Mimetus Cosmopolitan genus of spiders
Mimetus genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide.
Description
Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae , due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bristle-like hairs. A distinguishing mark of the genus is that the distance between the anterior edge of the carapace and the anterior medial eyes is about one-third to one-half of the distance between the anterior and posterior medial eyes. The length of the anterior legs is about 1.5–1.7 times that of the posterior pair.
Behaviour
Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. They spin no web but are slow moving, stalking or ambushing their prey. They sometimes invade the web of their potential victim, vibrating the silk to mislead the owner. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins . It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.
Species
As of October 2025 [ update]
Mimetus aktius Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935United States Mimetus arushae Caporiacco , 1947Tanzania Mimetus banksi Chickering, 1947 – Panama Mimetus bifurcatus Reimoser, 1939 – Costa Rica Mimetus bigibbosus O. Pickard-Cambridge , 1894Mexico , PanamaMimetus bishopi Caporiacco, 1949 – Kenya Mimetus brasilianus Keyserling , 1886Brazil Mimetus bucerus Gan, Mi, Irfan, Peng, Ran & Zhan, 2019 – China Mimetus caudatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus clavatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus comorensis Schmidt & Krause, 1994 – Comoros Mimetus contrarius (Zeng, Irfan & Peng, 2019) – ChinaMimetus cornutus Lawrence , 1947Botswana , Mozambique , South Africa Mimetus crudelis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – Guatemala Mimetus debilispinis Mello-Leitão , 1943Mimetus dentatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus dimissus Petrunkevitch, 1930 – Puerto Rico , AntiguaMimetus echinatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus epeiroides Emerton , 1882Canada , United States. Introduced to Galapagos Mimetus eutypus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 – United StatesMimetus fernandi Lessert , 1930DR Congo Mimetus guiyang J. S. Zhang, Yu & Xu, 2025 – ChinaMimetus haynesi Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940Mimetus hesperus Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United StatesMimetus hieroglyphicus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Brazil, Paraguay Mimetus hirsutus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – MexicoMimetus hispaniolae Bryant, 1948 – Hispaniola Mimetus indicus Simon , 1906India Mimetus investis (Simon, 1909) – Vietnam Mimetus juhuaensis (Xu, Wang & Wang, 1987) – ChinaMimetus keyserlingi Mello-Leitão, 1929 – Peru , BrazilMimetus labiatus Wang, 1990 – ChinaMimetus laevigatus (Keyserling, 1863) – Mediterranean, Slovakia and Hungary to Central AsiaMimetus lamellaris Zeng, Wang & Peng, 2016 – ChinaMimetus lanmeiae Liu, Yu & Xu, 2025 – ChinaMimetus latro (Brignoli , 1979) – KenyaMimetus liangkaii Yao & Liu, 2024 – ChinaMimetus lingbaoshanensis Gan, Mi, Irfan, Peng, Ran & Zhan, 2019 – ChinaMimetus madecassus Emerit , 1980Madagascar Mimetus margaritifer Simon, 1901 – Malaysia Mimetus marjorieae Barrion & Litsinger , 1995 – Philippines Mimetus melanoleucus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – BrazilMimetus nelsoni Archer , 1950Mimetus niveosignatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus notius Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United StatesMimetus parvulus Sankaran, Sudhin & Sen, 2024 – IndiaMimetus penicillatus Mello-Leitão, 1929 – BrazilMimetus portoricensis Petrunkevitch, 1930 – Puerto RicoMimetus puritanus Chamberlin, 1923 – Canada, United States, Jamaica Mimetus rapax O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – Costa Rica, PanamaMimetus ridens Brignoli, 1975 – PhilippinesMimetus rusticus Chickering, 1947 – PanamaMimetus ryukyus Yoshida, 1993 – Taiwan , Japan (Ryukyu Is.)Mimetus saetosus Chickering, 1956 – PanamaMimetus sagittifer (Simon, 1895) – Sri Lanka Mimetus sinicus Song & Zhu, 1993 – ChinaMimetus spinatus Sudhin, Sankaran & Sen, 2024 – IndiaMimetus strinatii Brignoli, 1972 – Sri LankaMimetus subulatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus syllepsicus Hentz , 1832Mimetus testaceus Yaginuma, 1960 – Russia (Far East), China, Korea , JapanMimetus tillandsiae Archer, 1941 – United StatesMimetus triangularis (Keyserling, 1879) – Peru, BrazilMimetus trituberculatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – PanamaMimetus tuberculatus Liang & Wang, 1991 – ChinaMimetus uncatus Liu, Xu, Hormiga & Yin, 2021 – ChinaMimetus variegatus Chickering, 1956 – Panama, Bonaire Mimetus verecundus Chickering, 1947 – PanamaMimetus vespillo Brignoli, 1980 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)Mimetus wangi Zeng, Wang & Peng, 2016 – ChinaMimetus yinae Gan, Mi, Irfan, Peng, Ran & Zhan, 2019 – China
