Selenopidae

Selenopidae, also called wall crab spiders, wall spiders<ref name="fix1" /> and flatties,<ref name="fix2" /> is a family of nocturnal, free-ranging, araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1897.<ref name="fix3" /><ref name=":0" /> It contains over 281 species in nine genera, of which Selenops is the most well-known. This family is just one of several families whose English name includes the phrase "crab spider". These spiders are often called "Flatties" due to their flattened dorsal profile.<ref name="Eurekalert!" /><ref name="Snake Bite" /> The Afrikaans name for these spiders is "Muurspinnekop,"<ref name="Snake Bite" /> which translates directly to "wall spider." The name Selenopidae comes from the greek moon goddess, Selene, as their eyes resemble the moon.<ref name=":0" />

Description

• 
  female Anyphops lawrencei
• 
  male Anyphops lawrencei

They are a variety of colors, including shades of grey, brown, yellow, and orange, with darker markings on the cephalothorax and spots or mottling on the abdomen, and annulations on the legs of most species.<ref name="Crews CS 2011" /> It is thought they mimic both lichens or rocks in their area.<ref name=":0" /> They are very flat dorsoventrally, and have two tarsal claws and laterigrade legs. Each of their legs face a different direction. Like most other Entelegynae, they have eight eyes arranged in two rows; one with six and one with two.<ref name="fix4" />

Although they are usually sedentary,<ref name=":0" /> their running and striking speeds place them among the world’s fastest animals,<ref name="Crews CS 2011" /> making them difficult to capture, while their coloring often makes them difficult to see. Their spin is the fastest leg-driven turning maneuver of any terrestrial animal, being able to strike their prey in an eighth of a second (three times the speed of a blink); therefore, the spiders' spins are being used by researchers in robotics applications.<ref name="Eurekalert!" /> Dr. Zeng of UC Merced claims that the flattie spiders' "outward stance," which "tracks parallel to the ground" allows them to spin rapidly, giving them a "wider range of unrestricted motion."<ref name="Eurekalert!" />

Habitat

They occur worldwide, from sea level to over Template:Convert, and are primarily tropical and subtropical, though several species are found in deserts.<ref name="Crews CS 2011" /> They are commonly found on walls or under rocks. Selenops is the most widely distributed and Anyphops is found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining genera have more specific distributions. At least one (possibly extinct) species of Garcorops, G. jadis, is known only from subfossil copal.<ref name="Bosselaers2004" />

Genera

• 
  Karaops francesae
• 
  Siamspinops formosensis

Template:As of, this family includes nine genera:<ref name="wsc" /> Template:Div col

• Amamanganops Crews & Harvey, 2011 – Philippines
• Anyphops Benoit, 1968 – Africa
• Garcorops Corronca, 2003 – Comoros, Madagascar
• Godumops Crews & Harvey, 2011 – Papua New Guinea
• Hovops Benoit, 1968 – Madagascar
• Karaops Crews & Harvey, 2011 – Australia
• Makdiops Crews & Harvey, 2011 – India, Nepal
• Selenops Latreille, 1819 – Africa, Asia, North America, South America
• Siamspinops Dankittipakul & Corronca, 2009 – China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, India

See also

• List of Selenopidae species
• Oecobius, another spider family commonly referred to as wall spiders.

External links

• Template:Inaturalist taxon