Mimetus

Mimetus
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Female Mimetus ryukyus
Female Mimetus cornutus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Mimetidae
Genus: Mimetus
Hentz, 1832
Species

See text.

Synonyms[1]
  • Phobetinus Simon, 1895
  • Reo Brignoli, 1979

Mimetus is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae.[1] They are found worldwide.

Description

Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5–1.7 times that of the posterior pair.[2]

Behaviour

Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.[2][3]

Species

As of October 2025, this genus includes 71 species and one subspecies:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gen. Mimetus Hentz, 1832". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
  2. ^ a b Spiders of Europe and Greenland
  3. ^ Spider enemies

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