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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Synspermiata » Spitting Spiders (Scytodidae) » Scytodes » Scytodes thoracica
Photo#699428
Mating or fighting? - Scytodes thoracica
Copyright © 2012 Jay

Mating or fighting? - Scytodes thoracica
Cook County, Far South Suburban region County, Illinois, USA
September 3, 2012
Size: Body Length .3-.5cm
This spider approached a bigger brown spider that I posted a couple minutes ago. It was slower moving and seemingly very cautious and precise with it's movements. It engaged the bigger spider, and left the bigger spider incapacitated momentarily. Not sure if it was a male, and was mating with the other spider, or fending the other spider off. Not sure if it had lost legs before or during the encounter. Other spider here
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Contributed by Jay on 3 September, 2012 - 5:24pm
Last updated 9 April, 2017 - 9:32am

Moved
Moved from Scytodes.
… Bob Biagi, 9 April, 2017 - 9:32am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Lynette Elliott, 8 September, 2012 - 10:40am login or register to post comments

Maybe got some "glue" on it?
Spitting spiders supposedly spit gluey venomous stuff on things they are trying to eat (that's what is inside the large, bulbous cephalothorax area), so maybe the other spider got some gluey stuff spit on it during the encounter.
… Lisa M. Ames, 5 September, 2012 - 3:06pm login or register to post comments

Scytodes
Nice find! This is a spitting spider in genus Scytodes. Not sure what the encounter was all about, but it's possible this spider was trying to prey on the other one.
… Kyron Basu, 3 September, 2012 - 6:29pm login or register to post comments

 
Re:
It was tangling with this spider http://bugguide.net/node/view/699422/bgimage
… Jay, 3 September, 2012 - 8:16pm login or register to post comments

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