Anatomical-conservation

Guides

• Anapidae

  Ground Orb-web Spiders

  Anapidae is a family of minute spiders containing approximately 233 extant species in 59 genera, with most adults measuring less than 2 mm in body length. The family has undergone significant taxonomic revision, incorporating the former families Micropholcommatidae and Holarchaeidae as subfamilies. Members are primarily ground-dwelling inhabitants of moist forest habitats, where many species construct diminutive orb webs less than 3 cm in diameter. The group exhibits remarkable anatomical conservation despite extreme miniaturization, retaining complete organ systems and musculature that comparable-sized insects often reduce or lose.

  miniaturizationorb-webleaf-litterground-dwellingsymphytognathoidAraneoideakleptoparasitismconvergent-evolutionsubterranean-adaptationeye-reductionanatomical-conservationhygrophilousfossil-record-(Baltic-amber)