Symphytognathidae

Dwarf orb-weavers
male Crassignatha quadriventris
female Crassignatha danaugirangensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Symphytognathidae Hickman, 1931
Diversity
10 genera, 105 species
blue: reported countries (WSC)

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 some Anapistula species, with A. benoiti and A. caecula found in Africa, A. ishikawai found in Japan, and A. jerai found in Southeast Asia. Symphytognatha imbulunga is also found in Africa. ^[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 October 2025 ^[update] , this family includes ten genera and 105 species: ^[2]

• Anapistula Gertsch, 1941 – Africa, Asia, Portugal, Spain, Mexico to South America, Australia, Tonga
• Anapogonia Simon, 1905 – Indonesia
• Crassignatha Wunderlich, 1995 – Asia
• Curimagua Forster & Platnick, 1977 – Panama, Venezuela
• Globignatha Balogh & Loksa, 1968 – Belize, Brazil
• Iardinis Simon, 1899 – India, Nepal
• Kirinua S. Q. Li & Lin, 2021 – China
• Patu Marples, 1951 – Asia, Oceania, Colombia
• Swilda S. Q. Li & Lin, 2021 – China
• Symphytognatha Hickman, 1931 – South Africa, China, Mexico to Brazil, Australia, New Guinea

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. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-18.
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.

External links

• Citizen science observations for Symphytognathidae at iNaturalist