Ero

Ero is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae.

Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen which is higher than it is long. The upper side of this bears one or two pairs of conical tubercles and some curved bristle-like hairs. The anterior medial eyes project on small tubercles. Leg 1 is nearly twice as long as leg 4. The egg sacks are very characteristic being elongated globes about four millimetres in diameter, suspended on a silken thread from vegetation. They are made from an inner layer of yellowish brown silk and an outer layer of dark coloured, loosely woven silk which gives the sack a woolly appearance. The sacks are not guarded by the female and when the juveniles hatch, so they have to fend for themselves. Since Ero species are nocturnal, the adults are not often seen and the egg sacks often reveal their presence before specimens are found.

Spiders in this genus are specialised spider killers. An individual will attack a potential victim by biting one of its legs and injecting toxins. It then retreats and the prey spider quickly becomes paralysed. The attacker then advances and starts to feed, sucking out the body fluids of its victim.

The World Spider Catalog lists these species:

• Ero aphana (Walckenaer, 1802) — Palearctic (St. Helena, Queensland, Western Australia, introduced)
• Ero cachinnans Brignoli, 1978 — Bhutan
• Ero cambridgei Kulczynski, 1911 — Palearctic
• Ero canala Wang, 1990 — China
• Ero canionis Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 — USA
• Ero capensis Simon, 1895 — South Africa
• Ero catharinae Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
• Ero comorensis Emerit, 1996 — Comoro Islands, Seychelles
• Ero eburnea Thaler, 2004 — Ivory Coast
• Ero felix Thaler & van Harten, 2004 — Yemen
• Ero flammeola Simon, 1881 — Portugal to Corfu, Canary Islands
• Ero furcata (Villers, 1789) — Palearctic
• Ero furuncula Simon, 1909 — Vietnam
• Ero galea Wang, 1990 — China
• Ero gemelosi Baert & Maelfait, 1984 — Galapagos Islands
• Ero goeldii Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
• Ero gracilis Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
• Ero humilithorax Keyserling, 1886 — Brazil
• Ero japonica Bösenberg & Strand, 1906 — Russia, China, Korea, Japan
• Ero juhuaensis Xu, Wang & Wang, 1987 — China
• Ero kompirensis Strand, 1918 — Japan
• Ero koreana Paik, 1967 — Russia, China, Korea, Japan
• Ero lata Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil
• Ero lawrencei Unzicker, 1966 — South Africa
• Ero leonina (nl) (Hentz, 1850) — USA
• Ero lodingi Archer, 1941 — USA
• Ero lokobeana Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
• Ero madagascariensis Emerit, 1996 — Madagascar
• Ero melanostoma Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
• Ero pensacolae Ivie & Barrows, 1935 — USA
• Ero quadrituberculata Kulczynski, 1905 — Madeira
• Ero salittana Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 — Philippines
• Ero spinifrons Mello-Leitão, 1929 — Brazil
• Ero spinipes (Nicolet, 1849) — Chile, Argentina
• Ero tuberculata (De Geer, 1778) — Palearctic
• Ero valida Keyserling, 1891 — Brazil

• World Spider Catalog