Araneomorphae
The Araneomorphae are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguished by having chelicerae that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae, where they point straight down. Most of the spiders that people encounter in daily life belong to the Araneomorphae.
Distinguishing characteristics
Note the difference in the orientations of the chelicerae of the two spiders below, representatives of the Mygalomorphae and the Araneomorphae. The number of book-lungs can also help distinguish between members of these two major groups.Mygalomorphae
This Atrax robustus is presenting a defensive posture, and by so doing clearly shows the orientation of its chelicerae, which go up and down and parallel to the long axis of the spider's body, as with other representatives of the Mygalomorphae.Araneomorphae
In the Araneomorphae, the fangs slope towards each other, giving these spiders many more possibilities than the Mygalomorphae, which can only bite top down. In contrast to the Mygalomorphae, where females can live for many years, most Araneomorphae die after about a year.Spiders included
Almost all of the familiar spiders are included in this group. The major exception is the Tarantulas, which have become so common as pets that many people have seen them. There are a few other members of Mygalomorphae that one might see around homes or gardens, but they typically are relatively small and not easily noticed. For instance, the females of one such species lives and hunts from within a long silken tube, so unless one opens the tube or chances upon a male looking for a mate, one will never see them. The Araneomorphae, to the contrary, include the weavers of spiral webs, the cobweb spiders that live in the corners of our rooms and between windows and screens, the crab spiders that lurk on the surfaces of the flowers in our gardens, the jumping spiders that look back at us curiously from walls and tree trunks, the wolf spiders that sometimes carpet good hunting sites in a sunny spot in the lawn, the large Huntsman spiders that sometimes frighten people by getting into their cars or taking up residence behind wall clocks.Systematics
In older schemes, the Araneomorphae are divided into two lineages, the Hypochilae, and the Neocribellatae. The Neocribellatae are in turn divided into the Austrochiloidea, and the two series Entelogynae and Haplogynae, each containing several superfamilies:A cladogram shows the relation among taxa:
Most spiders in the Haplogynae series have six eyes, while most of those in the Entelegynae series have eight.
Table of families
| Family | Genera | Species | Common name | Example |
| Agelenidae | 78 | 1282 | araneomorph funnel-web spiders | Hobo spider |
| Amaurobiidae | 49 | 274 | tangled nest spiders | Callobius claustrarius |
| Ammoxenidae | 4 | 18 | ||
| Anapidae | 58 | 223 | ||
| Anyphaenidae | 56 | 563 | anyphaenid sac spiders | Yellow ghost spider |
| Araneidae | 174 | 3128 | orb-weaver spiders | Zygiella x-notata |
| Archaeidae | 5 | 90 | pelican spiders | Eriauchenius gracilicollis |
| Arkyidae | 2 | 37 | ||
| Austrochilidae | 3 | 10 | Tasmanian cave spider | |
| Caponiidae | 18 | 119 | Diploglena capensis | |
| Cithaeronidae | 2 | 8 | ||
| Clubionidae | 15 | 618 | sac spiders | Clubiona trivialis |
| Corinnidae | 67 | 779 | dark sac spiders | Castianeira sp. |
| Ctenidae | 47 | 525 | tropical wolf spiders | Brazilian wandering spiders |
| Cyatholipidae | 23 | 58 | ||
| Cybaeidae | 19 | 259 | ||
| Cycloctenidae | 8 | 80 | ||
| Deinopidae | 2 | 65 | net-casting spiders | Rufous net-casting spider |
| Desidae | 60 | 297 | intertidal spiders | Phryganoporus candidus |
| Dictynidae | 52 | 464 | Nigma walckenaeri | |
| Diguetidae | 2 | 15 | coneweb spiders | |
| Drymusidae | 2 | 17 | false violin spiders | |
| Dysderidae | 24 | 564 | woodlouse hunter spiders | Woodlouse spider |
| Eresidae | 9 | 98 | velvet spiders | Eresus sandaliatus |
| Eutichuridae | 12 | 351 | Cheiracanthium mildei | |
| Filistatidae | 19 | 164 | crevice weavers | Southern house spider |
| Gallieniellidae | 10 | 56 | ||
| Gnaphosidae | 158 | 2532 | flat-bellied ground spiders | Drassodes cupreus |
| Gradungulidae | 7 | 16 | large-clawed spiders | Carrai cave spider |
| Hahniidae | 23 | 346 | dwarf sheet spiders | |
| Hersiliidae | 16 | 181 | tree trunk spiders | Hersilia savignyi |
| Homalonychidae | 1 | 3 | ||
| Huttoniidae | 1 | 1 | Huttonia palpimanoides | |
| Hypochilidae | 2 | 12 | lampshade spiders | Hypochilus thorelli |
| Lamponidae | 23 | 192 | White-tailed spider | |
| Leptonetidae | 21 | 346 | Tooth cave spider | |
| Linyphiidae | 607 | 4566 | dwarf / money spiders | Linyphia triangularis |
| Liocranidae | 31 | 272 | liocranid sac spiders | |
| Lycosidae | 124 | 2419 | wolf spiders | Lycosa tarantula |
| Malkaridae | 11 | 46 | shield spiders | |
| Mecysmaucheniidae | 7 | 25 | ||
| Megadictynidae | 2 | 2 | ||
| Mimetidae | 12 | 152 | pirate spiders | Oarces reticulatus |
| Miturgidae | 29 | 130 | long-legged sac spiders | |
| Mysmenidae | 13 | 137 | spurred orb-weavers | |
| Nesticidae | 16 | 278 | cave cobweb spiders | Nesticella marapu |
| Nicodamidae | 7 | 27 | ||
| Ochyroceratidae | 20 | 216 | midget ground weavers | Theotima minutissima |
| Oecobiidae | 6 | 113 | disc web spiders | Oecobius navus |
| Oonopidae | 114 | 1801 | dwarf hunting spiders | Oonops domesticus |
| Orsolobidae | 30 | 188 | ||
| Oxyopidae | 9 | 457 | lynx spiders | Green lynx spider |
| Pacullidae | 4 | 38 | ||
| Palpimanidae | 18 | 150 | palp-footed spiders | |
| Penestomidae | 1 | 9 | ||
| Periegopidae | 1 | 3 | ||
| Philodromidae | 30 | 539 | philodromid crab spiders | Philodromus dispar |
| Pholcidae | 77 | 1666 | daddy long-legs spiders | Pholcus phalangioides |
| Phrurolithidae | 13 | 205 | ||
| Physoglenidae | 13 | 72 | ||
| Phyxelididae | 14 | 64 | ||
| Pimoidae | 4 | 41 | Pimoa cthulhu | |
| Pisauridae | 51 | 356 | nursery web spiders | Pisaura mirabilis |
| Plectreuridae | 2 | 31 | ||
| Psechridae | 2 | 61 | ||
| Salticidae | 635 | 6080 | jumping spiders | Zebra spider |
| Scytodidae | 5 | 248 | spitting spiders | Scytodes thoracica |
| Segestriidae | 4 | 130 | tubeweb spiders | Segestria florentina |
| Selenopidae | 10 | 257 | wall spiders | Selenops radiatus |
| Senoculidae | 1 | 31 | ||
| Sicariidae | 3 | 1623 | recluse spiders | Brown recluse |
| Sparassidae | 88 | 1224 | huntsman spiders | Avondale spider |
| Stenochilidae | 2 | 13 | ||
| Stiphidiidae | 20 | 125 | Tartarus mullamullangensis | |
| Symphytognathidae | 8 | 73 | dwarf orb-weavers | Patu digua |
| Synaphridae | 3 | 13 | ||
| Synotaxidae | 1 | 11 | ||
| Telemidae | 10 | 79 | long-legged cave spiders | |
| Tetrablemmidae | 27 | 129 | armored spiders | |
| Tetragnathidae | 48 | 996 | long jawed orb-weavers | Orchard spider |
| Theridiidae | 124 | 2503 | cobweb spiders | Redback spider |
| Theridiosomatidae | 19 | 124 | ray spiders | Theridiosoma gemmosum |
| Thomisidae | 170 | 2171 | crab spiders | Goldenrod spider |
| Titanoecidae | 5 | 53 | Goeldia obscura | |
| Toxopidae | 14 | 82 | ||
| Trachelidae | 18 | 232 | ||
| Trechaleidae | 16 | 120 | ||
| Trochanteriidae | 19 | 153 | ||
| Trogloraptoridae | 1 | 1 | Trogloraptor marchingtoni | |
| Udubidae | 4 | 15 | ||
| Uloboridae | 19 | 283 | hackled orb-weavers | Uloborus walckenaerius |
| Viridasiidae | 2 | 9 | ||
| Xenoctenidae | 4 | 33 | ||
| Zodariidae | 85 | 1141 | ant spiders | Zodarion germanicum |
| Zoropsidae | 26 | 180 | Zoropsis spinimana |