Six-eyed Turret House Spider
This species shares with Micropholcus fauroti and Physocyclus globosus in its preference for human habitation and in having an almost globular abdomen. Superficially, its carapace resembles that of P. globosus with three pairs of distinct marks surrounding a median excavation. However, spiders of the genus Modisimus have only six eyes while Micropholcus and Physocyclus have eight. The eyes of M. culicinus are closely grouped and are mounted on the front end of a low and forward-pointing turret. The greyish ochre-coloured abdomen has some indistinct dark and pale spots.
| Length | ♀1–2 mm; ♂ 1–2 mm. |
| Habitat | Sheltered corners inside buildings, often slightly above the floor. |
| Type Locality | Venezuela. |
| Distribution | Pantropical, including Malaysia (Perak, Johor), Singapore, Venezuela. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Hedypsilus culicinus (Original description ♂)
Simon, 1893a Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome premier: 486, f. 483-484, 486 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973
Hedypsilus culicinus (Original description j)
Hedypsilus lawrencei (Original description ♂♀)
Lessert, 1938 Araignées du Congo Belge (première partie): 434, f. 15-17
Hedypsilus culicinus (♂, D♀)
Gertsch & Peck, 1992 The pholcid spiders of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador (Araneae: Pholcidae): 1192, f. 20-26 doi:10.1139/z92-166
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀, Synonym of Hedypsilus lawrencei)
Huber, 1997a On the distinction between Modisimus and Hedypsilus (Araneae, Pholcidae), with notes on behavior and natural history: 233, f. 2A-C, 3A-B, 4A-B doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.1996.tb00164.x
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Huber, 1998b The pholcid spiders of Costa Rica (Araneae: Pholcidae): 1594, f. 94-96
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Huber, 1998c Genital mechanics in some neotropical pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae), with implications for systematics: 592, f. 6A-B, 7E-F, 8D
Modisimus culicinus (♂)
Huber, 2000 New World pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae): A revision at generic level: 28, f. 89, 143, 188 doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2000)254<0001:NWPSAP>2.0.CO;2
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Saaristo, 2001b Pholcid spiders of the granitic Seychelles (Araneae, Pholcidae): 24, f. 56-60
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Beatty, Berry & Huber, 2008 The pholcid spiders of Micronesia and Polynesia (Araneae, Pholcidae): 14, f. 5-6, 32-33 doi:10.1636/H05-66.1
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Tong & Li, 2009a Six new cave-dwelling pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Hainan Island, with two newly recorded genera from China: 25, f. 13-15, 54-59 doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1988.1.2
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Saaristo, 2010 Araneae: 165, f. 25.31-37
Hedypsilus simoni (♂♀; misidentified per Huber & Villarreal, 2020: 202)
González-Sponga, 2010b Biodiversidad: 12, pl. 2, f. 1-11
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Tong, 2013 Haplogynae spiders from Hainan, China: 64, f. 32M-O, 83A-F
Modisimus culicinus (♂♀)
Baert et al., 2023 Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands: 21, f. 71A-F
Pantropical, including Malaysia (Perak, Johor), Singapore, Venezuela.