Araneomorphae
| Araneomorphae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nephila inaurata (Nephilidae) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Opisthothelae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Diversity | |
| 95 families | |
Araneomorphae (sometimes referred to as Labidognatha) is an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguished by having fangs that oppose each other and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their close kin), which have fangs that are nearly parallel in alignment. Both Araneomorphae and Mygalomorphae belong to the suborder Opisthothelae, which comprises nearly all extant species of spider. Mesothelae, the only other suborder in Aranea, includes only about 100 living species.
Note the difference in the orientations of the fangs of the two spiders below, representatives of the Mygalomorphae and the Araneomorphae.
Atrax robustus (a member of the Hexathelidae) is making a threat display, and by so doing shows very clearly the orientation of its fangs, which go up and down, parallel to the long axis of the spider's body. So it is a representative of the suborder Mygalomorphae, not Araneomorphae.
In Araneomorphae, the fangs slope towards each other, giving these spiders many more possibilities than Mygalomorphae, which can only bite top down.
Unlike Mygalomorphae, which can live for up to 25 years, most Araneomorphae die after about a year.
The vast majority of extant spider species are included in this group. The exceptions belong to the infraorder Mygalomorphae, which includes tarantulas, trapdoor spiders and several families of funnel-web spiders, and the suborder Mesothelae, which includes about 100 species living in Asia. The Araneomorphae include the orb-weaver spiders, the cobweb spiders, the crab spiders, the jumping spiders, the wolf spiders, and the large huntsman spiders.
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Wikipedia