Family Atypidae - Purseweb Spiders

Classification · Numbers · Identification · Range · Print References · Works Cited

Black and orange ground spider sp? - Sphodros rufipes

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)

Class Arachnida (Arachnids)

Order Araneae (Spiders)

Infraorder Mygalomorphae (Mygalomorphs)

Family Atypidae (Purseweb Spiders)

Numbers

one Atypus, seven Sphodros

Identification

large forward-projecting chelicerae, long fangs

abdominal tergites

wide posterior median spinnerets with triangular tips

Range

Atypus karschi - Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania(1)

Sphodros regional endemics:

Sphodros abboti - southern Georgia, northern Florida

Sphodros coylei - South Carolina; Hoffman includes many records from Virginia

Sphodros fitchi - literature records from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas (*new BG records from Iowa)

Sphodros paisano - southeastern Texas, adjacent Mexico

Sphodros widespread taxa:

Sphodros atlanticus - east-central US

Sphodros niger - northeastern US, north from Tennessee, east from Kansas

Sphodros rufipes - widespread in southeastern US, from eastern Texas

Maps for the more widespread species - S. atlanticus, S. niger & S. rufipes, can be found in Hoffmann (2010).

Print References

Coyle, F.A. and W.A. Shear. (1981) Observations on the natural history of Sphodros abboti and Sphodros rufipes (Araneae, Atypidae), with evidence for a contact sex pheromone. J. Arachnol.,9:317-326 (online PDF)

Gertsch, W. J. & Platnick, N. I. (1980). A revision of the American spiders of the family Atypidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). American Museum Novitates 2704: 1-39. (online PDF)

Hoffman, R. L. (2010). Purse-web spiders, genus Sphodros, in Virginia (Mygalomorphae: Atypidae). Banisteria 36: 31-38. (online PDF)

Works Cited

1.	Atypus karschi Dönitz, 1887 (Araneae: Atypidae): an Asian purse-web spider established in Pennsylvania, USA Řezáč, M., Tessler, S., Heneberg, P., Herrera, I. M. A., Gloríková, N., Forman, M., Řezáčová, V. & Král, J. . 2022. PLoS One 17(7, e0261695): 1-21.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 1:20pm
Additional contributions by Lynette Elliott, mhedin, Laura P.
Last updated 25 July, 2022 - 7:15am

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