Dysdera

Diet

Dysdera are one of the few known arthropods to hunt and prey on woodlice, one of their main food sources. These spiders have wide jaws and large fangs to help to overcome the solid armor-like shells of woodlice. It makes them powerful predators for their size, allowing them to dominate or kill competitors, such as centipedes or other spiders. D. crocata is the only species from the Dysdera family known to prey on other spiders.

They can also excrete certain enzymes that neutralize the chemical defenses of potential prey,^{[citation needed]} allowing them to subsist on other common ground-dwelling invertebrates, including silverfish, earwigs, millipedes, and small burying beetles.^{[citation needed]}

Mating

Mating is mainly done during the month of April. The female is the main caregiver for the young. After mating, the male has minimal to no role in the child rearing process. Before laying the eggs, females will make a silk pouch to protect and give them shelter. She can lay up to seventy eggs at once, and will stay in the silk pouch with the eggs, protecting them and waiting for them to hatch.

Canary Islands

Dysdera inhabits all of the Macaronesian archipelagos, but the most drastic variety is in the Canary Islands, a 22 million year old volcanic archipelago nearly 100 kilometres (62 mi) off the northwestern coast of Africa. These islands house over forty endemic species of Dysdera, thirty-six of which likely descended from a single ancestor, and six of which are associated with the oldest eastern island. On Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the spider populations are limited to the highest elevation.^{[citation needed]}

The most likely reason that these spiders are so abundant on the Canary Islands is due to the abundance of species on the nearby Iberian Peninsula and North Africas. Groups like Dysdera crocata and Dysdera erythrina, found on two neighboring lands, are found more often than D. lata and Dysdera longirostris, found also in North Africa and Iberia. Over time, these spiders either made their way to the islands or diversified when adapting to the different environments found in the islands.^{[citation needed]}

In total, two to four colonization events are assumed. This probably happened by rafting, or even more likely by transport on floating islands, for Dysdera is not known to use ballooning. Dydera lancerotensis is the only species where an independent origin from continental ancestors is unquestionable; it was originally described as a subspecies of Dysdera crocata.^{[citation needed]} While some of the remaining Macaronesian archipelagos have been colonized from the Canaries, the Azores have been independently colonized from the continent.^{[citation needed]}

The radiation of Dysdera is surpassed on the Canary Islands only by the snail genus Napaeus, the millipede genus Dolichoiulus, and the beetle genera Attalus and Laparocerus.^{[citation needed]}