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. capae and M. cienga have been observed living in Cyrtophora (Araneidae) 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

• Mysmenopsis archeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Brazil
• Mysmenopsis atahualpa Baert, 1990 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis beebei (Gertsch, 1960) — Trinidad
• Mysmenopsis capac Baert, 1990 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis cidrelicola (Simon, 1895) — Venezuela
• Mysmenopsis cienaga Müller, 1987 — Colombia, Peru
• Mysmenopsis cymbia (Levi, 1956) — USA
• Mysmenopsis dipluramigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama
• Mysmenopsis femoralis Simon, 1897 — (St. Vincent
• Mysmenopsis funebris Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent
• Mysmenopsis furtiva Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
• Mysmenopsis gamboa Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama
• Mysmenopsis huascar Baert, 1990 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis ischnamigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Trinidad, Peru
• Mysmenopsis ixlitla (Levi, 1956) — Mexico
• Mysmenopsis kochalkai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Colombia
• Mysmenopsis mexcala Gertsch, 1960 — Mexico
• Mysmenopsis monticola Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica
• Mysmenopsis pachacutec Baert, 1990 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis palpalis (Kraus, 1955) — Mexico, Honduras
• Mysmenopsis penai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Ecuador
• Mysmenopsis schlingeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis tengellacompa Platnick, 1993 — Costa Rica
• Mysmenopsis tibialis (Bryant, 1940) — Cuba
• Mysmenopsis viracocha Baert, 1990 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis wygodzinskyi Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru
• Mysmenopsis yupanqui Baert, 1990 — Peru

References

• Chickering, A.M. (1960). The Female of Lucarachne beebei Gertsch (Araneae: Symphytognathidae). Psyche 67:95-97 PDF
• Platnick, N.I. & Shadab, M.U. (1978). A review of the spider genus Mysmenopsis (Araneae, Mysmenidae). American Museum Novitates 2661. PDF - Abstract
• Coyle, F.A. & Meigs, T.E. (1989). Two new species of kleptoparasitic Mysmenopsis (Araneae, Mysmenidae) from Jamaica. Journal of Arachnology 17(1):59-70 PDF
• Coyle, F.A., O'Shields, T.C. & Perlmutter, D.G. (1991). Observations on the behavior of the kleptoparasitic spider, Mysmenopsis furtiva (Araneae, Mysmenidae). Journal of Arachnology 19(1):62-66 PDF