Wandering spiders (''Ctenidae'') are a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
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 that includes the
Brazilian wandering spiders. These spiders have a distinctive longitudinal groove on the top-rear of their oval carapace similar to those of the
Amaurobiidae
''Amaurobiidae'' is a family of three-clawed cribellate or ecribellate spiders found in crevices and hollows or under stones where they build retreats, and are often collected in pitfall traps. Unlidded burrows are sometimes quite obvious in crust ...
. They are highly defensive
and
venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
nocturnal hunters. Wandering spiders are known to hunt large prey, for example hylid species ''
Dendropsophus branneri.'' Despite their notoriety for being dangerous, only a few members of ''
Phoneutria
''Phoneutria'' is a genus of spiders in the family Ctenidae. Phoneutria venom is potentially medically significant to humans. They are mainly found in northern South America, with one species in Central America. Members of the genus are commo ...
'' have venom known to be hazardous to humans, but the venoms of this family are poorly known,
so all larger ctenids should be treated with caution.
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:
*''
Acantheis''
Thorell, 1891 — Asia
*''
Acanthoctenus''
Keyserling, 1877 — South America, Central America, Jamaica, Mexico
*''
Africactenus''
Hyatt, 1954 — Africa, India
*''
Afroneutria''
Polotow & Jocqué, 2015 — Africa
*''
Amauropelma''
Raven, Stumkat & Gray, 2001 — Asia, Australia
*''
Amicactenus''
Henrard & Jocqué, 2017 — Africa
*''
Anahita
Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associate ...
''
Karsch, 1879 — Africa, Asia, United States
*''
Ancylometes
''Ancylometes'' is a genus of Central and South American semiaquatic wandering spiders first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1880. Originally placed with the nursery web spiders, it was moved to the Ctenidae in 1967. The genus name is derived ...
''
Bertkau, 1880 — South America, Honduras
*''
Apolania''
Simon, 1898 — Seychelles
*''
Arctenus''
Polotow & Jocqué, 2014 — Kenya
*''
Asthenoctenus''
Simon, 1897 — South America
*''
Bengalla
''Bengalla'' is a monotypic genus of Australian wandering spiders containing the single species, ''Bengalla bertmaini''. It was first described by Michael R. Gray & J. A. Thompson in 2001, and has only been found in Australia. It was original ...
''
Gray & Thompson, 2001 — Australia
*''
Bulboctenus''
Pereira, Labarque & Polotow, 2020 — Brazil
*''
Califorctenus''
Jiménez, Berrian, Polotow & Palacios-Cardiel, 2017
*''
Caloctenus''
Keyserling, 1877 — Ethiopia, South America
*''
Celaetycheus''
Simon, 1897 — Brazil
*''
Centroctenus''
Mello-Leitão, 1929 — South America
*''
Chococtenus''
Dupérré, 2015 — Ecuador, Colombia
*''
Ciba''
Bloom, Binford, Esposito, Alayón, Peterson, Nishida, Loubet-Senear & Agnarsson, 2014 — Cuba, Dominican Republic
*''
Ctenus
''Ctenus'' is a genus of Ctenidae, wandering spiders first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805. It is widely distributed, from South America through Africa to East Asia. Little is known about the toxic potential of the genus ''Ctenus' ...
''
Walckenaer, 1805 — Africa, South America, Oceania, Central America, Asia, North America, Caribbean
*''
Diallomus''
Simon, 1897 — Sri Lanka
*''
Enoploctenus''
Simon, 1897 — South America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
*''
Gephyroctenus''
Mello-Leitão, 1936 — Brazil, Peru
*''
Isoctenus''
Bertkau, 1880 — Brazil, Argentina
*''
Janusia''
Gray, 1973 — Australia
*''
Kiekie''
Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 — Colombia, Central America, Mexico
*''
Leptoctenus
''Leptoctenus'' is a genus of Ctenidae, wandering spiders first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch, L. Koch in 1878.
Species
it contains six species:
*''Leptoctenus agalenoides'' L. Koch, 1878 (Type species, type) – Australia
*''Leptocte ...
''
L. Koch, 1878 — Australia, North America, Panama
*''
Macroctenus''
Henrard & Jocqué, 2017 — Guinea
*''
Mahafalytenus''
Silva-Dávila, 2007 — Madagascar
*''
Montescueia''
Carcavallo & Martínez, 1961 — Argentina
*''
Nimbanahita''
Henrard & Jocqué, 2017 — Guinea
*''
Nothroctenus''
Badcock, 1932 — Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay
*''
Ohvida''
Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 — Cuba
*''
Parabatinga''
Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 — South America
*''
Perictenus''
Henrard & Jocqué, 2017 — Guinea
*''
Petaloctenus''
Jocqué & Steyn, 1997 — Africa
*''
Phoneutria
''Phoneutria'' is a genus of spiders in the family Ctenidae. Phoneutria venom is potentially medically significant to humans. They are mainly found in northern South America, with one species in Central America. Members of the genus are commo ...
''
Perty, 1833 — South America
*''
Phymatoctenus''
Simon, 1897 — Brazil, Guyana, Costa Rica
*''
Piloctenus''
Henrard & Jocqué, 2017 — Guinea, Togo, Ivory Coast
*''
Sinoctenus''
Marusik, Zhang & Omelko, 2012
*''
Spinoctenus''
Hazzi, Polotow, Brescovit, González-Obando & Simó, 2018
*''
Thoriosa''
Simon, 1910 — São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea
*''
Toca
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the T ...
''
Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 — Brazil
*''
Trogloctenus''
Lessert, 1935 — Congo
*''
Trujillina''
Bryant, 1948 — Caribbean
*''
Tuticanus''
Simon, 1897 — Ecuador, Peru
*''
Viracucha''
Lehtinen, 1967 — South America
*''
Wiedenmeyeria''
Schenkel, 1953 — Venezuela
See also
*
List of Ctenidae species
This page lists all described species of the spider family Ctenidae accepted by the World Spider Catalog :
A ''Acantheis''
'' Acantheis'' Thorell, 1891
* '' A. boetonensis'' (Strand, 1913) — Indonesia (Sulawesi)
* '' A. celer'' (Simon, 1897) ...
References
External links
World Spider Catalog 8.0: Family Ctenidae
*
Taxa named by Eugen von Keyserling
{{Ctenidae-stub