pirate spider

plural pirate spiders

1. Any spider of the family Mimetidae, which prey on other spiders.

   Pirate spiders (Mimetidae) suspend fuzzy egg sacs from rocks, twigs, and other objects, or sometimes from the web or retreat of another spider they have preyed on.

   2010, Charley Eiseman, Noah Charney, Tracks & Sign of Insects & Other Invertebrates: A Guide to North American Species, page 33

   2 more examples

   Pirate spiders (Family Mimetidae) use aggressive mimicry in their capture of spiders, by producing vibratory stimuli on webs, thereby inducing a predatory response of the resident.

   1990, George W. Uetz, “Chapter 4: Prey Selection in Web-Building Spiders and Evolution of Prey Defenses”, in David L. Evans, Justin O. Schmidt, editors, Insect Defenses: Adaptive Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators, page 117

   Pirate spiders (family Mimetidae) fall into this category and specialize in preying on web-building spiders, and the occasional free-ranging spider.[…]This entices the owner of the web out of hiding, at which point the pirate spider will pin it down with the spines on its legs, and kill it with a fast-acting venom. Pirate spiders also feed on other spiders' eggs and on insects caught in their webs.

   2003, Astri Leroy, John Leroy, Spiders of Southern Africa, page 35

   Synonyms: mimetid