The Mygalomorphae, which first appeared in the Triassic period, are generally heavily built and ″hairy″, with large, robust chelicerae and fangs (technically, spiders do not have true hairs, but rather setae).
Well-known examples include tarantulas, ctenizid trapdoor spiders and the Australasian funnel-web spiders.
Most spend the majority of their time in burrows, and some run silk tripwires out from these, but a few build webs to capture prey.
However, mygalomorphs cannot produce the pirifom silk that the Araneomorphae use as an instant adhesive to glue silk to surfaces or to other strands of silk, and this makes web construction more difficult for mygalomorphs.
Since mygalomorphs rarely "balloon" by using air currents for transport, their populations often form clumps.
In addition to arthropods, some mygalomorphs are known to prey on frogs, small mammals, lizards, snakes, snails, and small birds.
The Mygalomorphae, which first appeared in the Triassic period, are generally heavily built and ″hairy″, with large, robust chelicerae and fangs (technically, spiders do not have true hairs, but rather setae). Well-known examples include tarantulas, ctenizid trapdoor spiders and the Australasian funnel-web spiders. Most spend the majority of their time in burrows, and some run silk tripwires out from these, but a few build webs to capture prey. However, mygalomorphs cannot produce the pirifom silk that the Araneomorphae use as an instant adhesive to glue silk to surfaces or to other strands of silk, and this makes web construction more difficult for mygalomorphs. Since mygalomorphs rarely "balloon" by using air currents for transport, their populations often form clumps. In addition to arthropods, some mygalomorphs are known to prey on frogs, small mammals, lizards, snakes, snails, and small birds.
Spider