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.
Orb-weaver spiders or araneids are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forest. "Orb" can in English mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
Long-jawed orb weavers or long jawed spiders (Tetragnathidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Anton Menge in 1866. They have elongated bodies, legs, and chelicerae, and build small orb webs with an open hub with few, wide-set radii and spirals with no signal line or retreat. Some species are often found in long vegetation near water.
Eriophora is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895. It occurs in the Americas, Australasia, and Africa. The name is derived from Ancient Greek roots, and means "wool bearing".
Gasteracantha is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. 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.
Ordgarius is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1886.
Micrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. Micrathena contains more than a hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland-dwelling species. The name is derived from the Greek "micro", meaning "small", and the goddess Athena.
Bertrana is a genus of Central and South American orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1884. It includes some of the smallest known araneid orb-weavers. Bertrana striolata females are 4.5 mm long or less. The eight eyes are in two rows. The abdomen is white on top and on the sides, with multiple hieroglyphic-like lines and bars of many different shapes and length. In females, these are red, in males, black.
Plebs is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by M. M. Joseph & V. W. Framenau in 2012. Though many of its species have been moved around, a 2012 taxonomic revision suggested that these spiders compris a monophyletic genus of closely related spiders that evolved in Australia and, through subsequent movements, spread into parts of Asia and Pacific islands.
Neoscona oaxacensis, known as western spotted orbweaver and zig-zag spider, is a species of spider in the family Araneidae. It is distributed in the Americas, from Kansas and California south to Venezuela and Peru, including the Galápagos Islands.
Poltys is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1843. Many species are cryptic and are known to masquerade as leaves and twigs during the day, and build an orb web at night to capture prey. The shape of the abdomen which often gives the impression of a rough and broken branch can vary among individuals within a species. The web is eaten up before dawn and reconstructed after dusk.
Verrucosa is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Henry McCook in 1888. It contains almost fifty described species, most of which live in South America. The only species in the United States is the arrowhead spider.
Acroaspis is a genus of South Pacific orb-weaver spiders first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1878.
Carepalxis is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1872. These spiders only build webs at night and break them down in the morning. C. coronata builds orb webs up to 60 centimetres (24 in) in diameter with closely woven spiral threads.
Dolophones is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1837.
Epeiroides is a genus of orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Epeiroides bahiensis. It was first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1885, and has only been found in Costa Rica and Brazil.
Paraplectanoides is a genus of Australian orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1886. As of April 2019 it contains only two species.
Pronous is a genus of South American and African orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1881.
Taczanowskia is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1879.
Chthonos is a genus of South American ray spiders that was created by Jonathan A. Coddington in 1986 because the previous name was preoccupied. Originally placed with the Orb-weaver_spiders under the name Tecmessa, it was transferred to the ray spiders in 1986.
