Cyrba facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cyrba |
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| Cyrba algerina | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Spartaeinae |
| Genus: | Cyrba Simon, 1876 |
| Type species | |
| Salticus algerinus Lucas, 1846
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| Species | |
Cyrba is a group of spiders known as jumping spiders. They belong to the family called Salticidae. A scientist named Hippolyte Lucas first described this group in 1846.
Meet the Cyrba Spiders
Cyrba spiders are usually small or medium-sized. They often have bright, pretty colors! Their body, which is a mix of their head and chest, is long and fairly tall. Their eyes are on the sides of their head. The back part of their body, called the abdomen, is long and has colorful patterns. Their legs are thin and slender.
Scientists think Cyrba spiders have some "old" features. For example, they use a lot of silk webs. They also have big eyes at the back of their head. Male spiders have special organs on their upper legs (femora). These features were lost by many other, more modern jumping spiders. Cyrba spiders also rely almost completely on their amazing eyesight.
The main time for Cyrba algerina spiders to find a mate is in May. Their babies, called juveniles, hatch in July. By winter, they are about half the size of an adult. Then, in the spring of the next year, they grow to their full adult size. You can often find these spiders on very rocky ground, hiding under rocks. Sometimes, they walk around on the ground or on top of rocks.
Silk and Spider Eggs
Cyrba spiders spin silk for important reasons. One reason is to help them molt, which means shedding their old skin as they grow.
When a female Cyrba spider is ready to lay eggs, she builds an egg sac. She spins a thick sheet of silk on the side of a rock. Then, she lays her eggs right in the middle of this silk sheet. After that, she covers the eggs with another layer of silk. These egg sacs often have clusters of white spots. Cyrba mothers usually stay with their eggs until they hatch. Interestingly, in a lab, these spiders don't spin silk just for molting or resting.
What Cyrba Spiders Eat
Spiders in the Cyrba group love to eat other spiders! They actually prefer other spiders over insects. However, they will also eat any insect that gets caught in their silk.
Scientists have done tests to see if Cyrba spiders would attack other types of jumping spiders. In these tests, they did not attack them. The spider C. algerina is the only Cyrba spider known to hunt for food at night.
Types of Cyrba Spiders
Here are some of the different kinds of Cyrba spiders found around the world:
- Cyrba algerina (Lucas, 1846) – Found from the Canary Islands all the way to Central Asia
- Cyrba armata Wesołowska, 2006 – Found in South Africa
- Cyrba armillata Peckham & Peckham, 1907 – Found on Borneo
- Cyrba bidentata Strand, 1906 – Found in Ethiopia
- Cyrba boveyi Lessert, 1933 – Found in Central Africa
- Cyrba dotata Peckham & Peckham, 1903 – Found in South Africa
- Cyrba legendrei Wanless, 1984 – Found in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands
- Cyrba lineata Wanless, 1984 – Found in South Africa
- Cyrba nigrimana Simon, 1900 – Found in South and East Africa
- Cyrba ocellata (Kroneberg, 1875) – Found from Somalia and Sudan to China and Australia
- Cyrba simoni Wijesinghe, 1993 – Found in tropical Africa
- Cyrba szechenyii Karsch, 1898 – Found in Hong Kong
