The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to their creation of trapdoors over their burrows. Other prominent groups include Australian funnel web spiders and tarantulas, with the latter accounting for around one third of all mygalomorphs.
Ctenizidae is a small family of mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation, and silk. They may be called trapdoor spiders, as are other, similar species, such as those of the families Liphistiidae, Barychelidae, and Cyrtaucheniidae, and some species in the Idiopidae and Nemesiidae. The name comes from the distinctive behavior of the spiders to construct trapdoors, and ambush prey from beneath them.
Lampshade spiders, family Hypochilidae, are among the most primitive of araneomorph spiders. There are two genera and twelve species currently recognized. Like mygalomorphs, most hypochilids have two pairs of book lungs, but like araneomorphs they have intersecting fangs, with the exception of some species which have chelicerae in an angle that is neither orthognathous or labidognathous. These long-legged spiders build typical "lampshade" style webs under overhangs and in caves. In the United States the fauna is primarily associated with the Appalachian, Rocky and California Mountains. Ten of the known species are found in these ranges, all in the genus Hypochilus. The genus Ectatosticta is found in China.
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 more than 48,500 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.
The Torreya trap-door spider is a species of spider in the family Halonoproctidae. It is endemic to the United States, and hitherto only known from along the Apalachicola River in Florida.
Cyclocosmia is a genus of mygalomorph trapdoor spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, when the family split in 2018, this genus was placed with the Halonoproctidae as the type genus. The name is derived from the Greek "kyklos" (κυκλος), meaning "circle", and "kosmeo" (κοσμεω), meaning "to adorn".
Ummidia is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, and was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1875.
Ummidia aedificatoria is a species of trap-door spider found in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. It builds a shallow silk-lined trapdoor burrow, similar to those of U. algeriana and U. picea. Only three female specimens have been positively identified, all ranging from 18 to 29 millimeters in length.
Ummidia algarve is a spider species found in Portugal. Unlike other known Ummidia species, it creates a trapdoor at the entrance of the burrow.
Ummidia picea is a spider species found in Spain.
Eucteniza is a genus of trapdoor spiders in the family Euctenizidae containing at least 14 species occurring in Mexico and the southern United States. Species are distinguished by a softened rear portion of the carapace, and males possess large spines on the first two pairs of walking legs that are used to hold females during mating. Like other trapdoor spiders they create burrows with a hinged lid, from which they await passing insects and other arthropods to prey upon. Many species are known from only one or two localities, or from only male specimens. More species are expected to be discovered. Eucteniza is closely related to spiders of the genera Entychides and Neoapachella.
Latouchia is a genus of Asian mygalomorph spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1901. Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the Halonoproctidae in 2018.
Conothele is a genus of mygalomorph spiders in the family Halonoproctidae, first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1878. Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the Halonoproctidae in 2018.
Cyclocosmia truncata is a species of cork-lid trapdoor spider in the family Halonoproctidae. It is found in the United States.
Halonoproctidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders, split off from the family Ctenizidae in 2018. Species in the family are widely distributed in North and Central America, Australasia, Asia, southern Europe and North Africa. One species is recorded from Venezuela in South America. They are relatively large, sombrely coloured spiders, that live in burrows with some kind of trapdoor.
Avicularioidea is a clade of mygalomorph spiders, one of the two main clades into which mygalomorphs are divided. It has been treated at the rank of superfamily.
Bipectina is a clade of avicularioid mygalomorph spiders first proposed by Pablo A. Goloboff in 1993, based on a morphological cladistic analysis. The clade was marked by a number of morphological features, and in particular by the presence of two rows of teeth on the superior tarsal claws of the legs of both sexes, meaning that the claws were bipectinate. The clade was supported by some subsequent analyses, although not all. A major phylogenetic study in 2020 upheld the monophyly of the clade, which contained 19 of the 25 accepted families of the Avicularioidea.
Cryptocteniza is a monotypic genus of North American mygalomorph spiders in the family Euctenizidae containing the single species, Cryptocteniza kawtak. It was first described by Jason Bond, C. A. Hamilton and R. L. Godwin in 2020, and it has only been found in the United States.
