Prodidomidae

Last updated

Long-spinneret ground spiders
Eleleis limpopo 308353727 556306923.jpg
female Eleleis limpopo
Theuma cedri 306916978 553532011.jpg
female Theuma cedri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Prodidomidae
Simon, 1884
Genera

24 genera, 196 species

Prodidomidae range map.svg
blue: reported countries (WSC)
green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist)

Prodidomidae is a family of spider, sometimes called long-spinneret ground spiders. It was formerly regarded as a subfamily of Gnaphosidae, but was raised to a family in 2022. [1]

Contents

Spiders in the family are easily identified by the greatly elongated base of the piriform gland spigots. At least parts of their body are covered with shiny scales or setae. The posterior median eyes are flat and silvery, with a triangular, egg-shaped or irregularly rectangular shape. [2]

Biology

Spiders in the Prodidomidae are ground dwellers. Most species are nocturnal and hide during the day in litter, but Myandra species, which are probably mimicking ants, seem to be active during the day. [2] The genus Zimiris is synanthropic and thus found throughout the tropics.

Distribution

Although Theuma walteri was described from Turkmenistan by Eugène Simon, it is suspected that Simon accidentally exchanged its locality with that of Anagraphis pallens (Gnaphosidae); then T. walteri would have been collected in the Cape of Good Hope, while A. pallens is from Turkmenistan. [3]

Genera

As of January 2026, this family includes 24 genera and 196 species: [1]

A 2020 phylogenetic analysis involving 59 species of Prodidominae and 32 outgroup species did not recover Prodidominae as monophyletic because Anagrina did not arise within the subfamily. [4] The study re-established Molycriinae (including genera Cryptoerithus , Molycria , Nomindra , Wesmaldra , and Wydundra ) as a distinct subfamily in Gnaphosidae, a sister to Prodidominae. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Family Prodidomidae Simon, 1884". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  2. 1 2 Barbara Baehr: Prodidomidae
  3. ↑ Platnick & Baehr 2006
  4. 1 2 Rodrigues, Bruno V. B.; Rheims, Cristina A. (2020). "Phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Prodidominae (Arachnida: Araneae: Gnaphosidae)" . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (2): 654–708. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa013 .

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.