Taxonomic revision of the genus Scytodes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Scytodidae) in the Caribbean

• Grant number: 23/10320-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Cristina Anne Rheims
• Grantee: Flora Maria Iost Bausells
• Host Institution: Instituto Butantan. Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/12588-1 - Expansion, qualification and modernization of the zoological collections of the Instituto Butantan with emphasis on taxonomy and systematic in neotropic haplogynae spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Spiders of the Scytodidae family are popularly known as "spitting spiders", due to their characteristic hunting habit, in which they eject a sticky silk produced in the prosoma glands through slits in the chelicerae, immobilizing their prey. The cluster of silk and poison is ejected very quickly (140ms), and can hit its target from a few centimeters away. They mostly have a nocturnal habit, and are found in vegetation, under logs or stones, or in litter. During the day they hide in crevices and holes, or rest under the substrate. Many species have adapted to anthropic environments, living inside houses, in gardens and in their surroundings. They have an arched carapace, six eyes arranged in 3 groups, prograde legs, and a chelicerae claw with a venom gland opening forming a furrow. They are commonly found worldwide, with 220 known species, 122 of which are neotropical, and many of them synanthropic. This project aims to review the species of Scytodes found in the Caribbean, using the material collected by the CarBio project (Caribbean Biogeography), identifying the present species and describing possible new species. In addition, it is intended to assemble an atlas of standardized images made with the aid of a stereomicroscope with a system for capturing and self-assembling images and a scanning electron microscope.