Missulena is a genus of mighalomorphic spiders from the Actinopodidae family. 11 species are known: ten of them are endemics of Australia , the eleventh species ( Missulena tussulena ) is found in Chile . [1] The English name ( mouse spiders ) these spiders got in connection with erroneous ideas that they, like mice , are capable of digging deep holes.
| Missulena |
Missulena occatoria male |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| Infrastructure : | Migalomorphic spiders |
|
| International Scientific Name |
|---|
Missulena Walckenaer , 1805 |
|
The size of the Missulena spider is 1-3 cm. The head is smooth, its head strongly rises above the chest. Sexual dimorphism is often observed in coloration: the integuments of females of all species are black, males are colored species-specific, differently than females.
Missulena feed mainly on insects , but can also hunt other small animals. In turn, these spiders act as food for wasps , bandicoots, foot-legged centipedes and scorpions .
Missulena poison has a protein-like nature and is extremely similar to robustotoxin, the poison of spiders from the Hexathelidae family, considered to be quite dangerous for humans. [2] [3] However, in 2004 there were only 40 cases of bite by Missulena spiders, and severe poisoning was noted only once, and in most cases the symptoms were mild, so the treatment did not even require the use of an antidote. [2] Explaining such unexpectedly low rates usually suggest a high frequency of bites without injecting poison, although there is still no direct confirmation of this. [2]
As an antidote for bites, the same drugs are used as for the bite of Hexathelidae spiders. [2]
