Araneomorphae
Encyclopedia
The Araneomorphae are a suborder of spider
s. They are distinguished by having fangs that oppose each other and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae
(tarantulas and their close kin), which have fangs that are nearly parallel in alignment.
This Atrax robustus (a member of the Hexathelidae
) is making a threat display, and by so doing shows very clearly the orientation of its fangs, which go up and down, parallel to the long axis of the spider's body. So it is a representative of the suborder Mygalomorphae, not Araneomorphae.
Unlike Mygalomorphae, which can live for up to 25 years, most Araneomorphae die after about a year.
s, which have become so common as pets that many people have seen them. There are a few other members of Mygalomorphae that one might see around homes or gardens, but they typically are relatively small and not easily noticed. For instance, the females of one such species lives and hunts from within a long silken tube, so unless one opens the tube or chances upon a male looking for a mate, one will never see them. The Araneomorphae, to the contrary, include the weavers of spiral webs
, the cobweb spiders
that live in the corners of our rooms and between windows and screens, the crab spider
s that lurk on the surfaces of the flowers in our gardens, the jumping spider
s that look back at us curiously from walls and tree trunks, the wolf spider
s that sometimes carpet good hunting sites in a sunny spot in the lawn, the large Huntsman
spiders that sometimes frighten people by getting into their cars or taking up residence behind wall clocks.
:
A cladogram
shows the relation among taxons.
Most spiders in the Haplogynae series have six eyes, while most of those in the Entelegynae series have eight.
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s. They are distinguished by having fangs that oppose each other and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae
Mygalomorphae
The Mygalomorphae, , are an infraorder of spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other .-Description:...
(tarantulas and their close kin), which have fangs that are nearly parallel in alignment.
Distinguishing characteristics
Note the difference in the orientations of the fangs of the two spiders below, representatives of the Mygalomorphae and the Araneomorphae.Mygalomorphae
Hexathelidae
The spider family Hexathelidae, the only family in the super-family Hexatheloidea, is one of two families of spiders known as funnel-webs...
) is making a threat display, and by so doing shows very clearly the orientation of its fangs, which go up and down, parallel to the long axis of the spider's body. So it is a representative of the suborder Mygalomorphae, not Araneomorphae.
Araneomorphae
In Araneomorphae, the fangs slope towards each other, giving these spiders many more possibilities than Mygalomorphae, which can only bite top down.Unlike Mygalomorphae, which can live for up to 25 years, most Araneomorphae die after about a year.
Spiders included
Almost all of the familiar spiders are included in this group. The major exception is the TarantulaTarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
s, which have become so common as pets that many people have seen them. There are a few other members of Mygalomorphae that one might see around homes or gardens, but they typically are relatively small and not easily noticed. For instance, the females of one such species lives and hunts from within a long silken tube, so unless one opens the tube or chances upon a male looking for a mate, one will never see them. The Araneomorphae, to the contrary, include the weavers of spiral webs
Orb-weaver spider
The "typical" orb-weaver spiders are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests...
, the cobweb spiders
Tangle web spider
Theridiidae is a large family of spiders, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders. The diverse family includes over 2200 species in over 100 genera) of three-dimensional space-web-builders found throughout the world...
that live in the corners of our rooms and between windows and screens, the crab spider
Crab spider
Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae...
s that lurk on the surfaces of the flowers in our gardens, the jumping spider
Jumping spider
The jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among invertebrates and use it in courtship, hunting and navigation...
s that look back at us curiously from walls and tree trunks, the wolf spider
Wolf spider
Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient Greek word "" meaning "wolf". They are robust and agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short...
s that sometimes carpet good hunting sites in a sunny spot in the lawn, the large Huntsman
Huntsman spider
Sparassidae are a family of spiders known as Huntsman spiders because of their speed and mode of hunting. They also are called giant crab spiders, because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places...
spiders that sometimes frighten people by getting into their cars or taking up residence behind wall clocks.
Systematics
The Araneomorphae are divided into two infraorders, the Hypochilae (containing only the family Hypochilidae), and the Neocribellatae. The Neocribellatae are in turn divided into the Austrochiloidea, and the two series Entelogynae and Haplogynae, each containing several superfamiliesTaxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
:
A cladogram
Cladogram
A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...
shows the relation among taxons.
Most spiders in the Haplogynae series have six eyes, while most of those in the Entelegynae series have eight.