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Spitting Spider

Scytodes sp.

Photo by LaurenZarate
Published on Project Noah
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16.7131, -92.6127

Field Notes

Description:

A cool spider of about 7mm in body length. The 6 eyes bulge out like 3 little black marbles (each "marble" is actually 2 eyes together) . The legs are very long, banded and hairless. The first three pictures are of an individual with both the abdomen and the cephalothorax having the same pretty pattern. Pictures 4 and 5 are of a second individual in which the abdomen is an almost uniform grey. In Picture 6, a third individual has just captured prey (another smaller spider) in the sticky substance it "spits" to immobilize its food source. The "spit" is half silk and half venom in liquid form. Family Scytodidae.

Habitat:

Living on a rock wall face with what seems to be silk guidelines scattered about (visible in picture 4). They are active at night. Semi-rural residential area, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 2,200 meters.

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