Harpactea
| Harpactea Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Harpactea hombergi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Dysderidae |
| Genus: | Harpactea Bristowe, 1939 |
| Type species | |
| Dysdera latreillei Blackwall, 1832, syn. of Harpactea hombergi | |
| Species | |
|
188, see text. | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Harpactea is a genus in the family Dysderidae (woodlouse hunting spiders). Harpactea is a replacement name published by W. S. Bristowe in 1939 for the unavailable name "Harpactes" published by R. Templeton in 1835, which had already been used for a genus of birds. They are non-web building predators that forage on the ground and on tree trunks at night, mainly in xerothermic forests. During the day, they hide in silk retreats they build under rocks or bark.
Harpactea sadistica was found to use traumatic insemination, the arthropod behavior of directly inserting its sperm into the body cavity of females. It is the first time it has ever been observed in spiders.