Trachelidae is a family of

araneomorph The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) first described by Eugène Simon in 1897 as a subfamily called "Tracheleae" ("Trachelinae" in modern terminology). The Trachelidae family, also known as "ground sac spiders", is within the group of spiders known as the

RTA clade The RTA clade is a clade of araneomorph spiders, united by the possession of a retrolateral tibial apophysis – a backward-facing projection on the tibia of the male pedipalp. The clade contains over 21,000 species, almost half the current total ...

, which includes mostly wandering spiders that do not use webs. Spiders in the Trachelidae family are characterized as being 3-10mm long and having a red cephalothorax and a yellow/tan abdomen. They are commonly found indoors. It was placed in the family

Clubionidae The sac spiders of the family Clubionidae have a very confusing taxonomic history. Once, this family was a large catch-all taxon for a disparate collection of spiders, similar only in that they had eight eyes arranged in two rows and conical anter ...

, then later in

Corinnidae Corinnidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, sometimes called corinnid sac spiders. The family, like other "clubionoid" families, has a confusing taxonomic history. Once it was a part of the large catch-all taxon Clubionidae, now very much small ...

when the Clubionidae were split up. The first study that suggested Trachelidae should be considered its own family was done by Deeleman-reinhold in 2001 as part of an analysis of RTA Clade spiders. An analysis by Martín J. Ramírez in 2014 suggested that it was not closely related to other members of the Corinnidae, and was better treated as a separate family. It was then placed in the CTC clade of spiders, or the Claw Tuft Clasper clade, which is a group of spiders that have two tarsal claws with tufts of hair. A major

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to hav ...

of Trachelidae is the reduction of leg spines. Other synapomorphies of the family include no scales, no epiandrous spigot, only one major ampullate gland in females, no median apophysis, and the secondary spermatheca are the same size as the primary. Currently, there are 271 known species across 20 genera.

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: *'' Afroceto'' Lyle & Haddad, 2010 – Africa *'' Capobula'' Haddad, Jin, Platnick & Booysen, 2021 – South Africa, Lesotho *'' Cetonana'' Strand, 1929 – Russia, Brazil *'' Fuchiba'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – Africa *'' Fuchibotulus'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – South Africa, Mozambique *'' Jocquestus'' Lyle & Haddad, 2018 – Africa *'' Meriola'' Banks, 1895 – South America, North America, Guatemala *'' Metatrachelas'' Bosselaers & Bosmans, 2010 – Algeria, Europe *'' Orthobula'' Simon, 1897 – Asia, Africa *'' Paccius'' Simon, 1898 – Madagascar, Seychelles *'' Paraceto'' Jin, Yin & Zhang, 2017 – China, Korea *'' Paratrachelas'' Kovblyuk & Nadolny, 2009 – Asia, Algeria, Europe *'' Patelloceto'' Lyle & Haddad, 2010 – Ethiopia *'' Planochelas'' Lyle & Haddad, 2009 – Ghana, Uganda, Ivory Coast *'' Poachelas'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – South Africa, Zimbabwe *'' Spinotrachelas'' Haddad, 2006 – South Africa *'' Thysanina'' Simon, 1910 – South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania *'' Trachelas'' L. Koch, 1872 – Asia, Central America, North America, Caribbean, Spain, South America, Africa *'' Trachelopachys'' Simon, 1897 – South America *'' Utivarachna'' Kishida, 1940 – Asia

References

Araneomorphae families {{Trachelidae-stub