Segestria senoculata

Taxobox
name = Snake-back spider
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Araneae
subordo = Araneomorphae
familia = Segestriidae
genus = "Segestria"
species = "S. senoculata"
binomial = "Segestria senoculata"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
synonyms ="Aranea senoculata"
"Aranea scopulorum"
"Segestria corvulus"
"Segestria krausi"

"Segestria senoculata", sometimes known as the snake-back spider or leopard spider, is a species of spider belonging to the family Segestriidae. It has a Palearctic distribution.

The common names of this species (which has a body length of around 9 mm) refer to a row of black spots along the back of the grey abdomen which are thought to resemble the pattern found on some snakes. However on some specimens these markings fuse to form a solid band. The carapace is shiny dark brown and elongated and the legs are pale brown with darker ringing.

As with other members of this family, this spider makes a tubular web in a crevice and darts out to catch prey which crosses trip lines which fan out from the tube's entrance.

References

*
* (2008): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog] , version 8.5. "American Museum of Natural History".

External links

* [http://www2.nrm.se/en/segestria.html Picture]
* [http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/html/bas.php?page=world&taxon_key=NBNSYS0000008635 Known world distribution]