Mysmenopsis
Mysmenopsis is a kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae. M. archeri lives on webs of a species in the family Pholcidae, M. capac and M. cienaga have been observed living in Cyrtophora webs. One reason why diplurid webs are preferred seems to be that they are persistent in time and space, sometimes spanning several years.
The monotypic genus Isela is closely related.
Mysmenopsis furtiva from Jamaica lives as a kleptoparasite and commensal in webs of Ischnothele xera. It steals portions of its host's prey, but also consumes minute trapped insects that are not sought after by the host. In order not to be recognized, it moves only slowly when the host does not move; else it synchronizes its rapid movements with the movements of the host. M. furtiva has been observed to feed on one end of a prey animal, while the host feeds on the other. When feeding, its legs and pedipalps remain motionless, but its abdomen sways slowly and slightly. One feeding bout can double its abdominal volume. The host shows anti-kleptoparasite behavior, amongst others by adding silk between the kleptoparasite and the feeding site.
The closely related M. furtiva and M. monticola parasitize two spider species that are also closely related, and it is believed that the two groups coevolved.
Species
it contains fifty-two species, found in the Americas:Mysmenopsis alvaroi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis amazonica Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis angamarca Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis archeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — BrazilMysmenopsis atahualpa Baert, 1990 — Peru, EcuadorMysmenopsis awa Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis baerti Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis bartolozzii Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis beebei — TrinidadMysmenopsis capac Baert, 1990 — PeruMysmenopsis chiquita Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — EcuadorMysmenopsis choco Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis cidrelicola — VenezuelaMysmenopsis cienaga Müller, 1987 — Colombia, PeruMysmenopsis corazon Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis cube Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis cymbia — USAMysmenopsis dipluramigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, ColombiaMysmenopsis femoralis Simon, 1897 — St. VincentMysmenopsis fernandoi Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — EcuadorMysmenopsis funebris Simon, 1897 — St. VincentMysmenopsis furtiva Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — JamaicaMysmenopsis gamboa Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — PanamaMysmenopsis guanza Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis guayaca Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis huascar Baert, 1990 — PeruMysmenopsis hunachi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis ischnamigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Trinidad, PeruMysmenopsis ixlitla — MexicoMysmenopsis junin Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis kochalkai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — ColombiaMysmenopsis lasrocas Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis lloa Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis mexcala Gertsch, 1960 — MexicoMysmenopsis monticola Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — JamaicaMysmenopsis onorei Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — EcuadorMysmenopsis otokiki Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis otonga Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — EcuadorMysmenopsis pachacutec Baert, 1990 — PeruMysmenopsis palpalis — Mexico, Guatemala, HondurasMysmenopsis penai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Ecuador, ColombiaMysmenopsis pululahua Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis salazarae Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis schlingeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — PeruMysmenopsis shushufindi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis tengellacompa Platnick, 1993 — Costa RicaMysmenopsis tepuy Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis tibialis — CubaMysmenopsis tungurahua Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — EcuadorMysmenopsis viracocha Baert, 1990 — PeruMysmenopsis wygodzinskyi Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — PeruMysmenopsis yupanqui Baert, 1990 — Peru