Family ARANEIDAE Simon, 1895

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Introduction

The Araneidae include the most conspicuous of spiders in that they are the builders of large, often circular, webs into which we often inadvertently stumble at night. They also include genera like the Triangular Spider (genus Arkys) that hunt freely at night on Acacia trees, and the spectacular Bolas spiders (genus Ordgarius) that spin a drop of scented silk to attract their prey. The boundaries of the family are in contention.

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

Araneidae: Acacesia tenella (L. Koch, 1871) [previously listed as Wixia tenella, transferred by Framenau et al (2009)] — Framenau, V.W., Scharff, N. & Levi, H.W. 2009. Not from “Down Under”: new synonymies and combinations for orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) erroneously reported from Australia. Zootaxa 2073: 22-30 [23]

Araneidae: Lipocrea diluta Thorell, 1887 — Framenau, V.W. & Scharff, N. 2008. The orb-weaving spider genus Larinia in Australia (Araneae: Araneidae). Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny 66(2): 227-250 [243] (Larinia delicata was revalidated by Framenau & Scharff (2008), who also transferred L. tabida; thereby removing all Australian taxa from the genus Lipocrea)

Diagnosis

Araneids have thick serrated bristles (accessory claws) below the claws of legs, a rebordered labium, and a complex male palpal bulb with a paracymbium.

History of changes