Family SCYTODIDAE Blackwall, 1864

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Introduction

The spitting spiders ensnare prey by squirting a sticky secretion on to it from the fangs. They include a widespread species, Scytodes thoracica, which is often found around houses in filmsy threads of webs in corners,

Diagnosis

The Scytodidae may be easily separated from all other 6-eyed Australian spiders, except Periegopidae, by the widely spaced pairs of eyes. They differ from Periegopidae by the domed carapace. Medium to large, haplogyne spiders with median posterior spiracle. Six eyes in three diads. Dome-shaped carapace and spiny legs. One trichobothrium on metatarsi, none on tarsi. Female palp without a claw. Three tarsal claws on onychium, two rows of teeth on superior claws. Chelicerae fused at base, membranous median lamella ends distally in strong tooth. Colulus present. Two ventral pits situated below female genital groove receive fangs of male during copulation.

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