FAMILY
Clothodidae
TAXONOMY
Clothoda urichi Saussure, 1896, Trinidad.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Exceptionally large body, at least 0.6 in (16 mm) long. Hind basitarsi with two conspicuous ventral papillae. Strong wing venation. Male caudal tergal processes short and of almost equal size.
DISTRIBUTION
Trinidad.
HABITAT
Conspicuous colonies on trunks of mountain rainforest trees.
BEHAVIOR
Silk galleries are bright and visible against the substrate. They have retreat areas with thickened reinforced silk coverings, foraging zones at edges of silk, and silken tunnels built up as embiids travel back and forth between foraging sites and retreats, where they remain during the day. Three styles of spinning behavior: construction of silk scaffold around body and over back; mending of holes by repeatedly attaching silk to existing silk around the hole and stretching new silk across opening; and reinforcement of silk covering by facing it and stepping up and down while releasing many strands of silk.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on lichens and algae growing on bark.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Forms colonies with maternal care of offspring.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
