Trachelidae is a family of

araneomorph The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha or "true spiders") 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 (taran ...

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 (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) 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 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 are nocturnal, sac-building hunting spiders with a near-worldwide distribution. Their sacs, silken retreats in which they hide during the day, may be made in a variety of places, including between folded ...

, 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 sm ...

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 Phenotypic trait, character or character state that has evolution, evolved from its ancestral form (or Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy sh ...

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 ''Capobula'' is a genus of southern African spiders in the family Trachelidae. The type species was first described by Eugène Simon from a juvenile found in South Africa. It was placed with '' Orthobula'' for several morphological similarities, i ...

'' Haddad, Jin, Platnick & Booysen, 2021 – South Africa, Lesotho *'' Cetonana'' Strand, 1929 – Russia, Brazil *'' Fuchiba'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – Africa *''

Fuchibotulus ''Fuchibotulus'' is a genus of South African and Mozambican araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae Trachelidae is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) first des ...

'' 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 ''Paccius'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1898 as a member of Corinnidae, and moved to Trachelidae in 2014. Species it contains eight species from Madagascar and Seychelles Seychelles (, ...

'' Simon, 1898 – Madagascar, Seychelles *''

Paraceto ''Paraceto'' is a genus of Chinese and Korean araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae Trachelidae is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) first described by Eug� ...

'' Jin, Yin & Zhang, 2017 – China, Korea *''

Paratrachelas ''Paratrachelas'' is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae Trachelidae is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) first described by Eugène Simon in 18 ...

'' Kovblyuk & Nadolny, 2009 – Asia, Algeria, Europe *''

Patelloceto ''Patelloceto'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae Trachelidae is a family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders (more recently evolved spiders with inward-pointing chelicerae) first described by Eugène Simon ...

'' Lyle & Haddad, 2010 – Ethiopia *''

Planochelas ''Planochelas'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae, first described by R. Lyle & C. R. Haddad in 2009. it contains only three species from Ghana, Uganda, and Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d' ...

'' Lyle & Haddad, 2009 – Ghana, Uganda, Ivory Coast *''

Poachelas ''Poachelas'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae, first described by C. R. Haddad & R. Lyle in 2008. Species it contains four species: *'' Poachelas montanus'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – South Africa *'' Poachelas ...

'' Haddad & Lyle, 2008 – South Africa, Zimbabwe *''

Spinotrachelas ''Spinotrachelas'' is a genus of South African araneomorph spiders in the family Trachelidae, first described by C. R. Haddad in 2006. Species it contains five species, all found in South Africa: *'' Spinotrachelas capensis'' Haddad, 2006 (type ...

'' Haddad, 2006 – South Africa *''

Thysanina ''Thysanina'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1910. Originally placed with the Liocranidae, it was moved to the Corinnidae in 2000, and to the Trachelidae in 2014. Species it contains six species: * ...

'' Simon, 1910 – South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania *''

Trachelas ''Trachelas'' is a genus of araneomorph spiders which has variously been placed in families Trachelidae or Corinnidae. Current taxonomy places it in Trachelidae. Though the name was first used in an identification key published by Ludwig Carl Ch ...

'' 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