Family Philodromidae - Running Crab Spiders

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Internet References · Works Cited

Running Crab Spider - Apollophanes margareta - male

Philodromus from black lighting at North Park Village - Philodromus - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Arachnida (Arachnids)

Order Araneae (Spiders)

Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)

No Taxon (Entelegynes)

Family Philodromidae (Running Crab Spiders)

Explanation of Names

From Greek philodromos (φιλοδρομος)- "lover of the race/course"

Numbers

96 species in 5 genera in our region (1). The majority of the species are in the large genus Philodromus.

Identification

Philodromids tend to have the second pair of legs significantly longer than the first pair, which distinguishes them from the similar Thomisid crab spiders. In addition, thomisids have third and fourth legs that are shorter and more slender than the first two pairs of legs, while philodromid legs are subequal in length.

Internet References

Images from this Family

Works Cited

1.	Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual By D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing and V. Roth (eds)

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 1:20pm
Additional contributions by Lynette, Chuck Entz, kschnei
Last updated 17 March, 2009 - 12:47pm

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