Mysmenopsis is a kleptoparasitic genus of tiny tropical and subtropical American spiders in the family Mysmenidae. Most live in the funnelwebs of spiders in the family Dipluridae. M. archeri lives on webs of a species in the family Pholcidae, M. capac and M. cienaga have been observed living in Cyrtophora (Araneidae) webs. One reason why diplurid webs are preferred seems to be that they are persistent in time and space, sometimes spanning several years.
The monotypic genus Isela is closely related.
Mysmenopsis furtiva from Jamaica lives as a kleptoparasite and commensal in webs of Ischnothele xera. It steals portions of its host's prey, but also consumes minute trapped insects that are not sought after by the host. In order not to be recognized, it moves only slowly when the host does not move; else it synchronizes its rapid movements with the movements of the host. M. furtiva has been observed to feed on one end of a prey animal, while the host feeds on the other. When feeding, its legs and pedipalps remain motionless, but its abdomen sways slowly and slightly. One feeding bout can double its abdominal volume. The host shows anti-kleptoparasite behavior, amongst others by adding silk between the kleptoparasite and the feeding site.
The closely related M. furtiva and M. monticola parasitize two spider species that are also closely related, and it is believed that the two groups coevolved.
Species it contains fifty-two species, found in the Americas:
Mysmenopsis alvaroi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis amazonica Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis angamarca Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis archeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Brazil Mysmenopsis atahualpa Baert, 1990 — Peru, Ecuador Mysmenopsis awa Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis baerti Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis bartolozzii Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis beebei (Gertsch, 1960) — Trinidad Mysmenopsis capac Baert, 1990 — Peru Mysmenopsis chiquita Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis choco Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis cidrelicola (Simon, 1895) — Venezuela Mysmenopsis cienaga Müller, 1987 — Colombia, Peru Mysmenopsis corazon Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis cube Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis cymbia (Levi, 1956) — USA Mysmenopsis dipluramigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Colombia Mysmenopsis femoralis Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent Mysmenopsis fernandoi Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis funebris Simon, 1897 — St. Vincent Mysmenopsis furtiva Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica Mysmenopsis gamboa Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama Mysmenopsis guanza Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis guayaca Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis huascar Baert, 1990 — Peru Mysmenopsis hunachi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis ischnamigo Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Panama, Trinidad, Peru Mysmenopsis ixlitla (Levi, 1956) — Mexico Mysmenopsis junin Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis kochalkai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Colombia Mysmenopsis lasrocas Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis lloa Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis mexcala Gertsch, 1960 — Mexico Mysmenopsis monticola Coyle & Meigs, 1989 — Jamaica Mysmenopsis onorei Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis otokiki Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis otonga Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis pachacutec Baert, 1990 — Peru Mysmenopsis palpalis (Kraus, 1955) — Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras Mysmenopsis penai Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Ecuador, Colombia Mysmenopsis pululahua Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis salazarae Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis schlingeri Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru Mysmenopsis shushufindi Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis tengellacompa Platnick, 1993 — Costa Rica Mysmenopsis tepuy Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis tibialis (Bryant, 1940) — Cuba Mysmenopsis tungurahua Dupérré & Tapia, 2020 — Ecuador Mysmenopsis viracocha Baert, 1990 — Peru Mysmenopsis wygodzinskyi Platnick & Shadab, 1978 — Peru Mysmenopsis yupanqui Baert, 1990 — Peru
References
Chickering, A.M. (1960). The Female of Lucarachne beebei Gertsch (Araneae: Symphytognathidae). Psyche 67:95-97 PDF Platnick, N.I. & Shadab, M.U. (1978). A review of the spider genus Mysmenopsis (Araneae, Mysmenidae). American Museum Novitates 2661. PDF - Abstract Coyle, F.A. & Meigs, T.E. (1989). Two new species of kleptoparasitic Mysmenopsis (Araneae, Mysmenidae) from Jamaica. Journal of Arachnology 17(1):59-70 PDF Coyle, F.A., O'Shields, T.C. & Perlmutter, D.G. (1991). Observations on the behavior of the kleptoparasitic spider, Mysmenopsis furtiva (Araneae, Mysmenidae). Journal of Arachnology 19(1):62-66 PDF