Tube-dwelling spider

Tube-dwelling spiders
Temporal range: Eocene–present
Segestria florentina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Segestriidae
Simon, 1893
Diversity
5 genera, 160 species

Tube-dwelling spiders (Segestriidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.[1] It consists of five genera, two large and widespread, Segestria and Ariadna, and three smaller genera, Citharoceps, Gippsicola and Indoseges.[2] They are haplogyne spiders, related to the Dysderidae and placed in clade or superfamily Dysderoidea.

Members of this family are easily recognized because their first three pairs of legs are arranged forward instead of two and they have six eyes instead of eight, arranged in a semicircle.[1] The leg structure appears to be an adaptation for living in silken tubes. Unlike those of the atypical tarantulas, these tubes may branch and are often built in tree bark fissures, as well as under stones.

Both Segestria and Ariadna live in North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa and New Zealand, though Ariadna also lives in Australia.[2]

  1. ^ a b Simon, E. (1893). Histoire naturelle das araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NMBE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).