Castianeira
| Castianeira | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Corinnidae |
| Genus: | Castianeira Keyserling, 1879 |
| Species | |
|
C. cingulata | |
| Diversity | |
| 131 species | |
Castianeira is a genus of spiders present in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas.
Some of its species mimic ants; others prey on them. Several species, found in Texas, are known to prey on fireants. Contrary to information circulating on social media, there are no Castianeira in Australia. About 25-30 (a rough estimate) species of Castianeira are native to the United States of America, and at least twice as many "different" species are native to Mexico and Central America. There are rumors that the Castianeira was brought to the United States by "drug cartels" in order to scare away locals who might wander too close to their drug operation. This rumor is entirely false. As previously stated, Castianeira is already native to the United States and Central America; and could not have been brought over from Australia since there are no Castianeira native to Australia.
An even more sinister rumor circulating about the Castianeira is that the female is dubbed "the castration spider" because of her propensity to physically castrate the male after mating. However, this rumor is also unfounded. Many female spiders will kill and eat a male after mating (not just the dreaded black widow); however, the idea of "castrating" a male is unnecessarily dangerous and difficult. It would be much simpler for her to simply eat the male, rather than waste time and energy trying to "castrate" him. A male spider has two sex organs, one on each palp; for a female to remove both would be hazardous and extremely difficult.
The female, whose red stripe is not as brilliant as the male, is considered harmless to humans. They carry their egg sacs with their back legs and deposit them in dry, hot areas, especially near cacti. Although they are a natural predator to most ant species, ants have been known to attack and eat egg sacs.
This is the spider species that "allegedly" bit Peter Parker in the Spiderman series, but information here is lacking.}
| spider | model ant |
|---|---|
| C. cingulata | Camponotus planatus |
| C. cubana | |
| C. dentata | |
| C. dubia | |
| C. longipalpus | myrmicine or ponerine ant |
| C. memnonia | Pachycondyla obscuricornis Emery |
| C. tenuiformis | |
| C. rica | Atta sp., Odontomachus sp, etc. |
| C. trilineata | Camponotus castaneus (Latreille) |
References
- Cushing P.E. (1997). Myrmecomorphy and myrmecophily in spiders: a review. Fla. Entomol. 80:165–193. PDF
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castianeira. |