Editing Spitting spider

{{short description|Family of spiders}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Cretaceous|present}}
| name = Spitting spiders
| image = Scytodes thoracica (aka).jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Scytodes thoracica]]''
| image2 = Scytodes male spitting spider South Africa 9502s.jpg
| image2_caption = ''[[Scytodes]]'' male, showing pedipalps
| taxon = Scytodidae
| authority = [[John Blackwall|Blackwall]], 1864
| range_map = Distribution.scytodidae.1.png
| diversity = [[#Genera|4 genera]], [[List of Scytodidae species|252 species]]
| diversity_ref = <ref name=NMBE />
}}
'''Spitting spiders''' are a family of [[Araneomorphae|araneomorph]] [[spider]]s, the family '''Scytodidae''', first described by [[John Blackwall]] in 1864.<ref>{{cite book| last=Blackwall| first=J.| year=1864| title=A history of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland| publisher=Ray Society, London| pages=175–384}}</ref> It contains over 250 [[species]] in five [[genus|genera]],<ref name=NMBE /> of which ''[[Scytodes]]'' is the best-known.

==Description==
Scytodidae spiders are [[haplogyne]], meaning they lack hardened female genitalia. They have six eyes, like most spiders in this group, arranged in three pairs. They possess long legs and a dome-shaped [[cephalothorax]], and are usually yellow or light brown with black spots or marks.  Their domed head and three eye groups tend to resemble a human skull, giving them the occasional common name "skull spiders".<ref>{{cite web |title=SCYTODIDAE Spitting spiders |url=https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2310 |website=Arachne.org.au |access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Spitting spider |url=https://dnr.illinois.gov/education/wildaboutpages/wildaboutinvertebrates/wildaboutspiders/family-scytodidae/waspspittingspider.html |website=Illinois Department of Natural Resources |access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref>

==Hunting technique==
Scytodidae catch their prey by spitting a fluid that congeals on contact into a [[venom (poison)|venomous]] and sticky mass. The fluid contains both venom and [[spider silk]] in liquid form, though it is produced in venom glands in the [[chelicerae]]. The venom-laced silk both immobilizes and envenoms prey such as [[silverfish]]. In high-speed footage the spiders can be observed swaying from side to side as they "spit", catching the prey in a criss-crossed "Z" pattern; it is criss-crossed because each of the [[chelicerae]] emits half of the pattern. The spider usually strikes from a distance of {{convert|10|to|20|mm}} and the entire attack sequence only lasts 1/700th of a second.<ref name=Pipe07>{{Cite book |last=Piper |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Piper |year=2007 |title=Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals |publication-place=Westport, Conn. |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-33922-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe }}</ref> After making the capture, the spider typically bites the prey with venomous effect, and wraps it in the normal spider fashion with silk from the spinnerets.<ref name=G&R>{{cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1=C. |first2=L.S. |last2=Rayor |date=1985 |title=Predatory behavior of spitting spiders (Araneae, Scytodidae) and the evolution of prey wrapping |journal=Journal of Arachnology |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=231–241 |jstor=3705028 }}</ref>

==Pre social behaviour==
Some species exhibit [[Sociality#Presociality|presocial]] behaviour, in which mature spiders live together and assist the young with food.<ref name=JM>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Jeremy |date=2010 |title=Taxon page for ''Scytodes socialis'' Miller, 2006. |url=http://araneae.lifedesks.org/pages/34605 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331171641/http://araneae.lifedesks.org/pages/34605 |archive-date=2012-03-31 }}</ref>

==Genera==
{{main|List of Scytodidae species}}
[[File:Scytodes.fusca.female.-.tanikawa.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Scytodes fusca]]'', female]]
{{as of|2024|01}}, the [[World Spider Catalog]] accepts the following genera:<ref name=NMBE>{{cite web| title=Family: Scytodidae Blackwall, 1864| website=World Spider Catalog| access-date=2024-01-12| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern| url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/family/84}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em|small=yes}}
*''[[Dictis]]'' <small>L. Koch, 1872</small> — Asia, Oceania, North America and Seychelles
*''[[Scyloxes]]'' <small>Dunin, 1992</small> — Tajikistan
*''[[Scytodes]]'' <small>Latreille, 1804</small> — South America, Africa, Asia, North America, Caribbean, Central America, Oceania, Spain
*''[[Stedocys]]'' <small>Ono, 1995</small> — China, Malaysia, Thailand
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of Scytodidae species]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031208183121/http://www.arachnology.org/Arachnology/Pages/Araneae.html Arachnology Home Pages: Araneae]
* [http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Scytodidae/Scytodidae.htm Info about Spitting spider ''Scytodes thoracica'']
* [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog81-87/index.html Platnick, N.I. 2003. World Spider Catalog]
{{Wikispecies|Scytodidae}}
{{commons category|Scytodidae}}

{{Araneae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q11710}}

[[Category:Scytodidae|*]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Blackwall]]