The Thomisidae are a family of spiders, including about 175 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.
The family Dipluridae, known as curtain-web spiders are a group of spiders in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, that have two pairs of booklungs, and chelicerae (fangs) that move up and down in a stabbing motion. A number of genera, including that of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax), used to be classified in this family but have now been moved to Hexathelidae.
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.
Miturgidae is a family of araneomorph spiders that includes nearly 170 species in 29 genera worldwide. First described by Eugène Simon in 1886, it has been substantially revised, including of previous family "Zoridae" as subfamily "Zorinae" and excluding the family "Xenoctenidae". Several genera have also been removed, such as the large genus Cheiracanthium, which was transferred to the Cheiracanthiidae.
White-tailed spiders are spiders native to southern and eastern Australia, and so named because of the whitish tips at the end of their abdomens. The body size is up to 18 mm, with a leg-span of 28 mm. Common species are Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina. Both these species have been introduced into New Zealand.
The black house spider or common black spider is a common species of cribellate Australian spider, introduced to New Zealand and Japan. A closely related species, Badumna longinqua, the grey house spider, has a similar distribution, but has also been introduced to the Americas.
Clynotis is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae, or jumping spiders, contained within the subfamily Marpissinae. They are found across Australia and New Zealand, with some species occupying the Auckland Islands and one found exclusively on Snares Island. There are eight species currently described within the genus, the earliest noted being the type species Clynotis severus, first described in Queensland, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch. The most recent was described in 1931 by Lucien Berland. Two other species previously held within the genus were subsequently reclassified into the genus Tara.
Holoplatys is a genus of the spider family Salticidae.
Jotus is a spider genus of the family Salticidae, native to Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia. There are thought to be many as yet undescribed species in southern Australia.
Barychelidae, also known as brushed trapdoor spiders, is a spider family with about 300 species in 42 genera. 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.
Migidae, also known as tree trapdoor spiders, is a family of spiders with about 100 species in eleven genera. They are small to large spiders with little to no hair and build burrows with a trapdoor. Some species live in tree fern stems. They have a Gondwanan distribution, found almost exclusively on the Southern Hemisphere, occurring in South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.
Lamponidae is a family of spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1893. It contains about 200 described species in 23 genera, most of which are endemic to Australia, with the genus Centrocalia endemic to New Caledonia, and two Lampona species also occurring in New Zealand where it is commonly known as the "White Tail" spider. Lampona papua is endemic to New Guinea, where two otherwise Australian species also occur.
Cheiracanthium, commonly called yellow sac spiders, is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Cheiracanthiidae, and was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1839. They are usually pale in colour, and have an abdomen that can range from yellow to beige. Both sexes range in size from 5 to 10 millimetres. They are unique among common house spiders because their tarsi do not point either outward, like members of Tegenaria, or inward, like members of Araneus), making them easier to identify. The name is a reference to the backwardly directed process on the cymbium of the male palp. The species epithet is derived from the Greek Ancient Greek: χείρ, romanized: cheir, meaning "hand", and Acanthium, a genus of thorny-stemmed plants.
Uliodon is a genus of spiders endemic to New Zealand and possibly Australia. They are commonly referred to as vagrant spiders. Vagrant spiders vary in colour from dark brown to almost black, they typically have a body length of 20mm and a 50mm leg span. When alive, the interior of the male’s pedipalp are brightly coloured.
Heteropoda cervina, commonly called the brown huntsman, is a large species of spider in the family Sparassidae often found in leaf litter in central Queensland, Australia. The species was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875 as Sarotes cervinus.
Pandercetes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in his 1875 treatise on Australian spiders. They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat.
Hemicloea is a genus of South Pacific flat spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1870. Originally placed with the ground spiders, it was moved to the Trochanteriidae in 2018.
Badumna longinqua or the grey house spider is a species of spiders in the family Desidae. Native to eastern Australia, it has been introduced into New Zealand, Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Uruguay.
