Anapidae
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Anapidae is a family of rather small
spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s with 233 described
extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...
species in 59 genera. It includes the former family Micropholcommatidae as the subfamily Micropholcommatinae, and the former family Holarchaeidae. Most species are less than long. They generally live in leaf litter and moss on the floor of rain forest. Many build orb webs with a diameter less than . In some species, such as '' Pseudanapis parocula'', the
pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...
s of the female are reduced to coxal stumps.


Description

Spiders of this family are very small, usually less than two millimeters long, and lack a
cribellum Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates. In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or ...
. They can have zero, six or eight eyes, the rear median eyes either reduced or missing. One species: 'Epigastrina typhlops' (Rix & Harvey, 2010) has no eyes, an adaption to life underground. In some genera the carapace is modified so that the eyes are raised higher than usual. Color can range from reddish brown, yellowish brown to pale, pigment reduced, creams. Generally both margins of
chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...
have teeth, one exception being 'Acrobleps hygrophilus' who lacks retromarginal teeth. The legs are short and spineless, though there are some with reduced spination such as the genus: 'Teutoniella' or with only one or two long spines such as 'Borneanapis' ). The labium has a spur that extends between the chelicerae and can be seen when the chelicerae are spread.


Distribution

Anapidae are found worldwide, particularly in South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Few genera occur in North America or Europe. Only '' Comaroma simoni'' and the three species of '' Zangherella'' are found in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
; '' Gertschanapis shantzi'' and '' Comaroma mendocino'' are found in the United States.


Systematics

The family Micropholcommatidae was synonymized with this family by Schütt in 2003 and by Lopa et al. in 2011, a change that has been accepted by the
World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...
. Similarly, the family Holarchaeidae was synonymized by Dimitrov et al. in 2017, and likewise accepted by the World Spider Catalog.


Genera

, the
World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...
accepts the following
extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...
genera: *'' Acrobleps'' Hickman, 1979 — Australia *'' Algidiella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — New Zealand *'' Anapis'' Simon, 1895 — South America, Central America, Mexico, Jamaica *'' Anapisona'' Gertsch, 1941 — South America, Central America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mexico *'' Austropholcomma'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia *'' Borneanapis'' Snazell, 2009 — Indonesia *'' Caledanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Caledonia *'' Chasmocephalon'' O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889 — Australia *'' Comaroma'' Bertkau, 1889 — Asia, United States *'' Conculus'' Kishida, 1940 — Papua New Guinea, Asia *'' Crassanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile, Argentina *'' Crozetulus'' Hickman, 1939 — Africa *'' Dippenaaria'' Wunderlich, 1995 — South Africa *'' Elanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile *'' Enielkenie'' Ono, 2007 — Taiwan *'' Eperiella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Chile, Australia *'' Epigastrina'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia *'' Eterosonycha'' Butler, 1932 — Australia *'' Forsteriola'' Brignoli, 1981 — Burundi, Rwanda, Congo *'' Gaiziapis'' Miller, Griswold & Yin, 2009 — China *'' Gertschanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1990 — United States *'' Gigiella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia, Chile *'' Guiniella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Papua New Guinea *'' Hickmanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Holarchaea'' Forster, 1955 — Australia, New Zealand *'' Mandanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Caledonia *'' Maxanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Metanapis'' Brignoli, 1981 — Africa, Nepal *'' Micropholcomma'' Crosby & Bishop, 1927 — Australia *'' Minanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile, China, Argentina *'' Montanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Caledonia *'' Normplatnicka'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia, Chile *'' Nortanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Novanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Zealand *'' Octanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Olgania'' Hickman, 1979 — Australia *'' Paranapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Zealand *'' Patelliella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia *'' Pecanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile *'' Plectochetos'' Butler, 1932 — Australia *'' Pseudanapis'' Simon, 1905 — Asia, Germany, South America, Africa, Mexico, Central America, Papua New Guinea *'' Pua'' Forster, 1959 — New Zealand *'' Queenslanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Raveniella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — Australia *'' Rayforstia'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — New Zealand, Australia *'' Risdonius'' Hickman, 1939 — Australia *'' Sheranapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile *'' Sinanapis'' Wunderlich & Song, 1995 — China, Laos, Vietnam *'' Sofanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Chile *'' Spinanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Taliniella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — New Zealand *'' Taphiassa'' Simon, 1880 — Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka *'' Tasmanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Teutoniella'' Brignoli, 1981 — Chile, Brazil *'' Tinytrella'' Rix & Harvey, 2010 — New Zealand *'' Tricellina'' Forster & Platnick, 1989 — Chile *'' Victanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — Australia *'' Zangherella'' Caporiacco, 1949 — Europe, Algeria, Turkey *'' Zealanapis'' Platnick & Forster, 1989 — New Zealand There are also genera only known as fossils, typically in
Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...
:


See also

* List of Anapidae species


References

{{Authority control Araneomorphae families Cosmopolitan spiders Taxa named by Eugène Simon