• Source: Oxytate

The genus Oxytate, commonly known as grass crab spiders, comprises a homogenous group of nocturnal crab spiders (family Thomisidae). The complete mitochondrial genome of the type species O. striatipes was determined in 2014.




Description


Although they do not construct webs, both sexes possess a silk apparatus. A study of the type species, O. striatipes, revealed that they possess a simpler and more primitive spigot system than other members of the family, as even the females possess neither tubuliform glands for cocoon production, nor triad spigots for web-building. Males and females do however have three types of silk gland, which are classified as ampullate, pyriform and aciniform.
Four ampullate glands are connected to the anterior spinnerets, while eight minor ampullate glands are connected to the median spinnerets. The pyriform glands are connected to the anterior spinnerets (90 in females and 80 in males). The aciniform glands are connected to the median (18–24 in females and 14–20 in males) and posterior spinnerets (60 in either sex).
Green crab spiders are very helpful to honeybee and plants to interact. Oxytate has an ability to reflect UV lights which makes flowers more attractive to honeybees. And by attracting honeybees, it is captured in a trap of crab spiders.




Habits


Like other crab spiders, they are masters of ambush and disguise. They stalk their prey at night, from an ambush position on a grass stem or from the underside of a leaf and are difficult to spot due to their camouflage. They can sense the vibrations caused by invertebrates moving on the leaf's upper side, and quickly pounce on the victim. While in ambush on twigs or grass, the short hind legs hold onto the stem, while the long anterior legs are stretched forward. Their bite is not harmful to humans, unless it would cause an allergic reaction.




Range


They are native to Asia, Western Australia, East, Central and southern Africa.




Species


As of October 2024, the World Spider Catalog accepted 30 species:

Oxytate argenteooculata (Simon, 1886) — Central, East, Southern Africa
Oxytate attenuata (Thorell, 1895) — Myanmar
Oxytate bhutanica Ono, 2001 — Bhutan, China
Oxytate bicornis K. Liu, J. Liu & Xu, 2017 – China
Oxytate capitulata Tang & Li, 2009 — China
Oxytate chlorion (Simon, 1906) — India
Oxytate clavulata Tang, Yin & Peng, 2008 — China
Oxytate concolor (Caporiacco, 1947) — Ethiopia, Lesotho, South Africa
Oxytate elongata (Tikader, 1980) — India
Oxytate forcipata Zhang & Yin, 1998 — China
Oxytate greenae (Tikader, 1980) — Andaman Islands
Oxytate guangxiensis He & Hu, 1999 — China
Oxytate hoshizuna Ono, 1978 — China, Japan
Oxytate isolata (Hogg, 1914) — Western Australia
Oxytate jannonei (Caporiacco, 1940) — Ethiopia
Oxytate kanishkai (Gajbe, 2008) — India
Oxytate leruthi (Lessert, 1943) — Ivory Coast, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, South Africa
Oxytate lobia (Lee, Yoo & Kim, 2021) — Korea
Oxytate mucunica (Liu, 2022) — China
Oxytate multa Tang & Li, 2010 — China
Oxytate palmata (K. Liu, J. Liu & Xu, 2017) — China
Oxytate parallela (Simon, 1880) — China, Korea
Oxytate phaenopomatiformis (Strand, 1907) — Zanzibar
Oxytate placentiformis Wang, Chen & Zhang, 2012 — China
Oxytate ribes (Jezequel, 1964) — Ivory Coast, South Africa
Oxytate sangangensis Tang et al., 1999 — China
Oxytate striatipes L. Koch, 1878 — Russia, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan
Oxytate subvirens (Strand, 1907) — Sri Lanka
Oxytate taprobane Benjamin, 2001 — Sri Lanka
Oxytate virens (Thorell, 1891) — Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia




See also


Runcinia, also known as grass crab spiders




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Oxytate
• Oxytate subvirens
• Oxytate taprobane
• Grass spider
• Thomisidae
• Dieta
• Grass crab spider
• Indoxysticus
• List of spiders of Sri Lanka
• List of spiders of India