Ground spiders Temporal range: | |
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Callilepis nocturna, a ground spider found in the Palearctic realm | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Gnaphosidae Banks, 1892 |
Diversity | |
164 genera, 2583 species | |
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, [1] and common genera include Gnaphosa , Drassodes , Micaria , Cesonia , Zelotes and many others. They are closely related to Clubionidae. [2] At present, no ground spiders are known to be seriously venomous to humans.
Generally, ground spiders are characterized by having barrel-shaped anterior spinnerets that are one spinneret diameter apart. The main exception to this rule is found in the ant-mimicking genus Micaria. Another characteristic is an indentation in the endites (paired mouthparts anterior and lateral to the labium, or lip). All ground spiders lack a prey-capture web and generally run prey down on the surface. They hunt at night and spend the day in a silken retreat. [2] The genitalia are diverse and are a good model for studying the evolution of genitalia because of their peculiar copulatory mechanism. [3] The thick-walled egg sacs are guarded by the mother until the spiderlings hatch. [2]
Ground spiders hunt by active foraging, chasing down and subduing individual prey items. They are adapted to hunting large and potentially dangerous prey, including other spiders, which they subdue by using their silk. When hunting, ground spiders produce thick, gluey silk from their enlarged spinnerets and attempt to use it to entangle their prey in swathing attacks, often applying their webbing to their prey's legs and mouths. By immobilizing potential prey in this manner, ground spiders can subdue proportionally large creatures while reducing risk of injury to themselves from their prey's attempts to fight back. [4]
As of January 2024 [update] , the World Spider Catalog accepted the following genera: [5]
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.
Oonopidae, also known as goblin spiders, is a family of spiders consisting of over 1,600 described species in about 113 genera worldwide, with total species diversity estimated at 2000 to 2500 species. The type genus of the family is OonopsKeyserling, 1835.
Linyphiidae, spiders commonly known as sheet weavers, or money spiders is a family of very small spiders comprising 4706 described species in 620 genera worldwide. This makes Linyphiidae the second largest family of spiders after the Salticidae. The family is poorly understood due to their small body size and wide distribution; new genera and species are still being discovered throughout the world. The newest such genus is Himalafurca from Nepal, formally described in April 2021 by Tanasevitch. Since it is so difficult to identify such tiny spiders, there are regular changes in taxonomy as species are combined or divided.
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.
Prodidomidae is a family of spider, sometimes called long-spinneret ground spiders. It was formerly regarded as a subfamily of Gnaphosidae, but was raised to a family in 2022.
Drassodes is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1851. They are brown, gray, and red spiders that live under rocks or bark in mostly dry habitats, and are generally 3.8 to 11.6 millimetres long, but can reach up to 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length.
Cesonia is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.
Zelotes is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by J. Gistel in 1848.
Gnaphosa is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804. They all have a serrated keel on the retromargin of each chelicera.
Herpyllus is a genus of ground spiders first described by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz in 1832.
Micaria is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1851. They are 1.3 to 6.5 millimetres long.
Drassyllus is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by R. V. Chamberlin in 1922.
Eilica is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1891.
Haplodrassus is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by R. V. Chamberlin in 1922. They range from 3 to 10 millimetres. H. signifer is the most widespread species, found across North America except for Alaska and northern Canada.
Poecilochroa is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1874.
Synaphosus is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Norman I. Platnick & M. U. Shadab in 1980.
Talanites is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.
Prodidomus is a genus of long-spinneret ground spiders that was first described by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz in 1847.
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