Araneoidea
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.
Mimetidae
Pirate spiders
Pirate spiders (Mimetidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders renowned for their specialized araneophagic behavior—they hunt and feed on other spiders rather than building webs to capture prey. Members of this family employ aggressive mimicry, infiltrating the webs of cobweb weavers, orb weavers, and other spiders, then subduing their hosts with spider-specific venom. The family contains approximately 200 species across 12 genera worldwide, with highest diversity in the Neotropics. North America hosts 18 described species in three genera, with another ten species awaiting formal description. These small spiders (typically 3–7 mm body length) are characterized by long leg spines and distinctive eye arrangements.
Pimoidae
Large Hammock-web Spiders
Pimoidae is a small family of araneomorph spiders established by Wunderlich in 1986, closely related to Linyphiidae and sometimes treated as synonymous with that family. As re-circumscribed in 2021, it is monophyletic and contains approximately 90 species in two genera, primarily Pimoa and Weintrauboa. Members are commonly known as large hammock-web spiders due to their substantial size relative to linyphiids and their horizontal, net-like webs. The family has a fragmented relictual distribution across the Pacific coast of North America, the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, the European Alps, and the Himalayas and adjacent regions of Asia.