Tidarren Explained

Tidarren is a genus of tangle-web spiders first described by Ralph Vary Chamberlin & Wilton Ivie in 1934.^[1]

Males are much smaller than females, and they amputate one of their palps before maturation, entering their adult life with only one palp.^[2] Though it is uncertain why they do this, it may be done to increase mobility, as the palps are disproportionately large compared to the size of the body. It may also be done because only one palp is needed.

Females of the Yemeni species T. argo tear off the single remaining palp before feeding on males. The palp remains attached to the female's epigynum for about four hours, continuing to function despite being separated from the male's body.^[3]

Species

it contains twenty-four species:^[4]

• Tidarren aethiops Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Congo
• Tidarren afrum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon, Uganda
• Tidarren apartiolum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar
• Tidarren argo Knoflach & van Harten, 2001 — Yemen, Chad
• Tidarren circe Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Namibia
• Tidarren cuneolatum (Tullgren, 1910) — Cape Verde Is., Canary Is., Africa, Yemen
• Tidarren dasyglossa Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar
• Tidarren dentigerum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen
• Tidarren ephemerum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar
• Tidarren gracile Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen
• Tidarren griswoldi Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon
• Tidarren haemorrhoidale (Bertkau, 1880) — USA to Argentina
• Tidarren horaki Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar
• Tidarren konrad Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen
• Tidarren lanceolatum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Congo
• Tidarren levii Schmidt, 1957 — Congo
• Tidarren mixtum (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) — Mexico to Costa Rica
• Tidarren obtusum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Madagascar
• Tidarren perplexum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Cameroon, Congo
• Tidarren scenicum (Thorell, 1899) — Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, South Africa
• Tidarren sheba Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Yemen
• Tidarren sisyphoides (Walckenaer, 1841) — USA to Argentina, Caribbean
• Tidarren ubickorum Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — South Africa
• Tidarren usambara Knoflach & van Harten, 2006 — Tanzania

Notes and References

1. Chamberlin. R. V.. Ivie. W.. 1934. A new genus of theridiid spiders in which the male develops only one palpus.. Bulletin of the University of Utah. 1–18. 24. 4.
2. Vollrath. F.. Parker. G.A.. 1992. Sexual dimorphism and distorted sex ratios in spiders. Nature. 360. 6400. 156–159. 10.1038/360156a0. 4320130.
3. Barbara. Knoflach. Antonius. van Harten. Tidarren argo sp. nov. (Araneae: Theridiidae) and its exceptional copulatory behaviour: emasculation, male palpal organ as a mating plug and sexual cannibalism. Journal of Zoology. 2001. 254. 4. 449–459. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/S0952836901000954.
4. Web site: Gen. Tidarren Chamberlin & Ivie, 1934. World Spider Catalog. 2019-04-09. Natural History Museum Bern.