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.
| Tube-dwelling spiders Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Segestria florentina | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Segestriidae Simon, 1893 |
| Diversity | |
| 5 genera, 160 species | |
| |
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]
Genera
editAs of July 2021[update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[2]
- Ariadna Audouin, 1826—South America, Europe, North America, Oceania, Africa, Asia, Central America, Dominican Republic
- Citharoceps Chamberlin, 1924—United States, Mexico
- Gippsicola Hogg, 1900—Australia
- Indoseges Siliwal, Das, Choudhury & Giroti, 2021—India
- Segestria Latreille, 1804—Asia, North America, Europe, South America, Africa, New Zealand
The oldest unambiguous members of the family are known from the Eocene Baltic amber.[3] Cretaceous taxa Denticulsegestria, Jordansegestria, Jordariadna, Lebansegestria, Microsegestria, Myansegestria, Palaeosegestria and Parvosegestria, originally described as tube-dwelling spiders, might be members of the stem group of Segestriidae or stem dysderoids instead.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Simon, E. (1893). Histoire naturelle das araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
- ^ a b c "Family: Segestriidae Simon, 1893". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^ a b Magalhaes, I. L. F.; Azevedo, G. H. F.; Michalik, P.; Ramírez, M. J. (2020). "The fossil record of spiders revisited: implications for calibrating trees and evidence for a major faunal turnover since the Mesozoic". Biological Reviews. 95 (1): 184–217. doi:10.1111/brv.12559. PMID 31713947.
External links
edit
Media related to Segestriidae at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Segestriidae at Wikispecies
