Family Theridiidae - Cobweb Spiders

Classification · Other Common Names · Numbers · Identification · Remarks

Black Widow - Latrodectus variolus - female

Black Widow Spider - Latrodectus mactans - female

Female with egg sac - Latrodectus mactans - female

Garden Cobweb Spider - Enoplognatha ovata - female

Common House Spider - Achaearanea tepidariorum

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Arachnida (Arachnids)

Order Araneae (Spiders)

Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)

No Taxon (Entelegynes)

Family Theridiidae (Cobweb Spiders)

Worldwide, there are over 2200 species in 96 genera, however family is not considered to be monophyletic.

Identification

Key

Remarks

Family includes Widow Spiders, Genus Latrodectus and the Common house spider - Achaearanea tepidariorum

Three theridiid genera, Achaearanea, Anelosimus, and Theridion, are known to contain subsocial species, but the only social spiders in our area are in the genus Anelosimus.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 1:20pm
Additional contributions by Jay Barnes, Christopher Hunt, Jeff Hollenbeck, Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn
Last updated 3 February, 2008 - 5:12pm

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