Gradungulidae, also known as large-clawed spiders, is a

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 ...

family endemic to Australia and New Zealand. They are medium to large-sized haplogyne spiders with three claws and two pairs of book-lungs similar to Mygalomorphae. Some species build extensive webs with an upper retreat tangle and connecting threads to scaffolding. This supports the ladder-like catching platform that is glued to the ground. '' Hickmania'', ''Progradungula'' (a large spider with long legs like ''Hickmania'',), and ''Macrogradungula'' are the only cribellate genera of the family.

Species

'' Gradungula'' Gertsch, 1958 * '' Gradungula sorenseni'' Forster, 1955 —

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

'' Hickmania'' Forster, 1955 * '' Hickmania troglodytes'' (Higgins & Petterd, 1883) —

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

'' Kaiya'' Gray, 1987 * '' Kaiya bemboka'' Gray, 1987 —

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

* '' Kaiya brindabella'' (Moran, 1985) —

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

* '' Kaiya parnabyi'' Gray, 1987 — Victoria * '' Kaiya terama'' Gray, 1987 (

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

) — New South Wales '' Macrogradungula'' Gray, 1987 * '' Macrogradungula moonya'' Gray, 1987 —

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

'' Pianoa'' Forster, 1987 * '' Pianoa isolata'' Forster, 1987 — New Zealand '' Progradungula'' Forster & Gray, 1979 * '' Progradungula carraiensis'' Forster & Gray, 1979 (

) — New South Wales * '' Progradungula otwayensis'' Milledge, 1997 — Victoria '' Spelungula'' Forster, 1987 * '' Spelungula cavernicola'' Forster, 1987 — New Zealand '' Tarlina'' Gray, 1987 * '' Tarlina daviesae'' Gray, 1987 — Queensland * '' Tarlina milledgei'' Gray, 1987 — New South Wales * '' Tarlina noorundi'' Gray, 1987 (

) — New South Wales * '' Tarlina simipes'' Gray, 1987 — Queensland * '' Tarlina smithersi'' Gray, 1987 — New South Wales * '' Tarlina woodwardi'' (Forster, 1955) — Queensland

References

* Forster, R. R., Platnick, N. I. and Gray, M. R. (1987): A review of the spider superfamilies Hypochiloidea and Austrochiloidea (Araneae, Araneomorphae). ''Bulletin of the AMNH'' 185(1): 1-11
Abstract

PDF (50Mb)

External links

Spiders of Australia Spiders of New Zealand Araneomorphae families Taxa named by Raymond Robert Forster {{Araneomorphae-stub