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.
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.
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.
Alopecosa is a spider genus in the family Lycosidae, with about 160 species. They have a largely Eurasian distribution, although some species are found in North Africa and North America.
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.
Zelotes is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by J. Gistel in 1848.
Agroeca is a genus of liocranid sac spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1861.
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.
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.
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.
Nomisia is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by R. de Dalmas in 1921.
Synaphosus is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Norman I. Platnick & M. U. Shadab in 1980.
Trachyzelotes is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by H. Lohmander in 1944 as a subgenus of Zelotes, and was raised to genus status in 1967. It has a body length of 3 to 13 millimetres.
Civizelotes is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by A. Senglet in 2012.
Phrurolithus is a genus of araneomorph spiders first described by C. L. Koch in 1839. First placed with the Liocranidae, it was moved to the Corinnidae in 2002, then to the Phrurolithidae in 2014.
Zagrotes is a genus of Iranian ground spiders, first described by Alireza Zamani, Maria Chatzaki, Sergei L. Esyunin and Yuri M. Marusik in 2021.
