialists.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSC_gl109 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSC_stats was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Zodariidae ant spiders". Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  4. ^ "zodariid ground spiders". EOL-Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2019-11-02.