Ground spiders comprise Gnaphosidae, the seventh largest spider family with over 2,000 described species in over 100 genera distributed worldwide. There are 105 species known to central Europe, and common genera include Gnaphosa, Drassodes, Micaria, Cesonia, Zelotes and many others. They are closely related to Clubionidae. At present, no ground spiders are known to be seriously venomous to humans.
The Agelenidae are a large family of spiders in the suborder Araneomorphae. Well-known examples include the common "grass spiders" of the genus Agelenopsis. Nearly all Agelenidae are harmless to humans, but the bite of the hobo spider may be medically significant, and some evidence suggests it might cause necrotic lesions, but the matter remains subject to debate. The most widely accepted common name for members of the family is funnel weaver.
Amaurobiidae is a family of three-clawed cribellate or ecribellate spiders found in crevices and hollows or under stones where they build retreats, and are often collected in pitfall traps. Unlidded burrows are sometimes quite obvious in crusty, loamy soil. They are difficult to distinguish from related spiders in other families, especially Agelenidae, Desidae and Amphinectidae. Their intra- and interfamilial relationships are contentious. According to the World Spider Catalog, 2023, the family Amaurobiidae includes 286 species in 50 genera.
Stiphidiidae, also called sheetweb spiders, is a family of araneomorph spiders first described in 1917. Most species are medium size and speckled brown with long legs. All members of this family occur in New Zealand and Australia except for Asmea. They build a horizontal sheet-like web under rocks, hence the name "sheetweb spiders".
Phryganoporus is a genus of Australian intertidal spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1908. Its five species only occur in Australia and Tasmania, with one species also occurring on Norfolk Island, south of New Caledonia. The name is derived from Greek phryganon and poros ("hole"), referring to the web that is often built on dry shrubs or low vegetation with a hole as an entrance.
The Agelenoidea or agelenoids are a superfamily or informal group of entelegyne araneomorph spiders. Phylogenetic studies since 2000 have not consistently recovered such a group, with more recent studies rejecting it.
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".
Cambridgea is a spider genus in the family Desidae and some of the first endemic spiders described from New Zealand. They are known for constructing large horizontal sheet webs measuring up to a square metre in larger species. Cambridgea were originally assigned to the Agelenidae by Dalmas in 1917 but were reassigned to the Stiphidiidae in 1973. Most recently, both Cambridgea and sister genus Nanocambridgea were reassigned to the Desidae, subfamily Porteriinae on the basis of molecular evidence.
Desis marina, the intertidal spider, is a spider species found in New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the Chatham Islands.
Syrorisa is a monotypic genus of South Pacific intertidal spiders containing the single species, Syrorisa misella. It was first described by Eugène Simon in 1908, and has only been found on New Caledonia and Australia. Originally placed in the Amaurobiidae, it was moved to the Desidae in 1967.
Baiami is a genus of Australian intertidal spiders that was first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967. Originally placed with the Stiphidiidae, it was transferred to the Desidae after the results of a 2019 genetic analysis.
Corasoides is a genus of South Pacific intertidal spiders that was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1929. Originally placed with the Agelenidae, it was moved to the Stiphidiidae in 1973, and to the Desidae after a 2017 genetic study.
Nanocambridgea is a monotypic genus of intertidal spiders containing the single species, Nanocambridgea gracilipes. It was first described by Raymond Robert Forster & C. L. Wilton in 1973, and is found on New Zealand. Originally placed with the Stiphidiidae, it was moved to the Desidae after a 2017 genetic study. A male described as N. grandis in 2000 was synonymized with Cambridgea reinga in 2011.
Toxopidae is a small family of araneomorph spiders, first described in 1940. For many years it was sunk into Desidae as a subfamily, although doubts were expressed as to whether this was correct. A large-scale molecular phylogenetic study in 2016 led to the family being revived.
Cambridgea foliata, commonly known as New Zealand sheet-web spider, is a species of spider in the family Desidae. These nocturnal, arboreal spiders are endemic to the North Island of New Zealand and build large horizontal sheet-webs with a large number of knock-down threads.
Mamoea grandiosa is a species in the spider family Desidae that is endemic to New Zealand and was first described by Ray Forster and Cecil Wilton in 1973. The holotype specimen was collected by Beverley Holloway at Solomon Island, off Stewart Island, during the 1955 Dominion Museum expedition.
