Ummidia is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, and was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1875. It is a genus of small to large trapdoor spiders that are usually black to very dark brown in color. It is a widely-distributed genus found in the southwestern Mediterranean, Central Asia, and in the Americas from Ohio south to Brazil. They live in hard-to-find silk-lined burrows hidden in leaf litter.
Taxonomy Ummidia split from the morphologically similar genus Conothele over 50 million years ago.
Description Ummidia species are small to large trapdoor spiders, usually black to very dark brown in color. The abdominal coloration is generally dark grey, occasionally with a bright white dorsal patch, pale opalescence, or light patches at the apodemes. The cephalothorax is longer than it is wide. The pars cephalica is highest behind the eyes and sloping posteriorly. The carapace is evenly sclerotized, and is rough in males and smooth in females. The fovea is procurved and deep. At least the median eyes are on the tubercle, with the eye diameter being variable. The anterior eye row is procurved, while the posterior eye row is relatively straight to slightly recurved or procurved. The sternum is usually approximately as wide as it is long.
Ummidia can be differentiated from all other halonoproctid genera except Conothele by the presence of a dorsal, glabrous, saddle-like depression on tibia III. Ummidia can be further distinguished from Bothriocyrtum, Cyclocosmia, and Hebestatis by the presence of clavate trichobothria and the absence of lateral sternal sigilla.
Distribution and habitat Ummidia is a wide-ranging genus, found in the southwestern Mediterranean, Central Asia, and in the Americas from as far north as Ohio and Maryland west to Arizona and south to Brazil, including the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Ballooning, a peculiar behavior among most mygalomorphs, has been observed in a few species. This behavior explains the genus' presence on multiple islands in the Caribbean, including the volcanic island of St. Vincent and possibly Bermuda.
Ummidia spiders construct silk-lined burrows, usually with cork-type doors. These burrows are cryptic and difficult to find and are often covered in leaf litter.
Species it contained fifty-six species.
Ummidia aedificatoria (Westwood, 1840) – Morocco Ummidia algarve Decae, 2010 – Portugal Ummidia algeriana (Lucas, 1846) – Algeria, Tunisia Ummidia anaya Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia armata (Ausserer, 1875) – Unknown Ummidia asperula (Simon, 1889) – Venezuela Ummidia audouini (Lucas, 1835) – USA Ummidia beatula (Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940) – USA Ummidia brandicarlileae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia carabivora (Atkinson, 1886) – USA Ummidia carlosviquezi Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Nicaragua, Costa Rica Ummidia cerrohoya Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Panama Ummidia colemanae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia cuicatec Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia erema (Chamberlin, 1925) – Panama Ummidia ferghanensis (Kroneberg, 1875) – Central Asia Ummidia frankellerae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Belize Ummidia funerea (Gertsch, 1936) – USA Ummidia gabrieli Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia gandjinoi (Andreeva, 1968) – Tajikistan Ummidia gertschi Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia gingoteague Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia glabra (Doleschall, 1871) – Brazil Ummidia hondurena Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Honduras, El Salvador Ummidia huascazaloya Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia insularis Santos, Ortiz & Sánchez-Ruiz, 2022 – Dominican Republic Ummidia macarthuri Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia matagalpa Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Nicaragua Ummidia mercedesburnsae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia mischi Zonstein, 2014 – Afghanistan Ummidia modesta (Banks, 1901) – USA Ummidia neblina Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Venezuela Ummidia neilgaimani Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia nidulans (Fabricius, 1787) – Jamaica, West Indies Ummidia okefenokee Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia paulacushingae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia pesiou Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia picea Thorell, 1875 (type) – Spain Ummidia pustulosa (Becker, 1879) – Mexico Ummidia quepoa Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Costa Rica Ummidia quijichacaca Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Colombia Ummidia richmond Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia riverai Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Guatemala Ummidia rodeo Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Mexico Ummidia rongodwini Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia rosillos Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia rugosa (Karsch, 1880) – Nicaragua, Costa Rica Ummidia salebrosa (Simon, 1892) – St. Vincent Ummidia tibacuy Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Colombia Ummidia timcotai Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia tunapuna Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Trinidad and Tobago Ummidia varablanca Godwin & Bond, 2021 – Costa Rica Ummidia waunekaae Godwin & Bond, 2021 – USA Ummidia zebrina (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897) – Mexico, Guatemala Ummidia zilchi Kraus, 1955 – Mexico, El Salvador, Belize
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