Twenty-five genera with 344 species were described world-wide in 2006. In Australia one can find about 32 species.
The Miturgidae spiders are nocturnal, they live on the ground and are cryptic what means;
tending to conceal or camouflage.
Most spiders of this family hide and guard their eggs in a sac-like retreat under rock or other debris.
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| Eye pattern frontal view | Four spinners, two spinner with two segment the other two spinner conical |
Genus Miturga
The genus Miturga is the largest genus of this family in Australia with around fifteen species.
Some species can have a length of 15 to 20 mm and can be called large.They are coloured brown with black and they resemble Lycosids, wolf spiders, but their eye-setting is different.
Miturga lineata is mostly brown ang gray with a band pattern along the spider. The male are 12-18 mm long and the females 15-18 mm. The spider occurs in WA, SA, Vic and Tas.
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| Miturga lineata | |
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| Miturga lineata in hiding place | Miturga lineata ? |
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| Miturga lineata ? | Miturga lineata juvenile |
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| Miturga ZZ013 | Miturga ZZ013 |
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| Miturga ZZ344 by Jurgen Otto | Miturga ZZ344 by Jurgen Otto |
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| Miturga ZZ345 | Miturga ZZ345 |
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| Miturga ZZ346 | Miturga ZZ346 |
Genus Cheiracanthium or yellow-sac spiders
Twelve species of the nearly 200 Cheiracanthium species can be found in Australia. This genus belonged before 1998 to the family of Clubionidae.
The spiders are usually found in a silken retreat on vegetation but also under stones during daytime. They are easily distinguished from the species Clubiona because the first pair of legs is much longer than the other six legs.
The name of this genus is sometimes, wrongly, written as
Chiracanthium.
Spider from this genus have been implicated in human envenomations but recent studies showed that the bite is of no medical importance.
As one can see on the pictures, the fangs are stout enough to penetrate the human skin. The bite may hurt for an hour.
The spider lives on low vegetation and often makes their retreat in the seeds of grasses in which they hide during daytime. The eggs are coloured pink.
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| Cheiracanthium gilvum male | Cheiracanthium gilvum. Note the long first legs |
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| Cheiracanthium gilvum female | Cheiracanthium gracile male |
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| Cheiracanthium gracile male | Cheiracanthium gracile female |
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| Cheiracanthium ZZ596 | Cheiracanthium ZZ471 |
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| Cheiracanthium ZZ471 | Cheiracanthium ZZ471 |
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| Cheiracanthium erraticum in hiding place | Cheiracanthium erraticum female in retreat |
Genus Mituliodon (was Uliodon)
| A fast running spider that resembles a Miturga lineata (see bove) spider. Males are 11 mm and females 15 mm in length |
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| Mituliodon tarantulinus | |
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| Mituliodon tarantulinus | Mituliodon tarantulinus |
Ed Nieuwenhuys, Robert Whyte, 26 february 2011
January 4, 2009,
12 December 2006
