The Entelegynae or entelegynes are a subgroup of araneomorph spiders, the largest of the two main groups into which the araneomorphs were traditionally divided. Females have a genital plate ( epigynum) and a "flow through" fertilization system; males have complex palpal bulbs.

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 ...

studies have supported the

monophyly 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 comm ...

of Entelegynae (whereas the other traditional subgroup, the

Haplogynae The Haplogynae or haplogynes are one of the two main groups into which araneomorph spiders have traditionally been divided, the other being the Entelegynae. Morphological phylogenetic studies suggested that the Haplogynae formed a clade; more re ...

, has been shown not to be monophyletic). The clade contains both cribellate and ecribellate spiders.

Characterization

The Entelegynae are characterized primarily by the nature of the female genital system. The ancestral ( plesiomorphic) system is found in non-entelegyne spiders, where there is a single external genital opening in the female's abdomen. One or more males inject sperm from their palpal bulbs via this opening; the sperm is usually stored in special spermathecae (absent in some spiders, e.g. '' Pholcus''). When eggs are released from the ovaries, sperm is also released, and the fertilized eggs pass out of the female's body by the same opening. Sperm that enters first is likely to be the last to fertilize eggs. In entelegyne spiders, there are three external openings in the female's body. Sperm is injected via one or other of the two separate copulatory openings and enters the spermathecae. Egg release and fertilization occurs in the same way as in non-entelegyne spiders. In this "flow through" system, sperm that enters first can be the first to fertilize eggs. The copulatory openings are usually surrounded by a hardened (sclerotized) area called the epigynum. In some entelegyne families, such as araneids, the epigynum includes a projection that covers or partially covers the copulatory openings. This plays a role in aligning the male's palpal bulb during mating. Male entelegyne spiders generally have more complex palpal bulbs than other groups of spiders and the bulbs are expanded and moved by hydraulic pressure alone, as there are no muscles attached to them.

Phylogeny

In 2016, a large

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 was published online that included 932 spider species, representing all but one of the then known families. It supported the monophyly of Entelegynae, but presented a somewhat complex picture of its position within Araneomorphae. Araneomorph spiders were divided into two clades: one comprising the families Filistatidae and Hypochilidae plus the clade Synspermiata, the other comprising three non-monophyletic families ( Austrochilidae,

Gradungulidae Gradungulidae, also known as large-clawed spiders, is a spider 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 buil ...

and Leptonetidae) plus Palpimanoidea, the four being basal to Entelegynae. Most members of the former Haplogynae are placed in the Synspermiata. Filistatidae is placed outside the Synspermiata; Leptonetidae, which was found not to be monophyletic, is placed basal to the Entelegynae.

Families

The cladogram in Wheeler et al. (2017) includes the following families in the Entelegynae. The main difference from previous circumscriptions, such as Coddington in 2005, is that the Palpimanoidea are excluded. A few groups within otherwise entelegyne families have reverted to a haplogyne state: the genera '' Comaroma'', '' Tangaroa'' and '' Waitkera'', and some members of the family Tetragnathidae. *

Agelenidae The Agelenidae are a large family of spiders in the suborder Araneomorphae. Well-known examples include the common "grass spiders" of the genus ''Agelenopsis''. Nearly all Agelenidae are harmless to humans, but the bite of the hobo spider (''Era ...

* Amaurobiidae *

Ammoxenidae Ground spiders comprise Gnaphosidae, the seventh largest spider family with over 2,000 described species in over 100 genus, genera distributed worldwide. There are 105 species known to central Europe, and common genera include ''Gnaphosa'', ''Dra ...

* Anapidae * Anyphaenidae * Araneidae * Arkyidae * Cheiracanthiidae (syn. Eutichuridae) * Cithaeronidae * Clubionidae * Corinnidae * Ctenidae * Cyatholipidae * Cybaeidae * Cycloctenidae * Deinopidae * Desidae * Dictynidae * Eresidae * Gallieniellidae *

Gnaphosidae Ground spiders comprise Gnaphosidae, the seventh largest spider family with over 2,000 described species in over 100 genera distributed worldwide. There are 105 species known to central Europe, and common genera include '' Gnaphosa'', '' Drassode ...

* Hahniidae * Hersiliidae * Homalonychidae *

Lamponidae Lamponidae is a family of spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1893. It contains about 200 described species in 23 genera, most of which are endemic to Australia, with the genus ''Centrocalia'' endemic to New Caledonia, and two ''Lampona'' ...

Linyphiidae Linyphiidae, spiders commonly known as sheet weavers (from the shape of their webs), or money spiders (in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal) is a family of very small spiders comprising 4706 described species in 6 ...

Liocranidae Liocranidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1897. They are one of several groups called "sac spiders". The holarctic genus '' Agroeca'' is the best-known, but it also includes various genera of more obscur ...

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 ...

* Malkaridae * Megadictynidae * Mimetidae *

Miturgidae Miturgidae is a family of araneomorph spiders that includes nearly 170 species in 29 genera worldwide. First described by Eugène Simon in 1886, it has been substantially revised, and includes the previous family Zoridae as a synonym, and exclude ...

Mysmenidae Mysmenidae is a spider family with about 180 described species in seventeen genera. The family is one of the least well known of the orb-weaving spiders because of their small size () and cryptic behaviour. These spiders are found in humid habita ...

* Nesticidae *

Nicodamidae Nicodamidae is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders with twenty-seven species in seven genera. They are small to medium-sized spiders found near the ground of eucalypt forest in small sheet webs. The species of this family are only prese ...

* Oecobiidae * Oxyopidae * Penestomidae * Philodromidae * Phrurolithidae * Physoglenidae * Phyxelididae * Pimoidae * Pisauridae * Psechridae *

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

* Selenopidae * Senoculidae * Sparassidae * Stiphidiidae * Symphytognathidae * Synotaxidae * Tetragnathidae *

Theridiidae Theridiidae, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, is a large family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. This diverse, globally distributed family includes ...

* Theridiosomatidae * Thomisidae * Titanoecidae * Toxopidae * Trachelidae * Trechaleidae *

Trochanteriidae Trochanteriidae is a family of spiders first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879 containing about 52 species in 6 genera. Most are Endemism, endemic to Australia though ''Doliomalus'' and ''Trochanteria'' are from South America and ''Plator (spi ...

* Udubidae * Uloboridae * Viridasiidae * Xenoctenidae * Zodariidae *

Zoropsidae Zoropsidae, also known as false wolf spiders for their physical similarity to wolf spiders, is a family of cribellate araneomorph spiders first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1882. They can be distinguished from wolf spiders by their two row ...

No representative of the family Synaphridae was included in the 2017 analysis, but previous analyses placed it in the Entelegynae.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q138259 Araneomorphae