Leptonetidae is a family of small spiders adapted to live in dark and moist places such as caves. The family is relatively primitive having diverged around the Middle Jurassic period. They were first described by Eugène Simon in 1890.
Norman Ira Platnick was an American biological systematist and arachnologist. At the time of his death, he was a professor emeritus of the Richard Gilder Graduate School and Peter J. Solomon Family Curator Emeritus of the invertebrate zoology department of the American Museum of Natural History. A 1973 Ph.D. recipient at Harvard University, Platnick described over 1,800 species of spiders from around the world, making him the second most prolific spider taxonomist in history, behind only Eugène Simon. Until 2014 he was also the maintainer of the World Spider Catalog, a website formerly hosted by the AMNH which tracks the arachnology literature, and attempts to maintain a comprehensive list, sorted taxonomically, of every species of spider which has been formally described. In 2007 he received the International Society of Arachnology's Bonnet award, named for Pierre Bonnet, in recognition of his work on the catalog.
Austrochilidae is a small spider family with nine species in two genera. Austrochilus and Thaida are endemic to the Andean forest of central and southern Chile and adjacent Argentina.
Symphytognathidae is a family of spiders with 90 described species in eight genera. They occur in the tropics of Central and South America and the Australian region. Exceptions include Anapistula benoiti, Anapistula caecula, and Symphytognatha imbulunga, found in Africa, Anapistula ishikawai, found in Japan, and Anapistula jerai, found in Southeast Asia.
Sphodros is a genus of North American purseweb spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1835. It was considered a synonym of Atypus until 1980.
Sphodros rufipes, sometimes called the red legged purseweb spider, is a mygalomorph spider from the southern and eastern United States, though it has been photographed as far north as Minnesota. It has confirmed sightings in Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, West Virginia, Tennessee, Delaware, Louisiana, and Tuckernuck Island in Massachusetts. One recent sighting shows that these spiders can also be found in Canada, while another reveals that they've been spotted in Kansas.
Cesonia is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.
Myrmekiaphila is a genus of North American mygalomorph trapdoor spiders in the family Euctenizidae, and was first described by G. F. Atkinson in 1886. All described species are endemic to the southeastern United States.
Sphodros niger, the black purse-web spider, is a mygalomorph spider from the Eastern United States. It is listed as a special concern species in Connecticut.
Hexurella is a genus of spiders, found in the United States and Mexico. It is the only genus in the family Hexurellidae.
Anapisona is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Anapidae, first described by Willis J. Gertsch in 1941.
Appaleptoneta is a genus of North American Leptonetids that was first described by Norman I. Platnick in 1986.
Calileptoneta is a genus of North American Leptonetids that was first described by Norman I. Platnick in 1986.
Ozarkia is a genus of North American leptonetids that was first described by J. Ledford in 2011.
Talanites is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.
Titanebo is a genus of North American running crab spiders that was first described by Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker in 1933.
Selenyphantes is a genus of sheet weavers. It was first described by Willis J. Gertsch & L. I. Davis in 1946.
Phrurotimpus is a genus of araneomorph spiders first described by R. V. Chamberlin and Wilton Ivie in 1935. The name is a compound adjective meaning "guarding the stone". Originally added to the Liocranidae, it was moved to the Corinnidae in 2002, then to the Phrurolithidae in 2014. They have red egg sacs that look like flattened discs, often found on the underside of stones.
Phonotimpus is a genus of North American araneomorph spiders in the family Phrurolithidae. It was first described by Willis J. Gertsch and Louie Irby Davis in 1940, and placed with the Liocranidae. It was transferred to Corinnidae in 2002, then to the Phrurolithidae in 2014.
