The first North American records of the synanthropic spider \u3ci\u3eCithaeron praedonius\u3c/i\u3e O. P.-Cambridge (Araneae: Gnaphosoidea: Cithaeronidae), with notes on its biology

Abstract

Cithaeron praedonius O. P.-Cambridge 1872 (Araneae: Gnaphosoidea: Cithaeronidae) is an Old World species with a distribution from The Gambia, western Africa, and Greece to Malaysia and Australia. In the New World, it was recently found in Brazil, and is now reported for the first time in North America, in the United States. Multiple individuals of both sexes and various life stages, including multiple eggsacs, have been found in a home in Port Richey, Pasco County, Florida. An adult female was found on the outside wall of the house feeding on another spider, suggesting that C. praedonius are no longer contained as a spot introduction in this one house. Observations in captivity indicate that this species may prefer feeding on other spiders. The eggsac and molting nest are described for the first time, and the first records on fecundity are reported