Mimetus


Mimetus is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide.

Description

Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5–1.7 times that of the posterior pair.

Behaviour

Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.

Species

, this genus includes 71 species and one subspecies:Mimetus aktius Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 – United StatesMimetus arushae Caporiacco, 1947 – TanzaniaMimetus banksi Chickering, 1947 – PanamaMimetus bifurcatus Reimoser, 1939 – Costa RicaMimetus bigibbosus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894 – Mexico, PanamaMimetus bishopi Caporiacco, 1949 – KenyaMimetus brasilianus Eugen [von Keyserling|Keyserling], 1886 – BrazilMimetus bucerus Gan, Mi, Irfan, Peng, Ran & Zhan, 2019 – ChinaMimetus caudatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus clavatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus comorensis Schmidt & Krause, 1994 – ComorosMimetus contrarius – ChinaMimetus cornutus Lawrence, 1947 – Botswana, Mozambique, South AfricaMimetus crudelis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – GuatemalaMimetus debilispinis Mello-Leitão, 1943 – BrazilMimetus dentatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus dimissus Petrunkevitch, 1930 – Puerto Rico, AntiguaMimetus echinatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus epeiroides Emerton, 1882 – Canada, United States. Introduced to GalapagosMimetus eutypus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 – United StatesMimetus fernandi Lessert, 1930 – DR CongoMimetus guiyang J. S. Zhang, Yu & Xu, 2025 – ChinaMimetus haynesi Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 – United StatesMimetus hesperus Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United StatesMimetus hieroglyphicus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Brazil, ParaguayMimetus hirsutus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – MexicoMimetus hispaniolae Bryant, 1948 – HispaniolaMimetus indicus Simon, 1906 – IndiaMimetus investis – VietnamMimetus juhuaensis – ChinaMimetus keyserlingi Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Peru, BrazilMimetus labiatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus laevigatus – Mediterranean, Slovakia and Hungary to Central AsiaMimetus lamellaris Zeng, Wang & Peng, 2016 – ChinaMimetus lanmeiae Liu, Yu & Xu, 2025 – ChinaMimetus latro – KenyaMimetus liangkaii Yao & Liu, 2024 – ChinaMimetus lingbaoshanensis Gan, Mi, Irfan, Peng, Ran & Zhan, 2019 – ChinaMimetus madecassus Emerit, 1980 – MadagascarMimetus margaritifer Simon, 1901 – MalaysiaMimetus marjorieae Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – PhilippinesMimetus melanoleucus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – BrazilMimetus nelsoni Archer, 1950 – Canada, United StatesMimetus niveosignatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus notius Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United StatesMimetus parvulus Sankaran, Sudhin & Sen, 2024 – IndiaMimetus penicillatus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – BrazilMimetus portoricensis Petrunkevitch, 1930 – Puerto RicoMimetus puritanus Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United States, JamaicaMimetus rapax O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – Costa Rica, PanamaMimetus ridens Brignoli, 1975 – PhilippinesMimetus rusticus Chickering, 1947 – PanamaMimetus ryukyus Yoshida, 1993 – Taiwan, Japan Mimetus saetosus Chickering, 1956 – PanamaMimetus sagittifer – Sri LankaMimetus sinicus Song & Zhu, 1993 – ChinaMimetus spinatus Sudhin, Sankaran & Sen, 2024 – IndiaMimetus strinatii Brignoli, 1972 – Sri LankaMimetus subulatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus syllepsicus Hentz, 1832 – United States, Mexico