Miturga

MiturgidaeMiturga

The genus Miturga, in the family Miturgidae, are a group of spiders commonly known as Prowling Spider, that are widespread across mainland Australia and Tasmania. Other common names include False Wolf Spider, Giant Prowling Spider, Mallee Prowling Spider and Large Sac Spider.

They are a medium-sized to large prowling spider, often found in the drier regions of coastal and inland areas of Australia. They are sometimes mistaken for Wolf Spiders.

Like all in the family Miturgidae, the genus Miturga have eight eyes in two row of 4. The back row wider is wider and the front row slightly upcurved. The Wolf Spiders also have eight eyes, in three rows. The bottom row consists of four small eyse, the middle row has two large eyes, the the top row has medium-size eyes.

Usually nocturnal ground spiders, these spiders hunt by running down their prey. Whilst they do not build webs, some species construct a dense silken retreat at ground level (usually in dense vegetation, grass tussocks, hollows, under rotting logs or overhang), to nuture their young.

For the following photos, many thanks for ID of Miturgidae on Bowerbird to Ken Walker and additional thanks to Nick Porch who correctly spotted the eye pattern as belonging to the family Miturgidae rather than Lycosidae. © Jean and Fred Hort

Many thanks to Ethan Yeoman for comment that Miturga is as of yet unresolved and to Robert Raven comment that a number of species of Miturga from SW WA are still unnamed (members of Australian spider identification page Facebook group).

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Chelicerata
• Class: Arachnida
• Order: Araneae
• Infraorder: Araneomorphae
• Family: Miturgidae
• Subfamily: Miturginae
• Genus: Miturga
• Species:
  • Miturga agelenina Simon, 1909
  • Miturga albopunctata Hickman, 1930
  • Miturga annulipes (Lucas, 1844)
  • Miturga australiensis (L. Koch, 1867)
  • Miturga catograpta Simon, 1909
  • Miturga fagei Kolosváry, 1934
  • Miturga ferina Simon, 1909
  • Miturga gilva L. Koch, 1872
  • Miturga impedita Simon, 1909
  • Miturga lineata Thorell, 1870
  • Miturga necator (Walckenaer, 1837)
  • Miturga occidentalis Simon, 1909
  • Miturga parva Hogg, 1914
  • Miturga severa Simon, 1909
  • Miturga splendens Hickman, 1930
  • Miturga thorelli Simon, 1909
  • Miturga whistleri Simon, 1909

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MiturgidaeMiturga

SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Araneidae — Orb Weavers Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Flower Spiders Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus volans Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Miturgidae Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Redback Spider Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider