The hobo spider is a member of the genus of spiders known colloquially as funnel web spiders, but not to be confused with the Australian funnel-web spider. Individuals construct a funnel-shaped structure of silk sheeting and lie in wait at the small end of the funnel for prey insects to blunder onto their webs. Hobo spiders sometimes build their webs in or around human habitations.
Lynx spider (Oxyopidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1870. Most species make little use of webs, instead spending their lives as hunting spiders on plants. Many species frequent flowers in particular, ambushing pollinators, much as crab spiders do. They tend to tolerate members of their own species more than most spiders do, and at least one species has been identified as exhibiting social behaviour.
Ground spiders comprise Gnaphosidae, the seventh largest spider family with nearly 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 most well 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.
Velvet spiders (Eresidae) are a small group of almost totally Old World spiders. The characteristics of this family of spiders are that they are entelegyne, eight-eyed araneomorph spiders that build unkempt webs. They are cribellate. Some species are nearly eusocial, lacking only a specialized caste system and a queen. They cooperate in brood rearing, unlike most other spiders except for some African agelenid spiders in the genus Agelena and a few others.
Psechridae is a family of araneomorph spiders with about 70 species in two genera. These are among the biggest cribellate spiders with body lengths up to 2 centimetres (0.79 in) and funnel webs more than 1 metre in diameter.
Ochyroceratidae is a six-eyed spider family, with 165 described species in ten genera. They are common inhabitants of caves and the tropical forest litter of South Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and South America. Considered an ecological counterpart of the Linyphiidae of the northern temperate zone, species are especially diverse in the Indo-Pacific region.
Trechaleidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890, and includes about 140 described species in 16 genera. They all live in Central and South America except for Shinobius orientalis, which is endemic to Japan.
Homalonychus is a genus of araneomorph spiders, and is the only genus in the Homalonychidae family. It was first described by George Marx in 1891. As of May 2019 it contains only three species: H. raghavai, H. selenopoides, and H. theologus. Two are found in the southern United States and Mexico: H. theologus is mostly found west of the Colorado River, while H. selenopoides is mostly found to the east, with some populations in Death Valley and near Mercury, Nevada.
Macrothele is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the Macrothelidae family, and was first described by A. Ausserer in 1871. It is the only genus in the family Macrothelidae, and most species occur in Asia, from India to Japan, and Java, with four found in Africa, and two in Europe. The name is derived from Ancient Greek μακρός ("makro-"), meaning "big", and θηλή ("thele"), referring to the spinnerets.
Plectreuridae, also called plectreurid spiders, is a small spider family confined to the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Only two living genera are known—the nominate genus Plectreurys and Kibramoa. In the past, the family was more widespread, with the Jurassic genus Eoplectreurys known from China, the Eocene Palaeoplectreurys baltica from Baltic amber and the Miocene Plectreurys pittfieldi from Dominican amber.
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs and chelicerae with fangs able to inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exceptions of air and sea colonization. As of July 2019, at least 48,200 spider species, and 120 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been dissension within the scientific community as to how all these families should be classified, as evidenced by the over 20 different classifications that have been proposed since 1900.
Caponiidae is a family of ecribellate haplogyne spiders that are unusual in a number of ways. They differ from other spiders in lacking book lungs and having the posterior median spinnerets anteriorly displaced to form a transverse row with the anterior lateral spinnerets. Most species have only two eyes, which is also unusual among spiders. A few species of Caponiidae variously have four, six or eight eyes. In some species the number of eyes will increase when the spiderling changes its skin as it grows towards adulthood.
Cheiracanthiidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1887. The largest genus currently recognized as belonging to this family is Cheiracanthium, which has previously been placed in both the Clubionidae and the Miturgidae.
Aphantaulax trifasciata is a species of ground spider in the genus Aphantaulax, family Gnaphosidae.
Cladothela is a genus of Asian ground spiders that was first described by Kyukichi Kishida in 1928.
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.
Hitobia is a genus of Asian ground spiders that was first described by T. Kamura in 1992.
Sernokorba is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by T. Kamura in 1992. As of May 2019 it contains only three species: S. fanjing, S. pallidipatellis, and S. tescorum.
Otacilia is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the Phrurolithidae family, first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1897.
