Prowling Spiders and Allies - Family: Miturgidae
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Also known as Racing Stripe Spiders, The Family: Miturgidae, like so many other spider families, has undergone significant revision over the past few years. Species in this family can be found Australia wide and currently it counts 136 species in one subfamily and 28 unplaced genera. Ten of these unplaced genera are represented in the Northern Rivers. Most are nocturnal can be found on open eucalypt forest floors and many have a good turn of speed when actively chasing prey.
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Whereas some are small, most Miturgids are medium to large in size and generally they are hunting spiders with a somewhat elongated cephalothorax and abdomen. Some are quite similar to Wolf Spiders but differ in the arrangement of the eyes. The colours black, grey and brown tend to dominate in this family but many have a distinctly patterned, often striped, cephalothorax. The abdomen often present with a symmetrical pattern of dots.
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Miturgids tend to hide during daytime under rocks, pieces of bark, sticks or other debris where they may build a densely woven sac-like structure from their silk. The females will also deposit and guard their eggs therein. Males and females tend to be similar in size and looks but among some species there can be considerable variation between individuals.
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Argoctenus igneus
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Argoctenus pictus
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Argoctenus vittatus
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Elassoctenus harpax
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Hestimodema ambigua (possible occurrence)
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Little Tarantula - Mituliodon tarantulinus
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Striped Swamp Spider - Miturga gilva
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Striped Prowling Spider - Miturga lineata (possible occurrence)
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Nuliodon fishburni
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Odomasta guttipes
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Simonus lineatus
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Thasyraea ornata
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Thasyraea lepida
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Tuxoctenus gloverae
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Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
> Subphylum: Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
> Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
> Order: Aranea (Spiders)
> Suborder: Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
> Infraorder: Entelegynea (Entelegyne Spiders)
> Family: Miturgidae (Prowling Spiders)
> Genus: Argoctenus (Wandering Ghost Spiders)
> Species: A. igneus
> Species: A. pictus
> Species: A. vittatus
> Genus: Elassoctenus
> Species: E. harpax
> Genus: Hestimodema
> Species: H. ambigua ^
> Genus: Mituliodon
> Species: M. tarantulinus - Little Tarantula
> Genus: Miturga (Prowling Spiders)
> Species: M. gilva - Striped Swamp Spider
> Species: M. lineata - Striped Prowling Spider ^
> Genus: Nuliodon
> Species: N. fishburni
> Genus: Odomasta
> Species: O. guttipes
> Genus: Simonus
> Species: S. lineatus
> Genus: Thasyraea (Slender Prowling Spiders)
> Species: T. ornata
> Species: T. lepida
> Genus: Tuxoctenus
> Species: T. gloverae
* = likely
^ = possibly
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
> Subphylum: Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
> Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
> Order: Aranea (Spiders)
> Suborder: Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
> Infraorder: Entelegynea (Entelegyne Spiders)
> Family: Miturgidae (Prowling Spiders)
> Genus: Argoctenus (Wandering Ghost Spiders)
> Species: A. igneus
> Species: A. pictus
> Species: A. vittatus
> Genus: Elassoctenus
> Species: E. harpax
> Genus: Hestimodema
> Species: H. ambigua ^
> Genus: Mituliodon
> Species: M. tarantulinus - Little Tarantula
> Genus: Miturga (Prowling Spiders)
> Species: M. gilva - Striped Swamp Spider
> Species: M. lineata - Striped Prowling Spider ^
> Genus: Nuliodon
> Species: N. fishburni
> Genus: Odomasta
> Species: O. guttipes
> Genus: Simonus
> Species: S. lineatus
> Genus: Thasyraea (Slender Prowling Spiders)
> Species: T. ornata
> Species: T. lepida
> Genus: Tuxoctenus
> Species: T. gloverae
* = likely
^ = possibly
References and links:
^ Ramírez, M., (2014). 'The morphology and phylogeny of Dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae).' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 390: 1–374.
^ Wheeler, W.C., Coddington, J.A., et al. (2017). 'The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling.' Cladistics, 33: 574-616. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12182
https://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian/Spidaus.html
https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1703
https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genlist/59/Miturgidae
^ Ramírez, M., (2014). 'The morphology and phylogeny of Dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae).' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 390: 1–374.
^ Wheeler, W.C., Coddington, J.A., et al. (2017). 'The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling.' Cladistics, 33: 574-616. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12182
https://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian/Spidaus.html
https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1703
https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genlist/59/Miturgidae
Photographic contributions: