Symphytognathidae

Dwarf orb-weavers
Crassignatha danaugirangensis , female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Symphytognathidae Hickman, 1931
Diversity
8 genera, 73 species

Symphytognathidae is a family of spiders with 90 ^[1] described species in eight genera. Most species inhabit the New World tropics and Oceania. ^[2]

The species Patu digua is considered to be one of the smallest spiders in the world with a body size of 0.37 millimetres (0.015 in). ^[3]

Distribution

Spiders in this family occur in the tropics of Central and South America and the Australian region (with Oceania). ^[2]

Exceptions include Anapistula benoiti , Anapistula caecula , and Symphytognatha imbulunga , found in Africa, Anapistula ishikawai , found in Japan, and Anapistula jerai , found in Southeast Asia. ^[2]

Morphology

Symphytognathidae are four, six or eight-eyed spiders and are generally small in size. The opisthosoma is covered in long hairs. ^[4]

Genera

Main article: List of Symphytognathidae species

As of April 2019 ^[update] , the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera: ^[2]

• Anapistula Gertsch, 1941 — Asia, South America, Portugal, Oceania, Africa, North America, Jamaica
• Anapogonia Simon, 1905 — Indonesia
• Crassignatha Wunderlich, 1995 — Indonesia, Malaysia
• Curimagua Forster & Platnick, 1977 — Panama, Venezuela
• Globignatha Balogh & Loksa, 1968 — Brazil, Belize
• Iardinis Simon, 1899 — Nepal, India
• Patu Marples, 1951 — Asia, Colombia, Oceania, Seychelles
• Swilda Miller, Griswold & Yin, 2009 — Asia
• Symphytognatha Hickman, 1931 — Oceania, South America, Caribbean, Mexico, Belize, South Africa

References

1. Li, Ya; Li, Shuqiang; Lin, Yucheng (19 November 2021). "Taxonomic study on fourteen symphytognathid species from Asia (Araneae, Symphytognathidae)". ZooKeys (1072): 1–47. Bibcode:2021ZooK.1072....1L. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1072.67935 . ISSN   1313-2989. PMC   8626413 . PMID   34899006.
2. "Family: Symphytognathidae Hickman, 1931". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
3. Forster, R. R.; Platnick, N. I. (1977). "A review of the spider family Symphytognathidae (Arachnida, Araneae)" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (2619): 20.
4. Schutt, Karin (March 2003). "Phylogeny of Symphytognathidae s.l. (Araneae, Araneoidea)". Zoologica Scripta. 32 (2): 129–151. doi: 10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00103.x . ISSN   0300-3256. S2CID   84908326.