Sidymella rubrosignata

Sidymella rubrosignata
Sidymella rubrosignata juvenile on a bromeliad at Chatswood West, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Sidymella
Strand 1942
Species: S. rubrosignata
Binomial name
Sidymella rubrosignata
(L. Koch, 1874)

Sidymella rubrosignata is a species of crab spider found in Australia. A common spider, often seen on Dianella plants.

Like all Thomisid spiders, it does not make a web snare. But they patiently wait for prey to appear nearby. Prey is insects, or occasionally other small spiders.

Description

Often these spiders are a well camouflaged green, making their presence difficult to discern on green leaves or flowers. Occasionally they may be yellow, light brown or reddish. Body length: male 4.5 mm, female 8 mm. Males slimmer and smaller.

The front pair of legs are much longer than the other two pairs of legs. The abdomen is trapezium shaped, with a pair of dorsal humps, with a red patch on each of them. The cephalothorax is pear shaped.

Egg Sac

The egg sac is in a leaf, with the tip folded back to cover the eggs. The leaf edges are curled around by silk to provide protection. Eggs 0.8 mm in diameter, non sticky, cream in colour. Usually 20 to 35 eggs in each egg sac.

Taxonomy

Described by in 1874 by Ludwig Koch. This spider was originally placed in the genus Sidyma by Simon in 1895. However, this name was already used by Walker in 1856 for a genus of moths. In 1942 Strand renamed the genus Sidymella.

References

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