It has poison glands in its head and spitting glands in its abdomen.
Then it squeezes the back of its body together and spits two silk threads, in 1/600 sec, in a zigzag manner over the victim.
Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by John Blackwall in 1864.
Most spitting spiders are tiny, and S. thoracicais no different - its body ranges from just 3 to 6 mm (0.12 to 0.24 in) long.
6 eyes arranged in 3 groups; high, domed carapace, slopes anteriorly; catch prey with well-aimed squirt of saliva.
The body is 3 1/2 –5 1/2 millimetres (1/8 – 1/4 inch) long.
It is assumed the spider uses special long hearing hairs located at its legs to locate its prey. Looking for Characteristic Traits Examine body color and patterning.
The spider sneaks very carefully towards its prey and, from about 10 mm (0.39 in), stops and carefully measures the distance to its prey with one front leg without disturbing it. Scytodes thoracica is a spitting spider, so called because it spits a venomous sticky silken substance over its prey. …among the hunters are the spitting spiders (family Scytodidae). When it is ready to catch the prey it pushes it’s front and back body segments together and spits a poisonous silk at the insect, or whatever it has chosen for dinner that night, in a zig-zaggy pattern, to stop the bug from struggling, and eats it! By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The prey is immediately immobilized.
They are most common in shady spots in the tropics. This brown spider has long, bendy legs and a …
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Spitting spiders have a distinctive ‘slow-walking’ behaviour, thanks to …
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When the prey is larger the spider spits several times. Most species have six pearly-white eyes rather than the usual eight.
Its size ranges between 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in). Introduced to North America, Argentina, India, Australia, New Zealand. Spitting spider, any member of the family Scytodidae (order Araneida). It contains over 250 species in five genera, of which Scytodes is the best-known.
The carapace is unusual in sloping upwards towards its rear end, whereas the abdomen slopes downwards.
The mother makes a nursery web for the emerged spiderlings, and carries her eggs under her belly in a net of silk. Family Sicariidae (six-eyed crab spiders) About 130 species of Southern Hemisphere deserts; includes genus Scytodes thoracica, common in the eastern United States, is yellow with black spots. During night, when some insects are less active, Scytodes starts its hunt.
"This particular spitting spider features the presence of silk glands in its In contrast to the pseudoscorpions that use the silk from the cephalothorax glands to make nests, the spitting spider uses it to catch prey in a very particular way. Spitting spiders ensnare their prey by spitting a mucilaginous saliva.
It has a wide distribution: found in "Europe, North Africa, Turkey, temperate Asia to China, Korea, Japan.
It is a very slow hunter as its long and tender legs may suggest.
The Spitting Spider than bites the insect, injecting venomous fluid that liquefies the internal parts of the prey's body.
When these spiders encounter prey, they touch it, back off, and shoot a zigzag stream of sticky material over it.