Tidarren

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Tidarren
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Tidarren
Chamberlin & Ivie, 1934[1]
Type species
T. sisyphoides (Walckenaer, 1841)
Species

24, see text

Tidarren is a genus of tangle-web spiders first described by Ralph Vary Chamberlin & Wilton Ivie in 1934.[2]

Males are much smaller than females, and they amputate one of their palps before maturation, entering their adult life with only one palp.[3] Though it is uncertain why they do this, it may be done to increase mobility, as the palps are disproportionately large compared to the size of the body. It may also be done because only one palp is needed.

Females of the Yemeni species T. argo tear off the single remaining palp before feeding on males. The palp remains attached to the female's epigynum for about four hours, continuing to function despite being separated from the male's body.[4]

Species

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As of April 2019 it contains twenty-four species:[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Gen. Tidarren Chamberlin & Ivie, 1934". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  2. ^ Chamberlin, R. V.; Ivie, W. (1934). "A new genus of theridiid spiders in which the male develops only one palpus". Bulletin of the University of Utah. 24 (4): 1–18.
  3. ^ Vollrath, F.; Parker, G.A. (1992). "Sexual dimorphism and distorted sex ratios in spiders". Nature. 360 (6400): 156–159. doi:10.1038/360156a0. S2CID 4320130.
  4. ^ Knoflach, Barbara; van Harten, Antonius (2001). "Tidarren argo sp. nov. (Araneae: Theridiidae) and its exceptional copulatory behaviour: emasculation, male palpal organ as a mating plug and sexual cannibalism". Journal of Zoology. 254 (4). Cambridge University Press: 449–459. doi:10.1017/S0952836901000954.
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"Tidarren" at the Encyclopedia of Life