Description

• Damastes is a genus of spiders in the family Zodariidae, a group commonly known as ant-eating spiders. Members generally have compact, robust bodies and relatively strong legs suited to moving across the ground. Their colouration is often brown or dark, providing camouflage among soil, stones and leaf litter. As with other zodariids, they are ground-dwelling hunters rather than typical web-building spiders.

Range

• Damastes is a genus associated primarily with the Afrotropical region, particularly parts of Africa. Its taxonomy and distribution should be checked carefully before assigning a species-level range; its presence in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, is not established by the information available here.

Habitat

• Members of this genus are generally associated with terrestrial habitats, including soil, leaf litter, stones and other ground-level cover. They hunt and shelter close to the substrate rather than constructing large aerial webs.

Diet

• Spiders in the family Zodariidae are often specialised predators of ants and other small arthropods. However, the precise diet of Damastes species is not well documented across the genus, so ant-specialisation should not be assumed for every species.