Barychelidae

Brushed-footed trap-door spiders Temporal range: Neogene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Sason colemani from Australia
Sason robustum with nest
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Clade:	Avicularioidea
Family:	Barychelidae Simon, 1889
Diversity
39 genera, 285 species

Barychelidae, also known as brushed trapdoor spiders, is a spider family with about 300 species in 39 genera. ^[1]

Behaviour

• 
  Trittame loki in burrow
• 
  closed burrow

Most spiders in this family build trapdoor burrows. For example, the 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long Sipalolasma builds its burrow in rotted wood, with a hinged trapdoor at each end. The 10 millimetres (0.39 in) long Idioctis builds its burrow approximately 5 centimetres (2.0 in) deep, just below the high tide level, sealing the opening with a thin trapdoor. ^[2]

Some species avoid flooding by plugging their burrows, while others can avoid drowning by trapping air bubbles within the hairs covering their bodies. ^{[3] [ example needed ]} Some members of this group have a rake on the front surface of their chelicerae used for compacting burrow walls. ^[4] These spiders can run up glass like tarantulas, and some can stridulate, though it isn't audible to humans. ^[5]

Distribution

• 
  Rhianodes atratus

Barychelids are found in Australia, New Caledonia, South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, New Guinea, and Pacific islands. ^[1]

Genera

Main article: List of Barychelidae species

• 
  Ozicrypta cooloola
• 
  Seqocrypta jakara
• 
  Trittame loki

As of October 2025 ^[update] , this family includes 39 genera: ^[1]

• Adelonychia Walsh, 1890 – India, Sri Lanka
• Ammonius Thorell, 1899 – Cameroon, Ivory Coast
• Atrophothele Pocock, 1903 – Yemen
• Aurecocrypta Raven, 1994 – Australia
• Barycheloides Raven, 1994 – New Caledonia
• Barychelus Simon, 1889 – New Caledonia
• Cosmopelma Simon, 1889 – Brazil
• Cyphonisia Simon, 1889 – Africa
• Encyocrypta Simon, 1889 – New Caledonia
• Eubrachycercus Pocock, 1897 – Somalia
• Fijocrypta Raven, 1994 – Fiji
• Idioctis L. Koch, 1874 – Oceania, Madagascar, Taiwan, Singapore
• Idiommata Ausserer, 1871 – Australia
• Idiophthalma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 – South America
• Mandjelia Raven, 1994 – Australia, New Caledonia
• Monodontium Kulczyński, 1908 – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
• Moruga Raven, 1994 – Australia
• Natgeogia Raven, 1994 – New Caledonia
• Neodiplothele Mello-Leitão, 1917 – Brazil
• Nihoa Raven & Churchill, 1992 – Hawaii, Melanesia
• Orstom Raven, 1994 – New Caledonia
• Ozicrypta Raven, 1994 – Australia
• Paracenobiopelma Feio, 1952 – Brazil, Ecuador
• Pisenor Simon, 1889 – Africa
• Plagiobothrus Karsch, 1892 – Sri Lanka
• Questocrypta Raven, 1994 – New Caledonia
• Rhianodes Raven, 1985 – Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore
• Sason Simon, 1887 – Seychelles, Asia, Oceania
• Sasonichus Pocock, 1900 – India
• Seqocrypta Raven, 1994 – Australia
• Sipalolasma Simon, 1892 – Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka
• Strophaeus Ausserer, 1875 – Panama, South America
• Synothele Simon, 1908 – Australia
• Tigidia Simon, 1892 – Madagascar, Mauritius, India
• Trittame L. Koch, 1874 – Australia
• Troglothele Fage, 1929 – Cuba
• Tungari Raven, 1994 – Australia
• Zophorame Raven, 1990 – Australia
• Zophoryctes Simon, 1902 – Madagascar

References

1. "Family: Barychelidae Simon, 1889". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-06.
2. Murphy, Frances; Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society.
3. Bristowe, W.S. (September 1930). "XXXIV.— Notes on the biology of spiders .—II. Aquatic spiders". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6 (33): 343–347. doi:10.1080/00222933008673222. ISSN   0374-5481.
4. Levi, Herbert W.; Levi, Lorna R. Spiders and Their Kin. p. 20.
5. Raven, R.J. (1994). "Mygalomorph spiders of the Barychelidae in Australia and the Western Pacific". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 35 (2): 291–706.

• Raven, R.J. (1986): A revision of the spider genus Sason Simon (Sasoninae, Barychelidae, Mygalomorphae) and its historical biogeography. Journal of Arachnology14: 47–70. PDF Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Valerio, CE. (1986): Mygalomorph spiders in the Barychelidae (Araneae) from Costa Rica. J. Arachnol.14: 93–99. PDF Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (Psalistops venadensis, Trichopelma laselva)
• Schwendinger, P.J. (2003): Two new species of the arboreal trapdoor spider genus Sason (Araneae, Barychelidae) from Southeast Asia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology51(2): 197–207. PDF Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (S. sundaicum, S. andamanicum)

External links

• Citizen science observations for Barychelidae at iNaturalist

• Brush-footed trap-door spiders