Udubidae

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Udubidae
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Udubidae
Griswold & Polotow, 2015
Diversity
4 genera, 19 species
Distribution.udubidae.1.png

Udubidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, most of whose members were formerly placed in the family Zorocratidae, which is no longer accepted. [1]

Contents

Phylogeny

A study investigating the phylogenetic relationships of lycosoid spiders concluded that the genera formerly placed in the family Zorocratidae fell into two groups. The largest group formed the sister clade to the "grate-shaped tapetum clade" (see the cladogram below). The type genus, Zorocrates , grouped with Zoropsis inside the grate-shaped tapetum clade. [1] Some earlier studies had also cast doubt on the monophyly of the Zorocratidae. A 2003 study found that Raecius, Uduba, and Zorodictyna formed a clade somewhat separated from Zorocrates. [2] A 2014 study including Zorocrates and Raecius did not find that they grouped together. [3]

Moving the type genus to a different family meant that a new family name was needed for the remaining members. Griswold and Polotow proposed "Udubidae", with the type genus Uduba. [1] As of November 2015, the World Spider Catalog accepted this family. [4] A summary phylogeny is shown below. [1]

RTA clade

basal groups

Dionycha

Oval calamistrum clade

Udubidae (including Raecius, Uduba & Zorodictyna)

Grateshaped tapetum clade

Zoropsidae (including Zorocrates)

Lycosoidea

(Shading marks genera formerly placed in Zorocratidae.)

Genera

As of April 2019, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera: [4]

Related Research Articles

Crevice weaver Family of spiders

Crevice weaver spiders (Filistatidae) comprise cribellate spiders with features that have been regarded as "primitive" for araneomorph spiders. They are weavers of funnel or tube webs. The family contains 18 genera and more than 120 described species worldwide.

Zorocratidae is a formerly accepted family of spiders. Most of the genera formerly placed in this family have been transferred to the family Udubidae. The type genus, Zorocrates, is now placed in the Zoropsidae.

Tengellidae

Tengellidae is a former family of spiders that has been merged into the family Zoropsidae. Genera formerly placed in Tengellidae now in Zoropsidae include:

Spider taxonomy

Spider taxonomy is that part of taxonomy that is concerned with the science of naming, defining and classifying all spiders, members of the Araneae order of the arthropod class Arachnida with about 46,000 described species. However, there are likely many species that have escaped the human eye to this day, and many specimens stored in collections waiting to be described and classified. It is estimated that only one third to one half of the total number of existing species have been described.

Austrochilidae

Austrochilidae is a small spider family with ten species in three genera. Austrochilus and Thaida are endemic to the Andean forest of central and southern Chile and adjacent Argentina, while Hickmania is endemic to Tasmania. The monophyly of the family and the relationships among the genera are uncertain as of May 2017.

Nephilinae Spider family

Nephilinae is a spider subfamily of the family Araneidae with seven genera. The various genera in Nephilinae were formerly grouped in the family Nephilidae, and before that in the Tetragnathidae and in the Araneidae. All nephiline genera partially renew their webs. Spiders in the subfamily Nephilinae are commonly referred to as golden orb-weavers.

Archaeidae

Archaeidae, also known as assassin spiders and pelican spiders, is a spider family with about ninety described species in five genera. It contains small spiders, ranging from 2 to 8 millimetres long, that prey exclusively on other spiders. They are unusual in that they have "necks", ranging from long and slender to short and fat. The name "pelican spider" refers to these elongated jaws and necks used to catch their prey. Living species of Archaeidae occur in South Africa, Madagascar and Australia, with the sister family Mecysmaucheniidae occurring in southern South America and New Zealand.

Dionycha

The Dionycha are a clade of spiders (Araneomorphae:Entelegynae), characterized by the possession of two tarsal claws with tufts of hairs (setae) beside them, which produce strong adhesion, enabling some species to climb glass. The circumscription of the group has varied widely; a 2014 analysis resulted in about 20 families, including Salticidae, Thomisidae, and Clubionidae. Spiders in this group have better senses than others, some even show courtship dances and songs.

Lycosoidea

Lycosoidea is a clade or superfamily of araneomorph spiders. The traditional circumscription was based on a feature of the eyes. The tapetum is a reflective layer at the back of the eye, thought to increase sensitivity in low light levels. Lycosoids were then defined by having a "grate-shaped" tapetum. Research from the late 1990s onwards suggests that this feature has evolved more than once, possibly as many as five times, so that the original Lycosoidea is paraphyletic. Studies published in 2014 and 2015 suggest that a smaller group of families does form a clade.

Palpimanoidea

The Palpimanoidea or palpimanoids, also known as assassin spiders, are a group of araneomorph spiders, originally treated as a superfamily. As with many such groups, its circumscription has varied. As of September 2018, the following five families were included:

Agelenoidea

The Agelenoidea or agelenoids are a superfamily or informal group of entelegyne araneomorph spiders. Phylogenetic studies since 2000 have not consistently recovered such a group, with more recent studies rejecting it.

The Haplogynae or haplogynes are one of the two main groups into which araneomorph spiders have traditionally been divided, the other being the Entelegynae. Morphological phylogenetic studies suggested that the Haplogynae formed a clade; more recent molecular phylogenetic studies refute this, although many of the ecribellate haplogynes do appear to form a clade, Synspermiata.

RTA clade

The RTA clade is a clade of araneomorph spiders, united by the possession of a retrolateral tibial apophysis – a backward-facing projection on the tibia of the male pedipalp. The clade contains over 21,000 species, almost half the current total of about 46,000 known species of spider. Most of the members of the clade are wanderers and do not build webs. Despite making up approximately half of all modern spider diversity, there are no unambiguous records of the group from the Mesozoic and molecular clock evidence suggests that the group began to diversify during the Late Cretaceous.

Viridasiidae Family of spiders

Viridasiidae is a family of araneomorph spiders split from the family Ctenidae in 2015.

Zorodictyna is a genus of spiders in the family Udubidae native to Madagascar. It has been described as an intermediate genus between Zoropsidae and Dictynidae, though it is now placed in Udubidae. This genus was originally placed in the family Zoropsidae, but it has been reassigned several times since. In 1967, Lehtinen moved it to Miturgidae. In 1999, it was moved back to Zoropsidae, and in 2015, it was moved to Udubidae.

Campostichomma is a genus of spiders in the family Udubidae native to Sri Lanka. Many of its species were moved to either Griswoldia or Devendra. This genus was originally placed in the family Agelenidae. It was moved to Miturgidae in 1967, to Zoropsidae in 1999, then to Udubidae in 2015.

Toxopidae Family of spiders

Toxopidae is a small family of araneomorph spiders, first described in 1940. For many years it was sunk into Desidae as a subfamily, although doubts were expressed as to whether this was correct. A large-scale molecular phylogenetic study in 2016 led to the family being revived.

Vulsor is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Viridasiidae, first described by Eugène Simon in 1889. Originally placed with the wandering spiders, it was moved to the Viridasiidae in 2015.

Manzuma is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family Salticidae native to Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Polotow, Daniele; Carmichael, Anthea & Griswold, Charles E. (2015). "Total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of Lycosoidea spiders (Araneae, Entelegynae)". Invertebrate Systematics. 29 (2): 124–163. doi: 10.1071/IS14041 .
  2. Davila, Diana Silva (2003), "Higher-level relationships of the spider family Ctenidae (Araneae, Ctenoidea)", Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (274), retrieved 2015-10-17
  3. Ramírez, M. (2014), The morphology and phylogeny of Dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, retrieved 2015-10-31, p. 289
  4. 1 2 "Family: Udubidae Griswold & Polotow, 2015". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-26.