Table 4.
Estimated global number of species of highly specialized predators, parasitoids, and parasites of spiders/spider eggs
| Taxon | Estimated number of species | Hunting strategy | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hymenoptera | |||
| Pompilidae | ≈5000 described; possibly ≥500 undescribed | Predator of spiders | Pitts et al. 2006; James Pitts, pers. comm. |
| Crabronidae (Miscophus, Pison, Pisonopsis, Trypoxylon) | ≈1000 | Predator of spiders | Pulawski 2016 |
| Sphecidae (Chalybion, Sceliphron) | ≈80 | Predator of spiders | Pulawski 2016 |
| Ichneumonidae (Polysphincta) | ≈190 | Spider ectoparasitoid | Gauld and Dubois 2006 |
| Ichneumonidae (excluding Polysphincta) | Dozens | Egg sac parasitoid | Austin 1985; Fitton et al. 1987 |
| Scelionidae (Baeines) | ≈440 described; possibly ≈2500 undescribed | Egg parasitoid | Iqbal and Austin 2000; Johnson 2016; Lubomir Masner, pers. comm. |
| Encyrtidae (Amira) | Several | Egg parasite | Noyes 1977 |
| Eulophidae (Aranobroter, Aprostocetus, Baryscapus, Pediobius, and others) | ≈20 described; possibly ≈80 undescribed | Egg predator | LaSalle 1990; John LaSalle, pers. comm. |
| Eupelmidae (Arachnophaga) | Several | Egg predator | Muma and Stone 1971 |
| Formicidae (Proceratium, Discothyrea) | Several | Egg predator | Brown 1980; Dejean et al. 1999 |
| Pteromalidae (Arachnopteromalus) | Several | Egg predator | Peaslee and Peck 1983; Austin 1985 |
| Diptera | |||
| Acroceridae (Acrocera, Ogcodes, and others) | ≈500 | Spider endoparasitoid | Borkent and Schlinger 2008 |
| Tachinidae | 1 | Spider endoparasitoid | Vincent 1985 |
| Therevidae | 1 | External parasite | Ramírez 1995 |
| Chloropidae (Pseudogaurax) | Several | Egg predator | Wheeler 2003 |
| Drosophilidae (Titanochaeta) | 11 | Egg predator | O’Grady et al. 2003 |
| Ephydridae (Trimerina) | 1 | Egg predator | Foote 1984 |
| Phoridae (Megaselia) | Dozens | Egg predator/spider endoparasitoid | Disney 2008, 2012 |
| Sarcophagidae (Baranovisca, Mehria) | 22 | Egg predator/parasitoid | Pape 1996; Thomas Pape, pers. comm. |
| Lepidoptera | |||
| Cosmopterigidae (Anatrachyntis) | 1 | Egg predator | Austin 1985 |
| Stathmopodidae (Stathmopoda) | 1 | Egg predator | Austin 1985 |
| Neuroptera | |||
| Mantispidae | 334 | Egg predator | Ohl 2004 |
| Odonata | |||
| Pseudostigmatidae | ≈20 | Predator of spiders | Ingley et al. 2012 |
| Hemiptera | |||
| Reduviidae (Stenolemus) | Several | Predator of spiders | Soley et al. 2011 |
| Acari | |||
| Erythraeidae / Laelapidae | Several | Parasite of spiders | Welbourn and Young 1988 |
| Scorpiones | |||
| Buthidae (Isometroides) | 1 | Predator of spiders | Main 1956 |
| Nematodes | |||
| Mermitidae | Possibly hundreds | Parasite of spiders | Poinar 1987; George Poinar, pers. comm. |
| Fungi—Hypocreales | |||
| Cordycipitaceae (Akanthomyces, Cordyceps, Gibellula, Torrubiella) and others | ≈50–100 | Parasite of spiders | Evans 2013; Nyffeler et al. 2016 |
| Total | ≈8000–10,000 | ||