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The woodlouse hunter or sowbug-eating spider (Dysderidae) are six-eyed haplogyne (females lacking a sclerotized epigynum) araneomorph spiders found primarily in Eurasia. There are several genera. One species, Dysdera crocata (the woodlouse hunter), has been transported over much of the planet together with its preferred foods- sowbugs and pillbugs (or woodlice). Dysdera also feeds on beetles. These spiders have very large chelicerae, which they use to pierce the armored bodies of land crustaceans (woodlice) and beetles. There are also some reports that they have a mildly toxic venom that can cause local reactions. With their huge fangs there is little doubt that they could bite if threatened, but the venom has not been well studied. It is probably wise not to handle these spiders. The spiders have their six eyes arranged in a semicircle like segestriids, but the legs have only the first two pairs of legs produced forward. Dysdera crocata has a characteristic color, which can only be confused with spiders in the corinnid genera Trachelas and Meriola. The carapace is dull red-brown and the abdomen gray or tan.
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