Tube-dwelling spider

Tube-dwelling spiders (Segestriidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1893.^[1] It consists of five genera: two large and widespread, Segestria and Ariadna, and three smaller genera, Citharoceps, Gippsicola and Indoseges.^[2] They are haplogyne spiders, related to the Dysderidae and placed in clade or superfamily Dysderoidea.

Distribution

Both Segestria and Ariadna live in North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa and New Zealand, though Ariadna also lives in Australia.^[2]

Description

Members of this family are easily recognized because their first three pairs of legs are arranged forward instead of two and they have six eyes instead of eight, arranged in a semicircle.^[1] The leg structure appears to be an adaptation for living in silken tubes. Unlike those of the atypical tarantulas, these tubes may branch and are often built in tree bark fissures, as well as under stones.

Genera

As of January 2026, this family includes five genera and 181 species:^[2]

AriadnaAudouin, 1826 – Africa, Asia, Europe, North to South America, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand
CitharocepsChamberlin, 1924 – Mexico, United States
GippsicolaHogg, 1900 – Australia
IndosegesSiliwal, Das, Choudhury & Giroti, 2021 – India
SegestriaLatreille, 1804 – Madagascar, Asia, Europe, North America, New Zealand, northern Africa. Introduced to St. Helena, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Fossil record

The oldest unambiguous members of the family are known from the Eocene Baltic amber.^[3]

Cretaceous taxa Denticulsegestria, Jordansegestria, Jordariadna, Lebansegestria, Microsegestria, Myansegestria, Palaeosegestria and Parvosegestria, originally described as tube-dwelling spiders, might be members of the stem group of Segestriidae or stem dysderoids instead.^[3]

References

1 2Simon, E. (1893). Histoire naturelle das araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.
1 2 3"Family: Segestriidae Simon, 1893". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
1 2Magalhaes, I. L. F.; Azevedo, G. H. F.; Michalik, P.; Ramírez, M. J. (2020). "The fossil record of spiders revisited: implications for calibrating trees and evidence for a major faunal turnover since the Mesozoic". Biological Reviews. 95 (1): 184–217. doi:10.1111/brv.12559. PMID 31713947.

External links

Citizen science observations for Tube-dwelling spider at iNaturalist

[Simo1893-1] 1 2Simon, E. (1893). Histoire naturelle das araignées. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973.

[wsc-2] 1 2 3"Family: Segestriidae Simon, 1893". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-18.

[Magalhaesetal2020-3] 1 2Magalhaes, I. L. F.; Azevedo, G. H. F.; Michalik, P.; Ramírez, M. J. (2020). "The fossil record of spiders revisited: implications for calibrating trees and evidence for a major faunal turnover since the Mesozoic". Biological Reviews. 95 (1): 184–217. doi:10.1111/brv.12559. PMID 31713947.

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