Photoreceptor physiology of two species of crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae) Abstract Spiders are a diverse order of predatory arachnids with more than 53.000 described species, most of which have eight eyes. Many webless hunting spiders, most noticeably the jumping spiders (Salticidae) have been shown to have excellent eyes with high spatial resolution and colour vision. The family of crab spiders (Thomisidae) is also hypothesized to be visual hunters, employing a “sit and wait” or ambush hunting technique; however, little is currently known about their visual capacity. Here we use extracellular electrophysiology to examine the photoreceptor physiology of two crab spiders living in two different ecological niches. Ozyptila praticola (C.L. Koch, 1837) hunts on the ground in dim habitats whereas Xysticus cristatus (Clerck, 1757) hunts in the typical bright open grasslands. We test the hypotheses that (1) each species has special-purpose eyes, (2) that male...
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