| Velvet spiders Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Eresus kollari, male | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Eresidae C. L. Koch, 1845 |
| Diversity | |
| 9 genera, 128 species | |
| |
Velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 100 species in 9 genera[1]) of spiders almost entirely limited to the Old World, with the exception of one species known from Brazil. In Europe, some are commonly called the ladybird spiders.