Prodidomidae

Prodidominae is a family of spider, sometimes called long-spinneret ground spiders. It was formerly regarded as a subfamily of Gnaphosidae, 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
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Biology

Spiders in the Prodidominae 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 and thus found throughout the tropics.

Distribution

Although '' Theuma walteri'' was described from Turkmenistan by Eugène Simon, it is suspected that Simon accidentally exchanged its locality with that of ''Anagraphis pallens'' (Gnaphosidae); then ''T. walteri'' would have been collected in the Cape of Good Hope, while ''A. pallens'' is from Turkmenistan.Platnick & Baehr 2006

Genera

Genera included:
* ''Anagrina'' Berland, 1920 — Africa
* '' Austrodomus'' Lawrence, 1947 — South Africa
* '' Brasilomma'' Brescovit, Ferreira & Rheims, 2012
* '' Caudalia'' Alayón, 1980 — Cuba
* '' Chileomma'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 — Chile
* '' Chileuma'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 — Chile
* '' Chilongius'' Platnick, Shadab & Sorkin, 2005 — Chile
* '' Cryptoerithus'' Rainbow, 1915 — Australia
* '' Eleleis'' Simon, 1893 — South Africa
* '' Encoptarthria'' Main, 1954 — Australia
* '' Indiani'' Rodrigues, Cizauskas & Lemos, 2020 — Brazil
* '' Katumbea'' Cooke, 1964 — Tanzania
* '' Lygromma'' Simon, 1893 — Costa Rica to Brazil, Galapagos
* '' Lygrommatoides'' Strand, 1918 — Japan
* ''Moreno'' Mello-Leitão, 1940 — Chile, Argentina
* '' Myandra'' Simon, 1887 — Australia
* '' Namundra'' Platnick & Bird, 2007 — Africa
* '' Neozimiris'' Simon, 1903 — USA, Mexico, Panama, 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, Seychelles
* '' Prodidomus'' Hentz, 1847 — Mediterranean, Africa, Australia, Asia, Venezuela, Hawaii
* '' Purcelliana'' Cooke, 1964 — South Africa
* '' Theuma'' Simon, 1893 — Africa, Turkmenistan?
* '' Theumella'' Strand, 1906 — Ethiopia
* '' Tivodrassus'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 — Mexico
* '' Tricongius'' Simon, 1892 — South America
* '' Zimirina'' Dalmas, 1919 — Spain, Algeria, Canary Islands, South Africa
* '' Zimiris'' Simon, 1882 — Circumtropical

A 2020 phylogenetic analysis involving 59 species of Prodidominae and 32 outgroup species did not recover Propidominae as monophyletic because ''Anagrina'' did not arise within the subfamily. The study re-established Molycriinae (including genera '' Cryptoerithus'', '' Molycria'', '' Nomindra'', '' Wesmaldra'', and '' Wydundra'') as a distinct subfamily in Gnaphosidae, 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