Ctenizidae is a small

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 ...

mygalomorph The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to the ...

spiders 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 dive ...

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 The spider family Liphistiidae, recognized by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869, comprises 8 genera and about 100 species of medium-sized spiders from Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. They are among the most basal living spiders, belonging to the subord ...

, Barychelidae, and Cyrtaucheniidae, and some species in the

Idiopidae Idiopidae, also known as armored trapdoor spiders, is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1889. They have a large body similar to tarantulas. Description In some species the males have a spur on their legs, whic ...

and

Nemesiidae Nemesiidae, also known as funnel-web trapdoor spiders, is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1889, and raised to family status in 1985. Before becoming its own family, it was considered part of "Dipluridae". Desc ...

. The name comes from the distinctive behavior of the spiders to construct trapdoors, and ambush prey from beneath them. In 2018, the family

Halonoproctidae Halonoproctidae is a family of mygalomorph spiders, split off from the family Ctenizidae in 2018. Species in the family are widely distributed in North and Central America, Australasia, Asia, southern Europe and North Africa. One species is recor ...

was split off from the Ctenizidae. A further genus, ''

Stasimopus ''Stasimopus'' is a genus of African mygalomorph spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. It is the only genus in the family Stasimopidae. Species it contains forty-five species and two subspecies, found in southern Afr ...

'', 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 ''Cteniza'' is a small genus of Old World trapdoor spiders found in France and Italy, first described by Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoologist, specialising in arthro ...

''. 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

were split off in 2018, leaving only three genera. Even so, the family was not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

, since ''

'' is not in the same

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

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 ''Stasimopus'' is a genus of African mygalomorph spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1892. It is the only genus in the family Stasimopidae. Species it contains forty-five species and two subspecies, found in southern Afr ...

. This placement is accepted by the World Spider Catalog .

Genera

, the

accepted only two extant genera: * ''

'' Latreille, 1829 —

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

* ''

Cyrtocarenum ''Cyrtocarenum'' is a genus of Balkan trapdoor spiders first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. it contains only two species found in Greece and Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumh ...

'' Ausserer, 1871 —

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

;Extinct genera * †''

Baltocteniza ''Baltocteniza'' is an extinct monotypic genus of spider in the family Ctenizidae. At present, it contains the single species ''Baltocteniza kulickae''.Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian i ...

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...

* †''

Electrocteniza ''Electrocteniza'' is an extinct monotypic genus of spider in the family Ctenizidae. At present, it contains the single species ''Electrocteniza sadilenkoi''. The genus is solely known from the Early Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Se ...

'' Eskov & Zonstein, 2000

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

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