Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient Greek word "λύκος" meaning "wolf". They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude and hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short distances. Some wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.
Nursery web spiders (Pisauridae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890. They resemble wolf spiders (Lycosidae) except for several key differences. Wolf spiders have two very prominent eyes in addition to the other six, while a nursery web spider's eyes are all about the same size. Additionally, female nursery web spiders carry their egg sacs with their jaws and pedipalps instead of attaching them to their spinnerets as wolf spiders do. When the eggs are about to hatch, a female spider builds a nursery "tent", places her egg sac inside, and stands guard outside, hence the family's common name. Like the wolf spiders, however, the nursery web spiders are roaming hunters that don't use webs for catching prey. They have a wide variety of prey, and larger species may prey upon vertebrates, particularly amphibians and fish.
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 and 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 Clubionidae and related families.
Liocranidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1897. They are one of several groups called "sac spiders". The holarctic genus Agroeca is the best-known, but it also includes various genera of more obscure spiders that still lack a diagnosis. Two species in the North American genus Neoanagraphis are found in the extremely dry conditions in the Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Females live in animal burrows while males wander and are the ones most often caught in pitfall traps.
Mantispidae, known commonly as mantidflies, mantispids, mantid lacewings, mantisflies or mantis-flies, is a family of small to moderate-sized insects in the order Neuroptera. There are many genera with around 400 species worldwide, especially in the tropics and subtropics. Only 5 species of Mantispa occur in Europe.
The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the yellow garden spider, black and yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, writing spider, zigzag spider, zipper spider, corn spider, Steeler spider, or McKinley spider. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1833. It is common to the contiguous United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America. It has distinctive yellow and black markings on the abdomen and a mostly white cephalothorax. Its scientific Latin name translates to "gilded silver-face". Males range from 5–9 mm (0.20–0.35 in); females range from 19–28 mm (0.75–1.10 in). These spiders may bite if disturbed or harassed, but the venom is harmless to non-allergic humans, roughly equivalent to a bumblebee sting in intensity.
The Entelegynae or entelegynes are a subgroup of araneomorph spiders, the largest of the two main groups into which the araneomorphs were traditionally divided. Females have a genital plate (epigynum) and a "flow through" fertilization system; males have complex palpal bulbs. Molecular phylogenetic studies have supported the monophyly of Entelegynae.
Cyrtophora citricola, also known as the tropical tent-web spider, is an orb-weaver spider in the family Araneidae. It is found in Asia, Africa, Australia, Costa Rica, Hispaniola, Colombia, and Southern Europe. In 2000, it was discovered in Florida.
Crossopriza lyoni is a widespread species of cellar spiders that prefer to live in or around human structures. They are commonly known as tailed cellar spiders, tailed daddy longlegs spiders, and sometimes box spiders. They all possess extremely long fragile legs that can reach up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and a body length of that ranges from 2.5 to 7 mm. Their abdomens are distinctly squarish when viewed from the side and their carapace is more or less circular when viewed from above. They also possess two kinds of sound-producing organs and have six eyes.
Agroeca is a genus of liocranid sac spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1861.
Scotina is a genus of sac spiders of the family Liocranidae which was named by the German zoologist Franz Anton Menge in 1873 with Scotina gracilipes as the type species. Scotina was thought to be a mainly Western Palearctic genus but one species, Scotina palliardi was found in Korea in 2011. The species in the genus Scotina are small spiders which have six to ten pairs of ventral spines which can be seen using a lens. They have a darker and shinier cephalothorax than in other genera within the Liocranidae. They also have light brown femora with the more distal segments of the legs are darker, especially on the first pairs. They are terrestrial spiders which are mainly found among moss and litter on the ground.
Climaciella brunnea, known sometimes by the common names wasp mantidfly and Brown mantidfly, is a predatory neuropteran insect in the family Mantispidae.
Agroeca minuta is a species of liocranid sac spider in the family Liocranidae. It is found in the United States.
Erigone atra is a species of dwarf spider or money spider, in the family Linyphiidae. It is commonly found in North America, Europe, parts of Russia, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. This spider is one of the most common Erigone spiders. E. atra is an important spider for agriculture, as it preys on pests such as aphids which are commonly found on crops. E. atra spiders are aeronautical spiders, as they travel via ballooning. This technique, sometimes referred to as kiting, allows E. atra spiders to traverse large distances and find new habitats when environmental or human stresses create unfit living environments. E. atra is difficult to differentiate from other congeneric species because of their similar sizes and coloring.
Agroeca ornata is a species of liocranid sac spider in the family Liocranidae. It is found in the United States, Canada, and Russia.
Agroeca trivittata is a species of liocranid sac spider in the family Liocranidae. It is found in the United States.
Agroeca pratensis is a species of liocranid sac spider in the family Liocranidae. It is found in the United States and Canada.
Agroeca proxima is a species of spider belonging to the family Liocranidae.
