Ctenizidae ( ) is a small

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation, and silk. They may be called trapdoor spiders, as are other, similar species, such as those of the families Liphistiidae, Barychelidae, and Cyrtaucheniidae, and some species in the

Idiopidae Idiopidae, also known as armored or spiny trapdoor spiders, is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly o ...

and Nemesiidae. The name comes from the distinctive behavior of the spiders to construct trapdoors, and ambush prey from beneath them. In 2018, the family Halonoproctidae was split off from the Ctenizidae. A further genus, '' Stasimopus'', was split off into its own family, Stasimopidae, in 2020. The family currently consists of two genera and five species.

Etymology

The name derives from Greek ''ktenizein'', meaning "combing" or "cleaning", referring to their behaviour of cleaning continuously, and the suffix "-idae", which designates belonging to a family.

Taxonomy

The family Ctenizidae was first described by Thorell in 1887, being based on the genus '' Cteniza''. Since the advent of

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

and its application to spiders, the family has been progressively dismantled; 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 ...

lists over 100 genera formerly placed in Ctenizidae but now transferred to other families. The Halonoproctidae were split off in 2018, leaving only three genera. Even so, the family was not

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

, since '' Stasimopus'' is not in the same

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

as the other two genera, according to a 2018 study (the three genera left in the Ctenizidae at that time are shaded in yellow): In 2020, a large scale

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study confirmed the placement of ''Stasimopus'' outside the clade consisting of ''Cteniza'' and ''Cyrtocarenum'', and transferred it to its own family, Stasimopidae. This placement is accepted by the World Spider Catalog .

Genera

, the

accepted only two extant genera: * '' Cteniza'' Latreille, 1829 —

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 ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

* '' Cyrtocarenum'' Ausserer, 1871 —

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

;Extinct genera * †'' Baltocteniza'' Eskov & Zonstein, 2000

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

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 ...

* †'' Electrocteniza'' Eskov & Zonstein, 2000

Distribution and habitat

The two genera of Ctenizidae are found in Europe and Turkey, particularly in France and Italy. Like many other mygalomorphs, ''Cteniza'' have highly localized distributions. This results in clumps of spider burrows a short distance from their maternal burrows, resulting in a dense cluster of spiders surrounding a large female.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8713 Mygalomorphae families