Desidae

Desidae
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Badumna insignis
Badumna longinqua
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Desidae
Pocock, 1895
Diversity
63 genera, 323 species
blue: reported countries (WSC)
green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist)

Desidae is a family of spiders, some of which are known as intertidal spiders. The family is named for the genus Desis, members of which inhabit the intertidal zone. The family has been reevaluated in recent years and now includes inland genera and species as well, such as Badumna and Phryganoporus. The vast majority of genera currently included in Desidae are native to Australia, New Zealand, or New Caledonia, although some are found in other parts of the world.

In 2017, the family Amphinectidae was merged into Desidae and the family Toxopidae was separated from it.[1] Those intertidal spiders that are truly marine commonly live in barnacle shells, which they seal up with silk; this allows them to maintain an air bubble during high tide. They emerge at night to feed on various small arthropods that live in the intertidal zone.

Distribution

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As now circumscribed, the family Desidae is mainly found in South America and Australasia, with some species reaching north to Malaysia.[2]

Metaltella simoni has been introduced in a large part of the Southern United States (records exist from California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida). It is feared that it could extirpate the native titanoecid species Titanoeca brunnea.[3]

Genera

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As of January 2026, this family includes 63 genera and 323 species:[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wheeler, Ward C.; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Crowley, Louise M.; Dimitrov, Dimitar; Goloboff, Pablo A.; Griswold, Charles E.; Hormiga, Gustavo; Prendini, Lorenzo; Ramírez, Martín J.; Sierwald, Petra; Almeida-Silva, Lina; Alvarez-Padilla, Fernando; Arnedo, Miquel A.; Benavides Silva, Ligia R.; Benjamin, Suresh P.; Bond, Jason E.; Grismado, Cristian J.; Hasan, Emile; Hedin, Marshal; Izquierdo, Matías A.; Labarque, Facundo M.; Ledford, Joel; Lopardo, Lara; Maddison, Wayne P.; Miller, Jeremy A.; Piacentini, Luis N.; Platnick, Norman I.; Polotow, Daniele; Silva-Dávila, Diana; Scharff, Nikolaj; Szűts, Tamás; Ubick, Darrell; Vink, Cor J.; Wood, Hannah M.; Zhang, Junxia (December 2017). "The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling". Cladistics. 33 (6): 574–616. doi:10.1111/cla.12182. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Family Desidae Pocock, 1895". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  3. ^ Edwards, G.B. (2005). "Cribellate Spider, Metaltella simoni (Keyserling) (Arachnida: Araneae: Amphinectidae)". Extension University of Florida. (EENY-322). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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