Trechaleidae (''tre-kah-LEE-ih-dee'') is a family of araneomorph

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 first described by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

in 1890. It includes about 140 described species in 16 genera. They all live in Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

except for '' Shinobius orientalis'', which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Other names for the family are longlegged water spiders and fishing spiders (although members of the pisaurid genus '' Dolomedes'' are also commonly called fishing spiders). The family Trechaleidae is closely related to

Pisauridae Nursery web spiders (Pisauridae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890. Females of the family are known for building special nursery webs. When their eggs are about to hatch, a female spider builds a tent-li ...

(nursery web spiders) and

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the Family (biology), family Lycosidae (), named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin spider web, webs. Some are opportunis ...

(wolf spiders), and the three families are sometimes referred to as the lycosid group.

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 genera: *'' Amapalea'' Silva & Lise, 2006 –

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

*'' Barrisca'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 – South America,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

*'' Caricelea'' Silva & Lise, 2007 –

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

*'' Cupiennius'' Simon, 1891 –

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to northwestern

*'' Dossenus'' Simon, 1898 –

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, South America *'' Dyrines'' Simon, 1903 – South America,

*''

Enna Enna ( or ; ; , less frequently ), known from the Middle Ages until 1926 as Castrogiovanni ( ), is a city and located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering above the surrounding countryside. It has e ...

'' O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 – South America, Central America,

*'' Heidrunea'' Brescovit & Höfer, 1994 –

*'' Hesydrus'' Simon, 1898 – South America, Central America *'' Neoctenus'' Simon, 1897 –

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

*'' Paradossenus'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1903 – South America,

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

*'' Paratrechalea'' Carico, 2005 –

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

*'' Rhoicinus'' Simon, 1898 –

*'' Shinobius'' Yaginuma, 1991 –

*'' Syntrechalea'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – South America,

*'' Trechalea'' Thorell, 1869 –

, South America, North America, Central America *'' Trechaleoides'' Carico, 2005 – South America

Genera

See also

References

Further reading