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 light yellow to pink.
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| Cheiracanthium mordax in her egg-sac with eggs | |
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| Cheiracanthium mordax | Cheiracanthium mordax |
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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 |
Ed Nieuwenhuys, Robert Whyte, 22 march 2023
5 August 2020, 18 nov 2017