Araneomorphae

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Araneomorph spiders Temporal range: Triassic–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Nephila inaurata (Nephilidae)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Opisthothelae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Families
see Table of families
Diversity
95 families

The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguished by having chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their close kin), where they point straight down. Most of the spiders that people encounter in daily life belong to the Araneomorphae.

Distinguishing characteristics[]

Note the difference in the orientations of the chelicerae (fangs) of the two spiders below, representatives of the Mygalomorphae and the Araneomorphae. The number of book lungs (when present) can also help distinguish between members of these two major groups.

Mygalomorphae[]

This Atrax robustus (a member of the Hexathelidae) is presenting a defensive posture, and by so doing clearly shows the orientation of its chelicerae, which go up and down and parallel to the long axis of the spider's body, as with other representatives of the Mygalomorphae.

Araneomorphae[]

In the Araneomorphae, the fangs slope towards each other, giving these spiders many more possibilities than the Mygalomorphae, which can only bite top down. In contrast to the Mygalomorphae, where females can live for many years, most Araneomorphae die after about a year.^[1]

Spiders included[]

Almost all of the familiar spiders are included in this group. The major exception is the Tarantulas, which have become so common as pets that many people have seen them. There are a few other members of Mygalomorphae that one might see around homes or gardens, but they typically are relatively small and not easily noticed. For instance, the females of one such species lives and hunts from within a long silken tube, so unless one opens the tube or chances upon a male looking for a mate, one will never see them. The Araneomorphae, to the contrary, include the weavers of spiral webs, the cobweb spiders that live in the corners of our rooms and between windows and screens, the crab spiders that lurk on the surfaces of the flowers in our gardens, the jumping spiders that look back at us curiously from walls and tree trunks, the wolf spiders that sometimes carpet good hunting sites in a sunny spot in the lawn, the large huntsman spiders that sometimes frighten people by getting into their cars or taking up residence behind wall clocks.

• 

  Cheiracanthium punctorium

• 

  Misumena vatia

Systematics[]

In older schemes, the Araneomorphae are divided into two lineages, the Hypochilae (containing only the family Hypochilidae), and the Neocribellatae. The Neocribellatae are in turn divided into the Austrochiloidea, and the two series Entelogynae and Haplogynae, each containing several superfamilies:

A cladogram shows the relation among taxa:^[2]

Opisthothelae	Mygalomorphae      Araneomorphae        Hypochilidae        Austrochiloidea        Gradungulidae     Austrochilidae              Haplogynae     Entelegynae

Most spiders in the Haplogynae series have six eyes, while most of those in the Entelegynae series have eight.

Table of families[]

Key

Genera	1	≥2	≥10	≥100
Species	1–9	≥10	≥100	≥1000

Araneomorphae families^{[note 1]}

Family	Genera	Species	Common name	Example
Agelenidae	78	1282	araneomorph funnel-web spiders	Hobo spider
Amaurobiidae	49	274	tangled nest spiders	Callobius claustrarius
Ammoxenidae	4	18
Anapidae	58	223
Anyphaenidae	56	563	anyphaenid sac spiders	Yellow ghost spider
Araneidae	174	3128	orb-weaver spiders	Zygiella x-notata
Archaeidae	5	90	pelican spiders	Madagascarchaea gracilicollis
Arkyidae	2	37
Austrochilidae	3	10		Tasmanian cave spider
Caponiidae	18	119		Diploglena capensis
Cheiracanthiidae (syn. Eutichuridae)	12	351		Cheiracanthium mildei
Cithaeronidae	2	8
Clubionidae	15	618	sac spiders	Clubiona trivialis
Corinnidae	67	779	dark sac spiders	Castianeira sp.
Ctenidae	47	525	tropical wolf spiders	Brazilian wandering spiders
Cyatholipidae	23	58
Cybaeidae	19	259
Cycloctenidae	8	80
Deinopidae	2	65	net-casting spiders	Rufous net-casting spider
Desidae	60	297	intertidal spiders	Phryganoporus candidus
Dictynidae	52	464		Nigma walckenaeri
Diguetidae	2	15	coneweb spiders
Drymusidae	2	17	false violin spiders
Dysderidae	24	564	woodlouse hunter spiders	Woodlouse spider
Eresidae	9	98	velvet spiders	Eresus sandaliatus
Filistatidae	19	164	crevice weavers	Southern house spider
Gallieniellidae	10	56
Gnaphosidae[note 2]	158	2532	flat-bellied ground spiders	Drassodes cupreus
Gradungulidae	7	16	large-clawed spiders	Carrai cave spider
Hahniidae	23	346	dwarf sheet spiders
Hersiliidae	16	181	tree trunk spiders	Hersilia savignyi
Homalonychidae	1	3
Huttoniidae	1	1		Huttonia palpimanoides
Hypochilidae	2	12	lampshade spiders	Hypochilus thorelli
Lamponidae	23	192		White-tailed spider
Leptonetidae	21	346		Tooth cave spider
Linyphiidae	607	4566	dwarf / money spiders	Linyphia triangularis
Liocranidae	31	272	liocranid sac spiders
Lycosidae	124	2419	wolf spiders	Lycosa tarantula
Malkaridae	11	46	shield spiders
Mecysmaucheniidae	7	25
Megadictynidae	2	2
Mimetidae	12	152	pirate spiders	Oarces reticulatus
Miturgidae	29	130	long-legged sac spiders
Mysmenidae	13	137	spurred orb-weavers
Nesticidae	16	278	cave cobweb spiders	Nesticella marapu
Nicodamidae	7	27
Ochyroceratidae	20	216	midget ground weavers	Theotima minutissima
Oecobiidae	6	113	disc web spiders	Oecobius navus
Oonopidae	114	1801	dwarf hunting spiders	Oonops domesticus
Orsolobidae	30	188
Oxyopidae	9	457	lynx spiders	Green lynx spider
Pacullidae	4	38
Palpimanidae	18	150	palp-footed spiders
Penestomidae	1	9
Periegopidae	1	3
Philodromidae	30	539	philodromid crab spiders	Philodromus dispar
Pholcidae	77	1666	daddy long-legs spiders	Pholcus phalangioides
Phrurolithidae	13	205
Physoglenidae	13	72
Phyxelididae	14	64
Pimoidae	4	41		Pimoa cthulhu
Pisauridae	51	356	nursery web spiders	Pisaura mirabilis
Plectreuridae	2	31
Psechridae	2	61
Salticidae	635	6080	jumping spiders	Zebra spider
Scytodidae	5	248	spitting spiders	Scytodes thoracica
Segestriidae	4	130	tubeweb spiders	Segestria florentina
Selenopidae	10	257	wall spiders	Selenops radiatus
Senoculidae	1	31
Sicariidae	3	1623	recluse spiders	Brown recluse
Sparassidae	88	1224	huntsman spiders	Avondale spider
Stenochilidae	2	13
Stiphidiidae	20	125		Tartarus mullamullangensis
Symphytognathidae	8	73	dwarf orb-weavers	Patu digua
Synaphridae	3	13
Synotaxidae	1	11
Telemidae	10	79	long-legged cave spiders
Tetrablemmidae	27	129	armored spiders
Tetragnathidae	48	996	long jawed orb-weavers	Orchard spider
Theridiidae	124	2503	cobweb spiders	Redback spider
Theridiosomatidae	19	124	ray spiders	Theridiosoma gemmosum
Thomisidae	170	2171	crab spiders	Goldenrod spider
Titanoecidae	5	53		Goeldia obscura
Toxopidae	14	82
Trachelidae	18	232
Trechaleidae	16	120
Trochanteriidae	19	153
Trogloraptoridae	1	1		Trogloraptor marchingtoni
Udubidae	4	15
Uloboridae	19	283	hackled orb-weavers	Uloborus walckenaerius
Viridasiidae	2	9
Xenoctenidae	4	33
Zodariidae	85	1141	ant spiders	Zodarion germanicum
Zoropsidae	26	180		Zoropsis spinimana

References[]

Citations[]

General sources[]

• "Currently valid spider genera and species". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. 2018.
• Coddington, Jonathan A. (2005). "Phylogeny and classification of spiders" (PDF). In Ubick, D.; Paquin, P.; Cushing, P.E. & Roth, V. (eds.). Spiders of North America: an identification manual. American Arachnological Society. pp. 18–24. Retrieved 2015-09-24.

Explanatory notes[]

External links[]

• Media related to Araneomorphae at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Araneomorphae at Wikispecies