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Assassin Spiders almost double their numbers

Posted in arachnid by Critter Lover on the March 10th, 2006

Scientists at the California Acadamy of Sciences recently announced that they discovered 9 new assassin spider species. Previously, there had only been around 12 assassin spider species known to mankind. These itsy bitsy spiders (only 2 mm!) are members of the Archaeidae family. They are called “Assassin” spiders because they love to munch on other spiders! Check out the pic below. They developed super long necks and jaws which allows them to attack their prey without getting too close.
Names for the new species weren’t published, but here are some links to sites reporting on these little critters:

Discovery: Spider Assassin Numbers Grow

National Geographic: Bizarre Assassin Spiders Discovered in Madagascar

USA Today: Scientists discover new species of assassin spiders

Assasin Spider
(photo by J.Miller, California Acadamy of Sciences)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Archaeidae

2 Responses to 'Assassin Spiders almost double their numbers'

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  1. Laura said,

    on March 19th, 2007 at 9:25 am

    Those are some wierd spiders

  2. Stacie said,

    on April 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    They look like a spider on an acid trip. Or some funky type of bird. Its CUTE. But I don’t want it or any type of spider near me.

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