Nemesiidae is a family of mygalomorph[1]spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1889,[2] and raised to family status in 1985. Before becoming its own family, it was considered part of "Dipluridae".[3] The family is sometimes referred to as wishbone spiders due to the shape of their burrows.[4]
Nemesiidae are relatively large spiders with robust legs and a body that is nearly three times as long as it is wide. They are darkly colored, brown to black, though some have silvery hairs on their carapace.[5]Atmetochilus females can grow over 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long.
They live in burrows, often with a hinged trapdoor. This door is pushed up while the spider waits for passing prey. They rarely leave their burrows, catching prey and withdrawing as quickly as possible. Some of these burrows have side tubes. For the east-Asian genus Sinopesa it is uncertain whether it builds burrows at all.[6]
^Raven, R.J. (1985). "The spider Infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): cladistics and systematics". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 182.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nemesiidae.
Pesarini, C. (1988): Revision of the genus Pycnothele (Araneae, Nemesiidae). J. Arachnol.16: 281-293. PDF
Rafael P. Indicatti & Sylvia M. Lucas (2005): Description of a new genus of Nemesiidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae) from the Brazilian Cerrado. Zootaxa1088: 11-16. PDF (Longistylus)
Indicatti, Rafael P.; Lucas, Sylvia M.; Ott, Ricardo & Brescovit, Antonio D. (2008): Litter dwelling mygalomorph spiders (Araneae: Microstigmatidae, Nemesiidae) from Araucaria forests in southern Brazil, with the description of five new species. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia25(3): 529-546.
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