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Opisthothelae

(Suborder)

Overview

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A Suborder in the Kingdom Animalia.

Taxonomy

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The Suborder Opisthothelae is a member of the Order Araneae. Here is the complete "parentage" of Opisthothelae:

The Suborder Opisthothelae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

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Actinopodidae

The spider family Actinopodidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders found in Australia, South America, and Central America. It includes the Australian genus Missulena, known as the mouse spiders, which are quite venomous. [more]

Agelenidae

The araneomorph funnel-web spiders of the family Agelenidae include the common grass spiders of the genus Agelenopsis, as well as the purportedly venomous European hobo spider, Tegenaria agrestis, which has been introduced into the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Note: The araneomorph funnel-web spider should not to be confused with the funnel-web tarantula and the venomous funnel-web tarantula, both of which are members of the suborder Mygalomorphae. The venomous funnel-web tarantulas include the infamous Sydney funnel-web spider. [more]

Amaurobiidae

The Amaurobiidae are three-clawed cribellate or ecribellate spiders found in most parts of the world and difficult to distinguish from related spiders in other families, especially Agelenidae, Desidae and Amphinectidae. Their intra- and interfamilial relationships are contentious. In Spider Families of the World 2007 they were represented by 69 genera and about 640 species in 5 subfamilies. [more]

Ammoxenidae

The Ammoxenidae are a small spider family with 18 species in four genera. [more]

Amphinectidae

The Amphinectidae are a spider family with about 180 described species in 35 genera. [more]

Anapidae

The Anapidae are a family of rather small spiders with 145 described species in 35 genera. Most species are less than 2 mm long. [more]

Antrodiaetidae

The folding trapdoor spiders (Antrodiaetidae) are a small spider family with about 30 species in three genera. They are related to the Atypidae (atypical tarantulas). [more]

Anyphaenidae

The anyphaenid sac spiders (family Anyphaenidae) are distinguished from the sac spiders and other spiders by having the abdominal spiracle placed one third to one half of the way anterior to the spinnerets toward the epigastric furrow on the underside of the abdomen. In most spiders the spiracle is just anterior to the spinnerets. Like clubionids, anyphaenids have eight eyes arranged in two rows, conical anterior spinnerets and are wandering predators that built silken retreats, or sacs, usually on plant terminals, between leaves, under bark or under rocks. There are more than 500 species in over 50 genera worldwide. [more]

Araneidae

The "typical" orb-weaver spiders (family Araneidae) are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests. Their common name is taken from the round shape of this typical web, and the taxon was formerly also referred to as the Orbiculariae. [more]

Archaeidae

The Archaeidae are a spider family with 25 described species in three genera. [more]

Atypidae

The atypical tarantulas or purseweb spiders (family Atypidae) consist of only three genera. Purseweb spiders are accomplished ambush predators that spend most of their time in a sock-like, silken retreat on the ground from where they kill their prey. [more]

Austrochilidae

The Austrochilidae are a small spider family with nine species in three genera. [more]

Barychelidae

The Brushed trapdoor spiders (family Barychelidae) are a spider family with about 300 species in 44 general. This family is the only family in superfamily Barycheloidea. [more]

Caponiidae

Spiders of the ecribellate haplogyne family Caponiidae are unusual in that most species have only two eyes, which is unheard of in other spiders. Other species have four, six or eight eyes. Even in a single species, sometimes the number of eyes changes from spiderling to adult. [more]

Chummidae

The Chummidae are a tiny spider family with only two described species in one genus. Both were first described in 2001. Both species are known from males and females. [more]

Cithaeronidae

The Cithaeronidae are a small spider family with only six species in two genera. [more]

Clubionidae

The sac spiders of the family Clubionidae have a very confusing taxonomic history. Once this family was a large catch-all taxon for a disparate collection of spiders, similar only in that they had eight eyes arranged in two rows, conical anterior spinnerets that touched and were wandering predators that built silken retreats, or sacs, usually on plant terminals, between leaves, under bark or under rocks. These are now recognized to include several families, some of which are more closely related to the three-clawed spiders, like lynx and wolf spiders, than to true "clubionoids." [more]

Corinnidae

The corinnid sac spiders (family Corinnidae), like the other clubionoid families, have a very confusing taxonomic history. Once this family was a part of the large catch-all taxon Clubionidae, now a shadow of its former self. The clubionoids are apparently similar only in that they have eight eyes arranged in two rows, conical anterior spinnerets that touch and are generally wandering predators that build silken retreats, or sacs, usually on plant terminals, between leaves, under bark or under rocks. [more]

Ctenidae

The wandering spiders is a term used to refer to the spider family Ctenidae. Previously, the term referred only to the genus Phoneutria but now usually refers to the entire family Ctenidae. The members of the genus Phoneutria are highly aggressive and venomous nocturnal hunters, and are the only wandering spiders known to pose a serious danger to humans. However, the venom of some other members of this family is very poorly known, meaning that all larger Ctenids should be treated with caution. Ctenids have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace (some other spiders have a similar groove; e.g., Amaurobiidae). Venom from wandering spider injected in human body can lead to death within 2-12 hours. The venom induces release of nitric oxide which acts as a dilating agent and arteries and veins are dilated, it is then followed by increased blood flow in penis and results in a long duration penal erection. Finally the victim dies by a heart stroke. [more]

Ctenizidae

Trapdoor spiders (superfamily Ctenizoidea, family Ctenizidae) are medium-sized mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation and silk. Some similar species are also called trapdoor spiders, such as the Liphistiidae, Barychelidae, Cyrtaucheniidae and some Idiopidae and Nemesiidae. Some Conothele species do not build a burrow, but construct a silken tube with trap-door in bark crevices. [more]

Cyatholipidae

The Cyatholipidae are a spider family with 58 described species in 23 genera. [more]

Cybaeidae

Cybaeidae is a family of spiders comprising twelve genera. [more]

Cycloctenidae

Cycloctenidae is a spider family with 36 described species in 5 genera. The genera (5 spp.), Toxopsiella (12 spp.) and Uzakia (1 sp.) are all endemic to New Zealand, Cycloctenus is found in both Australia (7 spp.) and New Zealand (10 spp.), while Galliena (1 sp.) is endemic to Java. The placements of Galliena, Plectophanes and Uzakia in Cycloctenidae are tentative only. [more]

Cyrtaucheniidae

The wafer trapdoor spiders (superfamily Cyrtauchenioidea, family Cyrtaucheniidae) are a widespread family of spiders that lack the thorn-like spines on tarsi and metatarsi I and II (the two outermost leg segments) found in true trapdoor spiders (Ctenizidae).
[more]

Deinopidae

The spider family Deinopidae consists of stick-like elongate spiders that build unusual webs that they suspend between the front legs. When prey approaches, the spider will stretch the net to two or three times its relaxed size and propel itself onto the prey, entangling it in the web. Because of this, they are also called net-casting spiders. Their excellent night-vision adapted anterior median eyes allow them to cast this net over potential prey items. These eyes are so large in comparison to the other six eyes that the spider seems to have only two eyes. [more]

Desidae

The intertidal spiders (family Desidae) live in a very unusual location ? between the tides. Once thought to be limited to the Southern Hemisphere, members of this family in the genus were discovered in northern Sonora and the Florida Keys during the last half of the 20th Century. The family has been reevaluated in recent years and now includes inland genera and species as well. Members of the genus Paratheuma commonly live in barnacle shells, which they seal up with silk. This allows them to maintain an air bubble during high tide. These intertidal spiders feed on various small arthropods that live in the intertidal zone. [more]

Dictynidae

Dictynidae is a family of cribellate (hackled band-producing) spiders. Most spiders in this family build irregular webs close to or directly on the ground. Typically they create a tangle of silken fibers among several branches or stems of one plant. [more]

Diguetidae

The coneweb spiders of the family Diguetidae are six-eyed haplogyne (lacking hardened female genitalia, or epigyne) spiders that live in tangled space webs. They fashion a cone-like central retreat in which they hide and lay eggs. The family is small (three genera and only 15 species) and is confined to the New World, where it is usually found in deserts. Members of the genus Diguetia usually build their webs in shrubs or between cactus pads. Although they have the same eye arrangement as the venomous recluse spiders (family Sicariidae), none of these genera are known to be harmful to humans. [more]

Dipluridae

Funnel-web tarantulas (super-family Dipluroidea, family Dipluridae), are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chelicerae (fangs) that move up and down in a stabbing motion. A number of genera, including the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus), used to be classified in this family but have now been moved to Hexathelidae. [more]

Drymusidae

The Drymusidae are a small spider family with ten species in one genus. They are also called false violin spiders or leaf-litter spiders. They resemble the violin spider or recluse spider (genus Loxosceles, Sicariidae), but other than these build a web[1]. Also unlike Loxosceles, which are highly venomous to man, spiders in Drymusidae are not believed to be harmful to humans. [more]

Dysderidae

The family Dysderidae (woodlouse hunters, sowbug-eating spiders or cell spiders) are araneomorph spiders found primarily in Eurasia, although extending into North Africa, with very few species occurring in South America, and one (Dysdera crocata) introduced into many regions of the world. [more]

Eresidae

The velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 100 species in 10 genera) of almost totally Old World spiders (exception: a few species are known from Brazil). The characteristics of this family of spiders are that they are entelegyne (have a genital plate in the female), eight-eyed araneomorph spiders that build unkempt webs. With the exception of Wajane, they are cribellate (use wooly silk). Some species are nearly eusocial, lacking only a specialized caste system and a queen. They cooperate in brood rearing, unlike almost most other spiders except for some African agelenid spiders in the genus Agelena and a few others. [more]

Filistatidae

The crevice weaver spiders (super-family Filistatoidea, family Filistatidae) contain primitive cribellate. They are haplogyne weavers of funnel or tube webs. The family contains 17 genera and more than hundred described species worldwide. One of the most abundant members of this family in the Americas is the Southern house spider (Kukulcania hibernalis). Named after the fierce Meso-American god Kukulkan, the females are large (up to nearly 20 mm) dark-colored spiders and males are light brown, smaller (about 10 mm.), but more long-legged and with palpi that are held together in front of their carapaces like the horn of a unicorn. The males also have a darker streak on the center of the dorsal carapace that causes them to be often mistaken for brown recluse spiders. The tiny members of the genus Filistatinella are like miniature versions of Kukulcania. The nominate genus Filistata is Afro-Eurasian in distribution. In many older books the species from the Americas now placed in the genus Kukulcania are placed in Filistata. [more]

Gallieniellidae

The Gallieniellidae are a spider family with 48 species in ten genera. [more]

Gnaphosidae

Ground spiders (family Gnaphosidae) include nearly 2,000 described species in over 100 genera, distributed worldwide. This makes the family the seventh largest known. New species are still being discovered. They are closely related to Clubionidae. [more]

Gradungulidae

The Gradungulidae are a small spider family of Australia and New Zealand with 16 species in seven genera. They are medium to large three-clawed haplogyne spiders with two pairs of book-lungs (like Mygalomorphae). [more]

Hahniidae

The dwarf sheet spiders (family Hahniidae) are small spiders, their bodies are about 2 mm in length. They build extremely delicate webs in the form of a sheet, and unlike many spiders the web does not lead to a retreat. The silk used in these webs is so fine that they are difficult to spot unless they are coated with dew. They greatly favor locations near water or near moss, and are often found in leaf litter and detritus or on the leaves of shrubs and trees. [more]

Hersiliidae

The tree trunk spiders are members of the tropical and semi-tropical Family Hersiliidae. There are about 150 species in this family. These spiders have two very prominent spinnerets that are almost as long as their abdomen. So they are also sometimes known as "two-tailed spiders." They range in size from about 10 mm (0.4 inch) to 18 mm (0.7 inch) long. Being very well camouflaged for life on the varicolored trunks of trees, they have an interesting way of capturing prey. Rather than making a web that captures prey directly, they lay a light coating of threads over an area of tree bark and wait hidden in plain sight for an insect to stray onto that patch. Once that occurs, they direct their spinnerets toward their prey and circle it; all the while casting silk on it. When the hapless insect has been thoroughly immobilized, they can bite it through its new shroud. [more]

Hexathelidae

The spider family Hexathelidae, the only family in the super-family Hexatheloidea, is one of two families (along with Dipluridae) of spiders known as funnel-webs. This order is sometimes incorrectly referred to (in unknown references) as the venomous funnel-web tarantulas, due to the inclusion of the Australian funnel-web spiders, including the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus). Most specimens in Hexathelidae are not dangerous to humans. [more]

Holarchaeidae

The Holarchaeidae are a spider family with only two described species in one genus. [more]

Homalonychidae

The Homalonychidae are a very small spider family with three described species in one genus. [more]

Huttoniidae

Huttonia palpimanoides is a spider in its own family, Huttoniidae. [more]

Hypochilidae

The Lampshade spiders of the family Hypochilidae are among the most primitive of araneomorph spiders. There are two genera and twelve species currently recognized. Like mygalomorphs, hypochilids have two pairs of book lungs, but like araneomorphs they have intersecting fangs. These long-legged spiders build typical "lampshade" style webs under overhangs and in caves. In the United States the fauna is primarily associated with the Appalachian, Rocky and California Mountains. Ten of the known species are found in these ranges, all in the genus Hypochilus. The genus Ectatosticta is found in China. [more]

Idiopidae

Idiopidae (superfamily Idiopoidea are a mygalomorph spider family. They have a large body that often looks rather like a tarantula. [more]

Lamponidae

The Lamponidae are a spider family with about 200 described species in 23 genera. [more]

Leptonetidae

Leptonetidae is a family of relatively primitive haplogyne (lacking hardened external female genitalia) spiders, which includes 15 genera and nearly 200 species. The family is poorly known to anybody but specialists. Leptonetids are generally tiny, have six eyes arranged in a semicircle of four in front and two behind. Many live in caves or in leaf litter. They are found around the Mediterranean, and in Eurasia, Japan and the New World[]. [more]

Linyphiidae

Linyphiidae is a family of spiders, including more than 4,300 described species in 578 genera worldwide. This makes Linyphiidae the second largest family of spiders after the Salticidae. New species are still being discovered throughout the world, and the family is poorly known. Because of the difficulty in identifying such tiny spiders, there are regular changes in taxonomy as species are combined or divided. [more]

Liocranidae

Liocranid sac spiders consist of about 160 species of wandering spiders in 30 or so genera. The best known are those in the Holarctic genus Agroeca. Various genera of rather obscure spiders are included in the family, which still lacks a diagnosis. Two species in the North American genus Neoanagraphis are found in often hyperarid conditions in the Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. The females apparently live in animal burrows and the males wander and are often caught in pitfall traps. [more]

Lycosidae

Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient Greek word "" meaning "wolf". They are robust and agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short distances. Some will wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow. [more]

Malkaridae

The Malkaridae are a small spider family with ten species in four genera. [more]

Mecicobothriidae

Dwarf tarantulas, also known as sheet funnel-web spiders are a type of spider from the family Mecicobothriidae. Dwarf tarantulas are one of several families of the sub-order Mygalomorphae; this larger group also includes the true tarantulas. [more]

Mecysmaucheniidae

The Mecysmaucheniidae are a spider family with 25 described species in seven genera. [more]

Micropholcommatidae

The Micropholcommatidae are a spider family with 33 described species in eight genera. Micropholcommatids are extremely small, with body lengths typically between 0.5 and 2 mm. They are usually found among leaf litter or moss. [more]

Microstigmatidae

The Microstigmatidae are a small spider family with fifteen described species in seven genera. They are small ground-dwelling and free-living spiders that make little use of silk. [more]

Migidae

The tree trapdoor spiders (Migidae) are a spider family with about 90 species in 10 genera. [more]

Mimetidae

The family Mimetidae, commonly called pirate spiders, are spiders which typically feed on other spiders. [more]

Miturgidae

The long-legged sac spiders (family Miturgidae) include nearly 400 species in about 30 genera worldwide. [more]

Mysmenidae

The Mysmenidae are a spider family with almost 100 described species in more than twenty genera. [more]

Nemesiidae

The Nemesiidae are a spider family of the infraorder Mygalomorphae, and the only member of the superfamily Nemesioidea. They were formerly considered part of the Dipluridae family. [more]

Nephilidae

[more]

Nesticidae

The scaffold web spiders of the family Nesticidae, are closely allied with the Theridiidae, or tangle web spiders. Like the Theridiidae these spiders have a comb of serrated bristles on the hind tarsi that are used to pull silk bands from the spinnerets. It contains nine genera and a little over 200 species, many of which are associated with caves or overhangs. The genus Nesticus is the type for the family and is found throughout the world. The related Eidmannella has speciated considerably in Texas caves and includes some extremely localized species that are considered threatened. One species, Eidmannella pallida, is found in caves and under overhangs, but also in agricultural fields and other habitats away from such restricted areas. The genus Carpathonesticus is found in central Eurasia. [more]

Nicodamidae

The Nicodamidae are a spider family with 29 species in nine genera. [more]

Ochyroceratidae

The Ochyroceratidae are a six-eyed spider family in the Leptonetoidea superfamily, with 154 described species in 14 genera. [more]

Oecobiidae

The spider family Oecobiidae (also called Disc web spiders) consists of about 100 species. [more]

Oonopidae

The spider family Oonopidae (Goblin spiders) includes about 459 species in about 65 genera worldwide. The type genus of the family is Oonops Keyserling, 1835. They are generally tiny (1-3 mm) haplogyne araneomorph spiders. Some have hardened plates (scuta) on their abdomens. Oonopids usually have six eyes, the anterior median eyes having been lost. However, four-eyed (Opopaea viamao), two-eyed (e.g. Coxapopha, Diblemma) and even completely eyeless species (e.g. Cousinea, the cave-dwelling Blanioonops) are also known. The family is permeated with unusual morphological traits, many of which are limited to males. Examples include heavily modified mouthparts (e.g. Coxapopha, Xyccarph), sternal pouches (sometimes alternatively called holsters; e.g. Grymeus) and extensions of the carapace (e.g. Ferchestina, Unicorn). The male pedipalps are also often highly modified. The genus Opopaea, for example, exhibits an expanded palpal patella while male Ischnothyreus are characterized by completely sclerotized, pitch-black pedipalps. Members of the genus Orchestina are believed to be able to jump, as both sexes have greatly enlarged femora on the fourth leg pair. Oonopidae are seldom seen by people as they are too small to be easily noticed. Generally, oonopid spiders are found in the leaf litter layer and under rocks but they also constitute a significant component of the spider fauna living in the canopy of tropical rain forests. Three blind Afrotropical genera (Anophthalmoonops, Caecoonops, Termitoonops) are exclusively found in termite nests. A few species, such as the pantropical Heteroonops spinimanus, are thought to be parthenogenetic as no males have so far been collected. [more]

Orsolobidae

The Orsolobidae are a six-eyed spider family with about 180 described species in 28 genera. They were separated from the Dysderidae. Several genera were transferred from the Oonopidae. [more]

Oxyopidae

Lynx Spiders are the members of the family Oxyopidae. They all are hunting spiders that spend their lives on plants, flowers and shrubs. At least one species has been identified as exhibiting social behaviour. [more]

Palpimanidae

The Palp-footed spiders (Palpimanidae) are a spider family with about 130 described species in 15 genera. Instead of the normal six, Palpimanidae have only two spinnerets. Their first legs are greatly enlarged.. All species produce ecribellate silk . Palpimanidae have six eyes, a red cephalothorax, very strong first legs, which are raised while moving. At least Palpimanus gibbulus lives in leaf litter or under stones in dry soils. [more]

Pararchaeidae

The Pararchaeidae are a spider family with 34 described species in seven genera. [more]

Paratropididae

The baldlegged spiders (Paratropididae) are a small spider family with eight species. They are related to tarantulas. [more]

Periegopidae

The spider family Periegopidae consists of only one genus Periegops, with two described species. Periegops had been long considered to be members of Sicariidae or Segestriidae until Raymond Forster evelated them to the family level in 1995. [more]

Philodromidae

Philodromidae is a family of spiders commonly known as philodromid crab spiders or running crab spiders. This family is superficially similar to the "true" crab spiders in the family Thomisidae. [more]

Pholcidae

Pholcidae, commonly known as cellar spiders, are a spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae. [more]

Phyxelididae

The Phyxelididae are a spider family with 54 described species in twelve genera. They are grouped with the Titanoecidae within the Titanoecoidea superfamily. [more]

Pimoidae

The Pimoidae spider family is a rather small group of 37 species in four genera. They are monophyletic, and probably closest related to the Linyphiidae. [more]

Pisauridae

Nursery web spiders are spiders of the family Pisauridae. They resemble wolf spiders (family Lycosidae), but they carry their egg sacs by means of their jaws and pedipalps (instead of attaching them to their spinnerets). When the eggs are about to hatch, a mother spider will build a nursery "tent", put her egg sac inside, and mount guard outside. The name nursery web spider is especially given to the European species Pisaura mirabilis, but the family also includes fishing spiders and raft spiders. [more]

Plectreuridae

'Plectreuridae, often called Plectreurid spiders, are a small spider family confined to the North American deserts and the island of Cuba. Only two living genera are known - the nominate genus and Kibramoa. In the past, the family was more widespread, with the Jurassic genus Eoplectreurys known from China, the Eocene Palaeoplectreurys baltica from Baltic amber and the Miocene Plectreurys pittfieldi from Dominican amber. [more]

Prodidomidae

The Prodidomidae are a spider family with about 300 species in 31 genera. They are sometimes called Long-Spinneret Ground Spiders. [more]

Psechridae

The Psechridae are a family of spiders with about two dozen species in two living genera. [more]

Salticidae

Jumping spiders live in a variety of habitats. Tropical forests harbor the most species, but they are also found in temperate forests, scrub lands, deserts, intertidal zones, and even mountains. Euophrys omnisuperstes is a species reported to have been collected at the highest elevation, on the slopes of Mount Everest. [more]

Scytodidae

Spitting spiders are members of the family Scytodidae. There are several genera, of which Scytodes is the best-known. Over 150 species of scytodids have been described worldwide. This means that the Scytodes is somewhat related to the family Sicariidae commonly known as Recluse spiders being that they are part of the same superfamily. [more]

Segestriidae

The tube-dwelling spiders (family Segestriidae) consist of two large and widespread genera (Segestria and Ariadna) and one monotypic genus (Gippsicola from Australia). The family is easily recognized because its members have six eyes (most spiders have eight) arranged in a semicircle and have the first three pairs of legs arranged forward (most spiders have only the first two pairs so arranged.) The leg structure appears to be an adaptation for living in silken tubes, which unlike those of the atypical tarantulas, may branch and are often built in tree bark fissures, as well as under stones. These are haplogyne primitive araneomorphs related to the Dysderidae. Both Segestria and Ariadna are known from North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa and New Zealand, while Ariadna is also known from Australia. This wide distribution attests to the ancient origin of this family. [more]

Selenopidae

The wall crab spiders (family Selenopidae), a member of a group of families collectively called crab spiders because of their laterigrade (sideways-moving) legs. This family consists of about 175 species in four genera, of which Selenops is the best known. The family is primarily tropical with the genus Anyphops confined to Sub-Saharan Africa and the genus Hovops confined to Madagascar. The spiders are very flat and are commonly found on walls or under rocks. They are quite agile and very difficult to capture. In addition their coloring makes them often quite difficult to see. Like almost all Entelegynae, they have eight eyes. At least one species of Garcorops, G. jadis is known only from subfossil copal. [more]

Senoculidae

They belong to the superfamily Lycosoidea. "Bark Hunter" is one common name used by researchers. Another name, "Monkey Ninja Spider," was proposed in December 2011 on YouTube, but is not currently an officially accepted name [more]

Sicariidae

Sicariidae is a family of six-eyed venomous spiders known for their necrotic bites. The members of this family are haplogyne by definition (instead of the most spiders that possess eight eyes). The family consists of two genera, Loxosceles and Sicarius, and contains about 120 species. Well known spiders in this family include the brown recluse spider and the assassin spider. [more]

Sparassidae

Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae) are a family of spiders known as Huntsman spiders because of their speed and mode of hunting. They also are called giant crab spiders, because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forest, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks), or clock spiders. In southern Africa they are known as rain spiders and lizard-eating spiders. Commonly they also are confused with baboon spiders, which are practically unrelated, being in a different infraorder, the Mygalomorphae. [more]

Stenochilidae

The Stenochilidae are a spider family with twelve described species in two genera. All species produce ecribellate silk (Griswold et al., 1999). [more]

Stiphidiidae

The Stiphidiidae are a spider family with 94 described species in 13 genera. They are generally of medium size (Stiphidium facetum is about 8 mm long) and build a horizontal tent-like web under rocks. Most species are speckled brown with long legs. [more]

Symphytognathidae

The Symphytognathidae are a spider family with 44 described species in six genera. [more]

Synaphridae

The Synaphridae are a spider family with twelve described species in three genera. [more]

Synotaxidae

The Synotaxidae are a spider family with 68 described species in 13 genera. [more]

Telemidae

The Telemidae are a six-eyed spider family with 57 described species in seven genera, see for details [more]

Tengellidae

The tengellid spiders (family Tengellidae) include eight genera and a little over 30 species worldwide. The family is confined to the New World, with two monotypic genera occurring in Madagascar and New Zealand, respectively. Like most spiders, they have eight eyes. The characters defining the family are technical and there are still some disagreements as to its size and placement within spider classification. According to Griswold (1993), the family is polyphyletic. This is another of the families removed from the catchall family Clubionidae over the last 20 or so years. [more]

Tetrablemmidae

The Tetrablemmidae are a spider family with 126 described species in 29 genera that occur throughout the world tropics. They are sometimes called armored spiders. [more]

Tetragnathidae

The long-jawed orb weavers or long jawed spiders (family Tetragnathidae) are elongated spiders with long legs and chelicerae. [more]

Theraphosidae

Tarantulas (as the term is used in North America) comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Although some members of the same suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance, this article only describes members of Theraphosidae. [more]

Theridiidae

Theridiidae is a large family of spiders, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders. The diverse family includes over 2200 species in over 100 genera) of three-dimensional space-web-builders found throughout the world. Theridiid spiders are entelegyne (have a genital plate in the female) araneomorph ecribellate (use sticky capture silk instead of woolly silk) spiders that often build tangle space webs and have a comb of serrated bristles (setae) on the tarsus of the fourth leg. [more]

Theridiosomatidae

The ray spiders (family Theridiosomatidae) are spiders most recognizable for their construction of cone-shaped webs. As of 2008, the family consists of 75 species in 12 genera. [more]

Thomisidae

Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae. Among the Thomisidae it refers most often to the familiar species of "flower crab spiders", though not all members of the family are limited to ambush hunting in flowers. [more]

Titanoecidae

The titanoecid spiders (family Titanoecidae) include only five genera and a little over 46 species worldwide. The family is fairly widespread in the New World and Eurasia. Once part of the family Amaurobiidae, these are mostly dark-colored builders of wooly (cribellate) silk webs. The main genus is Titanoeca. Several species are found at relatively high altitudes in mountain ranges and may be very common in such habitats. [more]

Trechaleidae

The Trechaleidae are a spider family with 75 described species in 15 genera. [more]

Trochanteriidae

The Trochanteriidae are a spider family with 149 species in 18 genera. [more]

Uloboridae

Uloboridae, the cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers, is a family of non-venomous spiders. Their lack of poison glands is a secondarily evolved trait. Instead, they kill their prey by crushing with over 140 metres of thread. [more]

Zodariidae

The Zodaraiid ground spiders or ant spiders, are a family (Zodaraiidae) of small to medium-sized eight-eyed spiders. They are found world-wide in tropical to warm temperate regions, though there are relatively few species in North America. [more]

Zoridae

The Zoridae are a spider family with more than 70 described species in 13 genera. [more]

Zorocratidae

Zorocratid spiders are uncommon, somewhat wolf spider-like, wandering spiders. The eye arrangement is not like that of wolf spiders as the posterior eyes are not enlarged and the eyes are in two rows. Little is known of their biology, but they include about 20 species in 5 genera found primarily in Africa, Madagascar, and North America. The North American species all belong to the genus Zorocrates. The genus Uduba is known only from Madagascar. The odd distribution seems to indicate a connection with continental drift and the family was apparently broken up with the final separation of Africa and the Americas. [more]

Zoropsidae

Zoropsidae is a family of uncommon, somewhat wolf spider-like, wandering, cribellate spiders. The eye arrangement is not like that of wolf spiders as the eyes are in two rows and are more equal in size. Little is known of their biology, but they include about 65 species in 12 genera found primarily in Australia and South Africa. One species, Zoropsis spinimana, was accidentally introduced to the United States. [more]

At least 95 species and subspecies belong to the Family Zoropsidae.

More info about the Family Zoropsidae may be found here.

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 17:07:03