The genus Argiope includes rather large spiders that often have a strikingly coloured abdomen. These spiders are distributed throughout the world. Most countries in tropical or temperate climates host one or more species that are similar in appearance. The etymology of Argiope is from a Latin word argentum meaning silver. The carapace of Argiope species is typically covered in silvery hairs, and when crawling in the sun, they reflect it in a way that gives them a metallic, white appearance.
The Thomisidae are a family of spiders, including about 170 genera and over 2,100 species. The common name crab spider is often linked to species in this family, but is also applied loosely to many other families of spiders. Many members of this family are also known as flower spiders or flower crab spiders.
Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae. They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or chasing it over short distances; others wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.
Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae, are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting. They are also 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. In southern Africa the genus Palystes are known as rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders. Commonly, they are confused with baboon spiders from the Mygalomorphae infraorder, which are not closely related.
Nursery web spiders (Pisauridae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890. Females of the family are known for building special nursery webs. When their eggs are about to hatch, a female spider builds a tent-like web, places her egg sac inside, and stands guard outside, hence the family's common name. Like wolf spiders, however, nursery web spiders are roaming hunters that don't use webs for catching prey.
Dolomedes is a genus of large spiders of the family Pisauridae. They are also known as fishing spiders, raft spiders, dock spiders or wharf spiders. Almost all Dolomedes species are semiaquatic, with the exception of the tree-dwelling D. albineus of the southeastern United States. Many species have a striking pale stripe down each side of the body.
Gasteracantha is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. Species of the genus are known as spiny-backed orb-weavers, spiny orb-weavers, or spiny spiders. The females of most species are brightly colored with six prominent spines on their broad, hardened, shell-like abdomens. The name Gasteracantha is derived from the Greek gaster (γαστήρ), meaning "belly, abdomen", and akantha (άκανθα), meaning "thorn, spine". Spiny-backed orb-weavers are sometimes colloquially called "crab spiders" because of their shape, but they are not closely related to the true crab spiders. Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider, star spider, kite spider, or jewel spider.
Thiania is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846.
Psechridae is a family of araneomorph spiders with about 70 species in two genera. These are among the biggest cribellate spiders with body lengths up to 2 centimetres (0.79 in) and funnel webs more than 1 metre in diameter.
Badumna is a genus of intertidal spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1890. They are harmless spiders that can be found around human structures and buildings. The most well-known species is B. insignis, also known as the "black house spider" or "black window spider".
The Artoriinae are a subfamily of wolf spiders. The monophyly of the subfamily has been confirmed in a molecular phylogenetic study, although the relationships among the subfamilies was shown to be less certain.
Artoriopsis is a genus of wolf spiders first described by Volker W. Framenau in 2007. It is endemic to Australia and is most diverse in the southern half of the continent, though A. anacardium is found in the tropical north of Australia. Its body size ranges from 3 to 11 mm, with males smaller than females. It appears to prefer open, vegetated or sandy areas of moderate humidity.
Wanda Wesołowska is a Polish zoologist known for her work with jumping spiders. She has described more species of jumping spider than any contemporary writer, and is second only to Eugène Simon in the history of arachnology. Originally a student of ornithology, she developed an interest in jumping spiders while still a student at the Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in the 1970s.
Artoria is a genus of spiders in the family Lycosidae. It was first described in 1877 by Tamerlan Thorell, and the type species is Artoria parvula. In 1960, Roewer erected the genera Artoriella and Trabeola. However, in 2002, Volker Framenau reviewed Artoria and synonymised both these genera with Artoria.
Dendrolycosa is a genus of nursery web spiders that was first described by Carl Ludwig Doleschall in 1859.
Boomerangiana is a monotypic genus of Australian crab spiders in the tribe Misumenini containing the single species, Boomerangiana dimidiata. They are small white spiders, only 2 to 3 millimetres long, with silvery round abdomen. The species was originally described in 1867 by Ludwig Koch from an immature female found in Brisbane. Though he originally placed it with Xysticus, after several more were found in Rockhampton and Gayndah and more information became available, he moved the species to Diaea. It was moved to its own genus in 2014 named Boomerangia, but was renamed Boomerangiana when it was discovered that the name was already in use for a family of nematodes.
Bomis is a genus of very small crab spiders, first described by German arachnologist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1874. Five species are currently described, with three species from India and two from Australia.
Anoteropsis hilaris, commonly referred as the garden wolf spider or the grey wolf spider, is a species of wolf spider that is endemic to New Zealand.
Venator marginatus is a wolf spider, endemic to Australia and found in Victoria.
Halocosa is a genus of wolf spiders first described by G. N. Azarkina and L. A. Trilikauskas in 2019. As of December 2021 it contains only three species: H. cereipes, H. hatanensis, and H. jartica. The type species, Halocosa cereipes, was originally described under the name "Lycosa cereipes".
