Prodidomidae is a family of

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 ...

, sometimes called long-spinneret ground spiders. It was formerly regarded as a subfamily of

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 ...

, but was raised to a family in 2022. Spiders in the family are easily identified by the greatly elongated base of the piriform gland spigots. At least parts of their body are covered with shiny scales or setae. The posterior median eyes are flat and silvery, with a triangular, egg-shaped or irregularly rectangular shape.Barbara Baehr
Prodidomidae
/ref>

Biology

Spiders in the Prodidomidae are ground dwellers. Most species are nocturnal and hide during the day in litter, but ''Myandra'' species, which are probably mimicking ants, seem to be active during the day. The genus ''Zimiris'' is

synanthropic A synanthrope (from ancient Greek σύν ''sýn'' "together, with" and ἄνθρωπος ''ánthrōpos'' "man") is an organism that evolved to live near humans and benefit from human settlements and their environmental modifications (see also ...

and thus found throughout the tropics.

Distribution

Although '' Theuma walteri'' was described from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

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, ...

, it is suspected that Simon accidentally exchanged its locality with that of ''

Anagraphis ''Anagraphis'' is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1893. Originally placed in the now unrecognized family Prodidomidae, it was moved to the family Gnaphosidae in 2006. Species it contains seven species fro ...

pallens'' (

); then ''T. walteri'' would have been collected in the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, while ''A. pallens'' is from Turkmenistan.Platnick & Baehr 2006

Genera

Genera included: * ''

Anagrina ''Anagrina'' is a genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classi ...

'' Berland, 1920 —

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

* '' Austrodomus'' Lawrence, 1947 —

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

* '' Brasilomma'' Brescovit, Ferreira & Rheims, 2012 * '' Caudalia'' Alayón, 1980 —

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

* '' Chileomma'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 —

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

* '' Chileuma'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 — Chile * '' Chilongius'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 — Chile * '' Cryptoerithus''

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, 1915 —

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

* '' Eleleis'' Simon, 1893 — South Africa * '' Encoptarthria'' Main, 1954 — Australia * '' Indiani'' Rodrigues, Cizauskas & Lemos, 2020 — Brazil * '' Katumbea'' Cooke, 1964 —

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

* '' Lygromma'' Simon, 1893 —

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 ...

, Galapagos * '' Lygrommatoides'' Strand, 1918 —

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 ...

* '' Moreno'' Mello-Leitão, 1940 — Chile,

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 ...

* '' Myandra'' Simon, 1887 — Australia * '' Namundra'' Platnick & Bird, 2007 — Africa * '' Neozimiris'' Simon, 1903 — USA,

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 ...

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 ...

, Galapagos, Bahamas * '' Nomindra'' Platnick & Baehr, 2006 — Australia * '' Nopyllus'' Ott, 2014 — Brazil * '' Oltacloea'' Mello-Leitão, 1940 — Brazil, Argentina * '' Paracymbiomma'' Rodrigues, Cizauskas & Rheims, 2018 * '' Plutonodomus'' Cooke, 1964 — Tanzania * '' Prodida'' Dalmas, 1919 —

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

* '' Prodidomus'' Hentz, 1847 —

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, Africa, Australia,

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

* '' Purcelliana'' Cooke, 1964 — South Africa * '' Theuma'' Simon, 1893 — Africa,

? * '' Theumella'' Strand, 1906 —

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

* '' Tivodrassus'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 — Mexico * '' Tricongius'' Simon, 1892 —

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 ...

* '' Zimirina'' Dalmas, 1919 —

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, South Africa * '' Zimiris'' Simon, 1882 — Circumtropical A 2020

phylogenetic analysis In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data ...

involving 59 species of Prodidominae and 32 outgroup species did not recover Prodidominae as

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 ...

because ''

'' did not arise within the subfamily. The study re-established Molycriinae (including genera '' Cryptoerithus'', '' Molycria'', '' Nomindra'', '' Wesmaldra'', and '' Wydundra'') as a distinct subfamily in

, a sister to Prodidominae.

References

Bibliography

* Platnick, N.I. & Penney, D. (2004)
A Revision of the Widespread Spider Genus ''Zimiris'' (Araneae, Prodidomidae)
''American Museum Novitates'' 3450. * Platnick, Norman I. & Baehr, Barbara C. (2006)
A revision of the Australasian ground spiders of the family Prodidomidae (Araneae, Gnaphosoidea)
''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' 298: 1-287. (with keys to subfamilies and genera, and picture) * Platnick, Norman I. (2008)

version 8.5. ''American Museum of Natural History''.

External links

Picture of ''Molycria flavipes''
Gnaphosidae Spider subfamilies {{Gnaphosidae-stub