Ground-spiders
Guides
Corinnidae
corinnid sac spiders, ground and ant-mimic sac spiders
Corinnidae is a family of araneomorph spiders comprising over 800 species in 71+ genera worldwide. Formerly part of the catch-all family Clubionidae, the group was redefined in 2014 to include only subfamilies Corinninae and Castianeirinae. Members are wandering predators that construct silken sac retreats, with many genera exhibiting ant-mimicry as a defensive strategy. The family includes notable ant-mimicking genera such as Castianeira, Myrmecotypus, Mazax, and Myrmecium.
Eilica
Eilica is a genus of ground spiders in the family Gnaphosidae, established by Eugen von Keyserling in 1891. The genus comprises 28 species with worldwide distribution, though South America hosts 10 species including several with meridional distributions. Members are small to medium-sized spiders ranging from 2.2–7.8 mm in length. They are distinguished by distinctive cheliceral morphology including two or three translucent laminae on the cheliceral retromargin and anteriorly produced chelicerae with convergent endites.
Gnaphosidae
Ground spiders, Stealthy Ground Spiders
Ground spiders (family Gnaphosidae) comprise nearly 2,000 described species in over 100 genera, making them the seventh-largest spider family worldwide. They are characterized by cylindrical spinnerets at the tip of the abdomen, often described as 'showerhead-like' with multiple orifices for silk extrusion. Most species are nomadic hunters that do not construct webs to capture prey, instead prowling through leaf litter, ground cover, and vegetation. Many are agile climbers and can be found on foliage, walls, and tree trunks. The family includes notable genera such as Sergiolus, Herpyllus, Gnaphosa, and Zelotes.
Miturgidae
Prowling Spiders
Miturgidae is a family of araneomorph spiders commonly known as prowling spiders. The family includes approximately 160-200 species across 33 genera worldwide. Members are small to medium-sized, active hunters that do not construct permanent webs for prey capture. The family has undergone substantial taxonomic revision, with the former family Zoridae synonymized and the genus Cheiracanthium (longlegged sac spiders) transferred to the separate family Cheiracanthiidae.
Scopoides
Scopoides is a genus of ground spiders (family Gnaphosidae) established by Norman I. Platnick in 1989. The genus is native to North America, specifically Mexico and the United States. A 2023 taxonomic revision removed all Chinese species from Scopoides; these were reassigned to the newly described genus Platnickus and to Allozelotes. As of October 2025, the genus contains twelve species.
Talanites
Talanites is a genus of ground spiders in the family Gnaphosidae, established by Eugène Simon in 1893. The genus contains fifteen described species distributed across arid and semi-arid regions of North America, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and South Asia. Members are ground-dwelling hunters with a flattened body form typical of the family. The genus shows a disjunct distribution pattern with species in both the New World and Old World.
Urozelotes
Urozelotes is a genus of ground spiders in the family Gnaphosidae, first described by Mello-Leitão in 1938. The genus comprises six species as of 2025. These small spiders are characterized by their oval carapace with distinctive setation and uniform pale orange coloration.
Zelotes
ground spider
Zelotes is a large genus of ground spiders in the family Gnaphosidae, with approximately 400 described species distributed worldwide. These small to medium-sized spiders (5-10 mm) are typically dark reddish brown to nearly black in color. They are characterized by distinctive eye arrangements and frequently display a pale patch on the inner surface of the first femur. The genus was first described by J. Gistel in 1848 and represents one of the most species-rich genera within the ground spider family.