Assassin Spiders
Families Archaeidae and Mecysmaucheniidae
 
Hannah Marie Wood
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Assassin Spider Diversity
    The following images show some, but definitely not all, of the diversity of assassin spiders from around the world. These images are not to scale, are mostly taken from a lateral view, and are a combination of live images and images taken under a microscope using an AutoMontage system. In a majority of the AutoMontage images the legs have been removed on one or both sides. The large bulb close to the chelicerae, seen in some of the spiders, are the pedipalps (small legs originating from close to the mouth) which are modified into secondary genitalia in the males.
 
SOUTH AFRICA
Afrarchaea sp.
Above, Afrarchaea sp., female, carrying egg case (Image by J. Miller); below left, Eriauchenius coronutus, male; below center, Afrarchaea woodae, male (Image by J. Miller); below right, Afrarchaea sp., male.
E. coronutusAfrarchaea woodaeAfrarchaea sp.
 
 
 
 
MADAGASCAR
E. workmani courting E.jeanelli
E.legendrei
E. gracilicollis


  Above left, E. workmani male courting female (image by J. Miller); above right top, E. jeanneli female; above right bottom, E. legendrei male; left, E. gracilicollis male; below left, E. lavatenda female with eggcase; below right top, E. workmani female with eggcase; below right bottom, Eriauchenius new species, male from Andohahela Parc National; bottom (clockwise starting on left), E. pauliani male, E. bourgini male, Eriauchenius sp. male, E. vadoni male, Eriauchenius sp. male.

E.lavatendaE.workmani

Eriauchenius new species
E.bourginiUndescribed Malagasy speciesMalagasy assassin spider
 
 
 
 
CHILE
Mecysmauchenius plays dead         Mecysmauchenius sp.

Chilarchaea anterior


    Above left, Mecysmauchenius sp. female plays dead, she stayed this way for 15 minutes; above right, Mecysmauchenius sp. male; left, Chilarchaea quellon male anterior; directly below, Mecysmauchenius segmentatus female; below left, Mecysmauchenius sp. has just captured a Drosophila fly; below right, Chilarchaea quellon female.




Mecysmauchenius sp.
Mecysmauchenius with prey        Chilarchaea quellon F
 
 
 
 
AUSTRALIA
A. nodosaA.mainae
Top left, A. nodosa male, 'head' close; top right, A. mainae female with eggcase; below, A. mainae male and female, male is a reddish color unlike female; bottom left, A. daviesae male, with legs; bottom right, A. nodosa female.
A.daviesae          A.nodosa
 
 
 
NEW ZEALAND
Aotearoa magnaHuttonia
Zearchaea  Above left, Aotearoa magna; Above right, a Huttonia
  spider, huttonids may be very closesly related to assassin   spiders; left and below, Zearchaea.Male Zearchaea
 
 
 
BALTIC AMBER FOSSILS
Top, male Archaea paradoxa in Baltic Amber, dorsal view; below, Myrmecarchaea sp. in Baltic Amber, lateral view; bottom, Baltarchaea conica in Baltic Amber, dorsal