DICTYNIDAE O. P.-Cambridge, 1871

Nombre común en ingles: Meshweb spiders

Nombre común en castellano: Se desconoce

Familias similares:

Género tipo: Dictyna Sundevall, 1833

Diagnosis: Small araneomorph spiders; three tarsal claws; cribellate or cribellum reduced; entelegyne; six or eight eyer; calamistrum uniseriate; cribellum wide; endites converging; branched tracheae.

Caracteres descriptivos: Caparazón: cephalic region usually relatively high; with longitudinal rows of white setae (Dictyninae); pear-shaped without setae (Tricholathysinae); fovea reduced. Esternón: triangular. Ojos: eight or six (anterior median eyes reduced in Cicurininae); either all, or only anterior median eyes dark. Quelíceros: vertical; modified (curved) in males of some genera. Piezas bucales: endites converging. Patas: three claws; legs of moderate length; tarsi either without or with one or two rows of trichobothria; legs usually without true spines; trichobothria reduced. Abdomen: suboval to oval and elongate (Tricholathysinae); slightly overlapping carapace; bearing dense layer of setae; usually with pattern. Hileras: six; cylindrical; anterior and posterior spinnerets two-segmented; distal segments short. Cribellum: bipartite or entire (reduced in Cicurininae). Calamistrum: uniseriate. Sistema respiratorio: two booklungs; posterior tracheal spiracle broad, open close to spinnerets. Genitalia: entelegyne; epigyne weakly sclerotized; male palp usually without median apophysis; embolus long and slender; conductor directed backwards; tibial apophyses present. Tamaño corporal: <5 mm. Color: varies from greenish to pale to dark brown or grey; abdomen usually pale with dark patter.

Estatus taxonómico: The limits of the family as defined by Simon were modifired (Lehtinen, 1967) and the position of certain genera is still provisional. Coddington & Levi (1991) and Coddington et al. (2004) placed the Dictynidae in the superfamily Dictynoidea of the 'RTA clade'. However, they stated that the placement of families in the Dictynoidea and Amaurobioidea continues more out of tradition than because of strong synapomorphies. Lehtinen (1967) provided diagnostic characters for some genera. Chamberlin & Ivie (1941) reviewed the New World Cicurina, Chamberlin & Gertsch (1958) revised the cribellate species in North America.

Distribución: Worldwide; more common in temperate regions than in the tropics.

Estilo de vida: Life style varies. Dictyninae: plant-dwelling spiders constructing a web with paralled threads crisscrossed with cribellate silk to form a ladder-like structure or mesh-like retreat webs on plant; some species are kleptoparasites; Cicurininae and Tricholathysinae are ground-dwellers; some species are found in the intertidial zone.

Bibliografía:

  • Bennett, R.G. 2005b. Dictynidae. pp. 95-101 in Ubick, D., Paquin, P., Cushing, P.E. & Roth, V. (Eds) 2005. The Spiders of North America. An Identification Manual. American Arachnological Society.

  • Chamberlin, R.V. & Gertsch, W.J. 1958. The spider family Dictynidae in America north of Mexico. Bull. Am. Mus. nat. Hist. 116: 1-152.

  • Chamberlin, R.V. & Ivie, W. 1940. Agelenid spiders of the genus Cicurina. Bull. Univ. Utah 30: 1-108.

  • Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. & Jocqué, R. 1997. African Spiders: An Identification Manual. Plant Protection Res. Inst. Handbook, no. 9, Pretoria, 392 pp.

  • Forster, R.R. 1970. The spiders of New Zealand. Part III. Otago Mus. Bull. 3: 1-184.

  • Gertsch, W.J. 1992. Distribution patterns and speciation in North American cave spiders with a list of the troglobites and revision of the cicurinas of the cicurinas of the subgenus Cicurella. Texas mem. Mus. speleol. Monogr. 3: 75-122.

  • Lehtinen, P.T. 1967. Classification of the cribellate spiders and some allied families, with notes on the evolution of the suborder Araneomorpha. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 4: 199-468.

          11 géneros y 24 especies presentes en la Península Ibérica:

  • Altella Simon, 1884
                      - A. lucida (Simon, 1874)

  • Archaeodictyna Caporiacco, 1928
                      - A. consecuta (O. P.-Cambridge, 1872)

  • Argenna Thorell, 1870
                      - A. subnigra (O. P.-Cambridge, 1861)

  • Chaerea Simon, 1884
                      - C. maritimus Simon, 1884

  • Chorizomma Simon, 1872
                      - C. subterraneum Simon, 1872

  • Dictyna Sundevall, 1833
                      - D. arundinacea (Linnaeus, 1758)
                      - D. civica (Lucas, 1850)
                      - D. kosiorowiczi Simon, 1873
                      - D. latens (Fabricius, 1775)
                      - D. uncinata Thorell, 1856

  • Lathys Simon, 1884
                      - L. affinis (Blackwall, 1862)
                      - L. heterophthalma Kulczynski, 1891
                      - L. humilis (Blackwall, 1855)
                      - L. jubata (Denis, 1947)
                      - L. lepida O. P.-Cambridge, 1909
                      - L. narbonensis (Simon, 1876)

  • Marilynia Lehtinen, 1967
                      - M. bicolor (Simon, 1870)

  • Mastigusa Menge, 1854
                      - M. arietina (Thorell, 1871)

  • Nigma Lehtinen, 1967
                      - N. flavescens (Walckenaer, 1830)
                      - N. gratiosa (Simon, 1881)
                      - N. hortensis (Simon, 1870)
                      - N. puella (Simon, 1870)
                      - N. walckenaeri (Roewer, 1951)

  • Scotolathys Simon, 1884
                      - S. simplex Simon, 1884
 
Agelena labyrinthica © Pedro Cardoso